eHealth Services and SDG3: Increasing the Capacity of Care

The paper’s research objective pertains to explicating the concept of value co-creation of health and social outcomes in an eHealth digital ecosystem context that is critical in addressing sustainable development goal (SDG) 3 – good health and well-being. It conceptualises a theoretical framework using the dynamics inherent to the value cocreation process involving a user of eHealth services and considers the influences of all involved actors from an activity theory and dialogic engagement perspectives. A Mental Health, Alcohol and other drug use eHealth service (eCLiPSE) assists as a case to illustrate the proposed theoretical framework where three overarching propositions are advanced to provide managerial guidance and critical research enquiry. This framework clarifies the importance of improving dialogic engagement processes during both synchronous and asynchronous interactions over time as value creation pathways. Managerially, the paper points to the importance of optimising service design processes and role readiness of actors (users and healthcare professionals) to better enable consumers to engage in effective dialogue in eHealth interactions for harnessing value co-creation. Through the introduction of this framework, eHealth services can be better delivered and scaled to increase the capacity of care and achieve health outcomes pivotal to the success of SDG3.