Improved communication with heart patients in the context of the gift economy

冠心病是澳大利亚最大的杀手，患者的诊断是一种创伤性事件。大多数患者抵制疾病的影响，没有完全遵循医学建议。人文研究能够增加对心脏病患者的理解，并与他们更好地沟通，但尚未被广泛用于理解患者如何理解他们的新状态。治疗网站HeartNet被用来调查心脏病患者的自我结构，这项研究还将礼物经济理论应用到帮助自己和他人的在线互动中。好处包括患者支持和改善健康结果，降低社区和澳大利亚的人力和经济成本。

Coronary Heart Disease is Australia's biggest killer and a patient's diagnosis is a traumatic event. A majority of patients resists the implications of their disease and fails to follow medical recommendations fully. Humanities research enables increased understanding of, and better communication with, heart patients yet has not been extensively used to understand how patients make sense of their new status. HeartNET, a therapeutic website, is used to investigate construction of the self as a heart patient and the research also applies gift economy theory to online interactions which help both self and others. Benefits include patient support and improved health outcomes, reducing human and financial costs to the community and Australia.