Tinkering with vulnerability in video consultation encounters in Danish general practice

Abstract

Video consultations constitute an emerging technology in Danish general practice, offering new ways for physicians and patients to interact. While previous studies have shown video consultations to be time-efficient, they have also revealed experiences of social and emotional distance between patients and physicians. Little is known about how the use of video consultations and its embedded efficiency interact with aspects of vulnerability and how these unfold in a consultation formed with less social presence. In this article, we draw in part on the broad definition of vulnerability as a potential for harm. We explore how video consultations affect these potentials for harm and the relationship between vulnerability and video consultation use through the lens of science and technology studies (STS). Viewed through this lens, vulnerability is an enacted property that emerges and evolves through interactions between actors, i.e., within the network between patients, technology, and general practitioners (GPs). We present four cases of video consultations, as we show how vulnerability can be enacted in video consultation encounters and illustrate how the dynamic nature of vulnerability can be “tinkered with”, i.e., adjusted and modified, through technology-mediated assemblages such as video consultations.