The promise of web-based communities

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Can websites like this one play a role in reforming health care?  Several prominent health care experts from Harvard’s Schools of Business, Government and Medicine think so.

In their influential 2009 book “The Innovator’s Prescription” , Drs. Clayton Christensen, Jerome Grossman, and Jason Hwang argued that the internet will enable patients and families to help each other by building what they refer to as “facilitated networks” for various chronic diseases that require behavioral changes and family support.  These will, they believe, enable patients and family members to find someone going through what they are going through, so that they can communicate with each other and learn from each other.

They give the example of sites like dLife, which networks people with diabetes and their families in ways that help them deal with the particular challenges in carrying out the changes in behavior, and sometimes use of medication, that helps control that particular disease.

In my experience, both OCD sufferers and their families have benefited greatly from learning about the experiences of others who are going through a similar situation to theirs – this sharing provides a source of  information, support, hope and even just understanding.

Some issues that come up repeatedly for families of OCD sufferers include:

  • trouble  understanding what the OCD sufferer is going through
  • not knowing how best to help
  • their loved one will not agree to get help for their OCD
  • arguments and other family problems due to OCD
  • excessive requests for reassurance


Issues for OCD sufferers may include:

  • embarrassment or other trouble communicating about their OCD with family members
  • having normal behaviors mistaken for OCD rituals
  • arguments with family members when carrying out exposure therapy tasks
  • feeling guilty about their OCD affecting family life
  • feeling family members are too strict in not giving reassurance


I hope you will find many of the stories and discussions on this website helpful, and that you will visit often and contribute your experiences and thoughts.  You can do this through commenting on individual stories or on others’ comments and by asking questions using the Q & A tool in the right-hand column.

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