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Cited by 30Health, Technology, Consumer BehaviorHealth Literacy and Information AccessibilityMobile Health and mHealth Applications

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Digital health – a new medical cosmology? The case of 23andMe online genetic testing platform

Open access
Saukko, Paula·2018·Sociology of Health & Illness
DOI 10.1111/1467-9566.12774
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Abstract

This article argues that commercial digital health platforms and devices commodify participatory features of the digital creating a new medical cosmology. Drawing on sociology on medical cosmologies, research on digital media and marketing and an analysis of the 23andMe online genetic testing platform, I identify three features of this cosmology. First, digital health seeks to foment ‘flow’ or enjoyable, continuous immersion in health. Second, digital health configures its consumers as ‘co‐creators’ of health data and knowledge together with companies and other consumers. Third, digital health frames medical knowledge as tentative, up for revision and scepticism by expert and lay science. The way in which digital health configures consumers as immersed, creative and sceptical gives it an open‐ended and participatory air. However, the conceptual discussion and the analysis of the 23andMe platform highlight that these features represent commercial capture of the lifeworld, even if they appear radical against classical medical cosmologies.

Overview

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/1467-9566.12774

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Patient-produced knowledge remains continuously ambiguous and amenable to interpretation and change.

    “This indicates the tentative nature of patient-produced knowledge, which remains continuously ambiguous and amenable to interpretation and change (Saukko 2018).”

    From The Cultivation of Digital Health Citizenship (2021) · cites this paper as Saukko 2018

  • Big health data could be used for a number of purposes, including clinical research.

    “These big health data could then be used for a number of purposes, including clinical research (Kallinikos and Tempini, 2014;Saukko, 2018;Tempini, 2015).”

    From The Cultivation of Digital Health Citizenship (2021) · cites this paper as Saukko, 2018

Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Saukko, P.
Affiliations
Loughborough University (GB)
Corresponding author
Saukko, Paula
ORCID
Saukko, Paula
Venue
Sociology of Health & Illness
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2018-07-11
Volume
40
Issue
8
Pages
1312-1326
ISSN
  • 0141-9889 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9566
DOI
10.1111/1467-9566.12774
OpenAlex
W2844856620
Cited by
30
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5
FWCI
5.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Sociology of Health & Illness (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Loughborough University Institutional Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Loughborough University Research Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (080126/Z/06/Z)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Health, Technology, Consumer Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
Keywords
digital health, 23andMe, customer co-creation, commodification, consumer immersion, health data, digital marketing, consumer skepticism, participatory health
MeSH terms
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, Biotechnology, Commerce, Genetic Testing, Humans, Sociology, Internet

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