Consumer Health and eHealth

Quick Review:
... If you recall, last post we discussed how patients are more likely to turn to their computers to access health information, rather than primarily speaking to a health care professional (HCP). Information that was once only privileged to HCPs is now openly broadcast. Because of this, patients are becoming constant consumers of information related to their health, and it is the responsibility of nurses to ensure that this information is reliable and is being appropriately used.


Now that we have an understanding about how patients and clients are consumers of health information, how is social media and technology being applied to support  these consumers?

This week I will examine online communities of sharing, and the role the nurse has to contribute to these communities.

In the past, people accessed information through word of mouth, textbooks, radio, and television. However, as technology has become more prevalent in our everyday lives, people are more likely to access a newspaper article on their phone or computer rather than in print. Instead social media has became our greatest supplier or knowledge and information that allows for open discussion, posts and forums that can facilitate discussion (Gruzd & Haythornthwaite, 2013).

Online communities of sharing are internet groups that provide support to specific groups, raise public awareness, increase policy discussion and promote involvement, and provide medical education. These groups have a common goal and passion of how to improve and increase awareness about an issue or concern (Gruzd & Haythornthwaite). These sources can range from an online support forum, to Pinterest groups, Facebook communities to newspaper apps for phones. This week, I will explore how communities have utilized the different streams of social media to share information and create discussion, critique the benefits and barriers to these portals, and analyze how the nurse can contribute to these online communities.

To begin, let's address some of the organizations and communities that have utilized social media to broadcast their message.

Information transmission primarily takes place through social networking sites and phone applications. When news is released about world issues, political disputes, and natural disaster, information is typically spread through these outlets. Information is quickly distributed by simply pressing the 'share' button. As well, these sites allow for increased information transmission as they are constantly updated and globally accessed, thus information is extremely recent and relevant (Eysenbach, 2008).

                                                                                    For example, the Canadian Medical Association

Journal (CMAJ) has an active twitter profile that supplies knowledge if you're looking to stay updated in medical research and new discoveries. Not only does the CMAJ account post their recent editorials and direct links to their articles, they also provide their followers with medical research projects, social support groups, and fun facts in science. As well, they weigh-in on current events and encourage followers to provide their opinions and tweet questions. This is effective as it allows for
information exchange, and creates a supportive                                                                                             community where curiousity is welcome.

Communities are using social media as a way to raise awareness for causes and issues, and to provide an online community of support. Many people make not have adequate social support networks or coping mechanisms, or may live in an isolated area. These portals allow patients and consumers to share their experiences living with a disease or illness, provide support to those who are struggling, and to communicate and share resources. Social media presents a great opportunity for these communities as it is estimated that over 60% of all people use some form of social media (Statistic Brain, 2013). Connecting with others through these outlets is convenient and allows for quick alliances to be made regardless of location.


Facebook is the most commonly used social
networking site, with over 1.4 billion users worldwide (Statistic Brain, 2013) . Due to this, many of these communities use Facebook to reach a large audience. For instance the Mental Health Foundation uses a Facebook page to reach out to those suffering with illness related to mental health, and to reduce the negative stereotypes associated with mental health. They provide their members with sources on managing stress and anxiety, awareness events, and secure discussion forums. These forums create a safe online environment as they can be submitted anonymously, only members can access the information and it cannot be shared to other Facebook groups or pages. This site creates an effective online community as they provide their members with external resources that may apply to their specific illness.

Additionally, communities use social media as an educative tool. As stated last post, most people use the internet as their primary and first means of gathering information. Often people are looking for a fast and simple way to understand concepts that are sometimes difficult to understand. Patients and health consumers feel empowered by self-educating, and these communities provide them with adequate support for health teaching (Donelle & Booth, 2012).

An effective social media outlet for education is YouTube. These short videos are accessible without an account, and provide consumers with a multi-dimensional environment for learning. Educational YouTube videos are great as they meet the learning needs of many through visual, written and audio teaching. Since these videos are easily shared, and comments are responded to quickly, viewers are able to be engaged and active in this community. AsapSCIENCE is an online science community that answer viewers health and medical questions in videos that are easy to understand and humorous. The videos are available in categories to help navigate the site and find exactly what is needed. As well, the site encourages viewers to post more                                                                                               questions that are on their mind, and advocate for                                                                                          increasing knowledge (Gruzd & Haythornthwaite,                                                                                        2013).

Despite, the overwhelming positives that erupt from these resources, there are still barriers and areas that need thorough consideration from a nursing standpoint. With any form of online interaction there is always the implication of privacy and confidentiality. This becomes more critical when you consider the sensitivity of the issues discussed, and the personal health information that can be posted and accessed by millions.

Consider how consumers use social media as an educative tool. Over-use can lead to self-diagnosing that relates back to cyberchondria discussed previously (White & Horvitz, 2009). Additionally, people must be aware of the credibility of the sources they use, and how they use the information provided. As well, consumers need to understand the policies present on these sites and how they use the information that is posted to forums and discussion panels.

This is where nurses can become involved. Nurses are educators and take a directive role in health teaching. Nurses should discuss with their patients where they primarily obtain their health information and knowledge about disease. When patients bring online data forward, nurses should not criticize patients but encourage and support that they are taking an active role in their health. As well, the nurse should offer to work with their patients to appropriately use this information and discuss the effectiveness of online communities in their patients health experience.

Consider your role in online health communities. How do you most benefit from these resources, and what sites do you find particularly effective?

Until next post,
---Student Nurse Katie


References
AsapSCIENCE. (2012). Your daily dose of science. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?      v=N3DWtVhEnbE

Donelle, L., & Booth, R. G. (2012). Health Tweets : An exploration of health promotion on Twitter. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3). doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No03Man04

Eysenbach, G. (2008). Medicine 2.0: Social networking, collaboration, participation, apomediation, and openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 10(3), e22. doi:10.2196/jmir.1030

Gruzd & Haythornthwaite. (2013). Knowledge translation of evidence-based medical information in the age of social media. Social Media Lab. Retrieved from http://socialmedialab.ca/?p=8921

Statistic Brain. (2013). Social networking statisitcs. Statistic Brain. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/

White, R. & Horvitz, E. (2009). Cyberchondria: Studies of the escalation of medical concerns in web search. ACM Transactions on Information Systems. 27(4). doi:10.1145/1629096.1629101