Spanning communication boundaries to address health inequalities: the role of community connectors and social media

Abstract

ABSTRACT Healthcare services face persistent barriers in reaching and improving access for marginalized or hardly reached people. This paper details the strategic use of social media among community connectors, or members of a community who address health issues in their local contexts by spanning socio-cultural boundaries within the community. Undertaking qualitative research in rural Australia and Ireland, we find evidence that through their strategic use of social media, connectors enhance the local communication infrastructure and create bridges between community and healthcare services due to their: (1) established connections with diverse hardly reached socio-cultural groups; (2) understanding of needs and opportunities for hardly reached people; (3) ability to seek out, ‘translate’ and pass on health information and (4) community building and health promotion practices at individual and social levels. Healthcare access and communication can be improved by identifying connectors and partnering with them to span boundaries enabling connection with the hardly reached.