Communication Approach to Patients' Health Work: Remote Relationship and Intertwined Powers

The general context of health and the healthcare system in France is characterized by an aging population as a whole, the increase in social inequalities in health and the rise in the number of patients with chronic diseases. The prioritized orientations aim to promote the development of outpatient care and everything that facilitates the maintenance or return home of patients. The question of patients' work is being raised in a new way. The work of patients was largely ignored in the conception of a patient as the “object of care”, with acute diseases and care during hospitalization as the primary reference points. The chapter explores the results of the analysis to characterize the relationships that take shape with such a remote monitoring dispositive, exploring what putting patients to work involves pastoral power, disciplines and dispositions. Pastoral power is thus equipped with self‐revelation technologies aimed at patient expression in accordance with the expected contribution.