Journal article
Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth and the Ambivalence of Self-Care
Journal of applied philosophy, v 42(4), pp 1359-1377
09 Jul 2025
Abstract
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth is presented by marketers as a mere conduit for self-care capable of circumventing the frustrations and injustices of existing healthcare systems. If self-care is both lauded as a key tool of resistance for the marginalized and rejected as a hollow marketing tactic, how should we respond to technologies seeking to promote self-care? What can they tell us about where self-care is a valuable pursuit and where it becomes a social threat? I pursue these questions by examining the tensions between ethically meaningful care for the self and pernicious self-responsibilization in two different uses of DTC telehealth: 'men's health' services for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and gender-affirming care services for queer and trans people. Drawing on opposing views of self-care, I argue that particular self-care projects like DTC telehealth are ethically viable where they resist, rather than bolster, projects of domination and where they support, rather than undermine, caring relationships.
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Details
- Title
- Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth and the Ambivalence of Self-Care
- Creators
- Mercer E. Gary - Drexel University, English and Philosophy
- Publication Details
- Journal of applied philosophy, v 42(4), pp 1359-1377
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 19
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- English and Philosophy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001524463700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105009981791
- Other Identifier
- 991022064905704721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Ethics
- Philosophy