Abstract
Background Digital technologies are transforming healthcare delivery by enhancing accessibility and providing innovative ways to manage increasing patient demand. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), a tsunami of further digitisation is on the horizon. However, concerns remain regarding the lack of personalisation, context, and empathy in machine-based interactions. Hermeneutics, the interpretation of human experience, may help evaluate how well digital health tools maintain personalisation in patient-clinician interactions.
Aim To develop a targeted questionnaire with specific domains informed by hermeneutics that can be applied to assess novel digital health tools.
Method A literature review was conducted, and feedback was gathered from clinicians and patients to identify key concerns surrounding the technology. These concerns were grouped, and, using the hermeneutic window, a set of questions for both clinicians and patients was developed to assess personalisation, empathy, and understanding in machine-mediated healthcare. Group feedback sessions evaluated whether the questionnaire effectively addressed the concerns regarding depersonalisation, empathy, and understanding.
Results Feedback from patients indicated that questions effectively captured core concerns regarding the loss of personalisation, with participants highlighting the need for a ‘human at the core’ of digital health use. However, specific instances of mutual misunderstanding were uncovered, with suggestions for editing the questionnaire. Recommendations for adapting the questionnaire to other healthcare settings are provided.
Conclusion A hermeneutical approach provides a valuable framework for evaluating the impact of digital health technologies on human aspects of care. By placing human understanding at the centre of technological assessment, we can develop digital tools that enhance rather than diminish the therapeutic relationship. As healthcare continues its transformation, maintaining this hermeneutic lens will be essential to ensure that innovation serves to strengthen, not replace, the human connections at the heart of effective care.
