Understanding the cyber-victimisation of people with long term conditions and the need for collaborative forensics-enabled disease management programmes

Abstract

Research shows that people with long term conditions and disabilities are frequently labelled as vulnerable, and commonly victimised online. They require instrumental support to understand their conditions and empower them to manage their own treatment in everyday life. However, additional short and long term consequences related to cyber-victimisation could intensify existing psychological and health complications. For instance, ‘distress’ as a commonly reported impact of cyber-victimisation could theoretically lead to neurohormonal changes in the blood, increasing cortisol, catecholamine and insulin secretion resulting in increased blood glucose, heartbeat, blood pressure, urination and other changes. Therefore, in this study we demonstrate the need and explain the means towards extending support and risk assessment systems and procedures to cover the collection and preservation of incidents reported by individuals. This can be used to support third-party interventions such as taking a legal action in cases where the impact of cyber-victimisation is seen to escalate and worsen. As such, we first define vulnerable groups with long term conditions and provide a review of the impact of various types of cyber-victimisation on their health management. Then, we discuss how Disease Management Programmes (DMP) developed over time to include web-based applications as an example of existing cost-effective approaches to improve the quality of healthcare provided to people with long term conditions. We then demonstrate the added value of incorporating forensics readiness to enable Police intervention, support the victim’s eligibility for extended instrumental support from national health services. Finally, this level of documentation offers an opportunity to implement more accurate methods to assess risk associated with victimisation.