Social Media Use by Transplant Recipients for Support and Healing

Abstract

Transplant recipients use a diverse support network that now includes transplant-related social media support groups. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of social media sites by transplant recipients as a potential source of support and healing and the usefulness of Internet postings as a source of rich qualitative data. A qualitative descriptive design was used for the study. A total of 126 retrospective postings from 58 participants were analyzed as they existed on this open publically available Web site over a 20-month period from the selected discussion threads. Two major themes emerged from the data: sharing overwhelming gratitude and finding sanctuary. Sharing overwhelming gratitude was expressed in emotional postings about feelings and letters to donor families. Finding sanctuary described the recipients' perception of the online community as a safe and nonjudgmental environment to discuss sensitive issues and feelings. This study adds to what is known about the unique psychological and emotional needs of transplant recipients. Transplant-related support Web sites offer the opportunity to learn what matters most to transplant recipients and identify gaps in care related to calls for nursing.