science

Information therapy

Information therapy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Information therapy rather than just read about it. In short: Information Therapy was first cited in the literature to mean "information leading patients in the direction of discovering more about their disease." Later, the term was modified to mean "the therapeutic provision of information to people for the amelioration of physical and mental health and wellbeing," that could lead to a decrease in the utilization of healthcare resources. In their book Information therapy: Pre…

Key takeaways

Information therapy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Information therapy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Information therapy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Information Therapy was first cited in the literature to mean "information leading patients in the direction of discovering more about their disease." Later, the term was modified to mean "the therapeutic provision of information to people for the amelioration of physical and mental health and wellbeing," that could lead to a decrease in the utilization of healthcare resources. In their book Information therapy: Prescribed Information as a Reimbursable Medical Service, authors Donald W. Kemper and Molly Mettler defined the term to mean the right information, to the right person, at the right time, to help make better decisions or to improve a health behavior. Healthwise, Incorporated, a nonprofit organization founded by Kemper and Mettler to develop and supply health educational content for the general public, trademarked the symbol "Ix" to represent the term information therapy. Studies show that information therapy can improve the knowledge and medical decision-making abilities of patients, as well as reduce patient anxiety. Human factors engineer, Jeff Greene invented a web-based system that combines information therapy with a patented patient-doctor aligned-incentive mechanism, called the MedEncentive Mutual Accountability and Information Therapy (MAIT) Program. In a five-year study of an employer health plan, the MAIT Program was found to be associated with reductions in annual hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and per capita expenditures of 32%, 14%, and 11%, respectively. Greene coined the term "reward-induced information therapy" to mean providing people with the right information, at the right time, in the right way so they are more knowledgeable and motivated to make better decisions about their health behaviors and medical treatment options.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Information therapy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Information therapy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Information therapy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Information therapy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Information therapy

In research: Information therapy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Information therapy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Information therapy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Therapy, Vocabulary and usage stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Information therapy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Information therapy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Information therapy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Information therapy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Information therapy in simple terms?

Why does Information therapy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Information therapy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Information therapy.