Abstract
BackgroundThere is a growing focus on the potential uses, benefits, and limitations of social media in the context of health care communication. In this study, we have sought to evaluate an initiative pioneered at a hospital in Denmark that uses Facebook to support and enhance patient-provider communication about diabetes.ObjectiveThis paper aims to evaluate the success of the trial according to its initial objectives and to assess its potential scalability.MethodsThe study was undertaken in a clinic for diabetes and hormonal diseases at a large regional hospital in Denmark. Using a realist evaluation approach, we identified 4 key components in the program theory of the initiative, which we formulated as context-mechanism-outcome configurations (eg, complex and iterative chains of causality). These configurations informed data gathering and analysis. Primary data sources were the activity and content in the Facebook group, in the form of posts, likes, and comments, and interviews with patients (n=26) and staff (n=6) at the clinic.ResultsNew developments in diabetes technology were the most popular posts in the forum, judged by number of likes and comments. Otherwise, information specific to the clinic received the most attention. All 4 components of the program theory were compromised to varying degrees, either as a result of failings in the anticipated mechanisms of change or contextual factors derived from the mode of implementation.ConclusionsSocial media serves well as a conduit for imagining positive change, but this can be a strength and weakness when attempting to enact change via concrete interventions, where stakeholder expectations may be unreasonably high or incompatible. Nonetheless, such initiatives may possess intangible benefits difficult to measure in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Highlights
There is a growing focus on the potential uses, benefits, and limitations of social media in the context of health care communication
Incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus has been on the increase, with more people than ever before confronting the day-to-day challenges associated with diabetes management
Social media platforms are oft-touted as one possible area of innovation that can be of benefit within health care [4,5,6]
Summary
There is a growing focus on the potential uses, benefits, and limitations of social media in the context of health care communication. Incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus has been on the increase, with more people than ever before confronting the day-to-day challenges associated with diabetes management [2]. This increase puts pressure on individuals, and challenges health care systems. More and more resources within health care are consumed by the treatment of diabetes mellitus and its complications [3] In this climate, innovation, both technical and organizational, is widely seen as key to confronting challenges anticipated in the future. In the case of the social media platform Facebook, it has been shown that online exchanges between patients and relatives can influence treatment decisions and emotional support in everyday life [9], though some of the factual content of the information being exchanged was deemed to be questionable from a strictly clinical perspective [10]
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