Social Media For Health Communication Research Articles

Evaluating the effectiveness of social media in health communication: assessing the impact and outcomes of health communication campaigns conducted on x (Twitter)

Twitter, a leading health communication channel, has effectively promoted health awareness and continues to do so. It provides health information quickly and easily, serving as a vital source of health information. Health practitioners often use Twitter to disseminate health information, a trend that has become more prevalent than engaging audiences in multi-way conversations and interactions. This reassures us of the platform's effectiveness in reaching a broad audience. Twitter has emerged as a powerful tool for reaching a broader audience, offering platforms like Twitter Space for discussion and engagement with health professionals. This technology has brought a new dimension to healthcare, enlightening the public and promoting health behaviors, benefits, challenges, and preventive measures. This research delved into the effectiveness of Twitter in health communication. The study employed a quantitative approach, using a survey to assess the impact of health-related content on Twitter and evaluate the effectiveness of shared health communication. The anticipated outcomes of this research include a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of Twitter on health communication, insights into the effectiveness of health content Twitter users access, and recommendations for improving health outcomes through targeted audience campaigns by providing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Twitter on health communication and a positive and crucial role play in promoting health awareness. Twitter has been used as a tool for health communication campaigns, and many Twitter users benefit from the health information gained there

Facebook Users’ Satisfaction and Intention to Continue Using It: Applying the Expectation Confirmation Model

The use of social media for health communication has grown enormously worldwide. Whilst research concerning the potential benefits and barriers of using social media is rich and ever expanding, only a few studies looked at the fundamental reasons why social networking users continue to use Facebook for accessing health-related support groups and communicating with the healthcare professionals. Based on the expectation confirmation model (ECM), this study aims to uncover the factors that explain users’ intention to continue using Facebook for health-related matters. A sample size of 239 respondents was collected to test the proposed theoretical framework, using thestructural equation modelling technique. Our findings indicate that the most important drivers of continuance intention of Facebook are satisfaction, perceived usefulness, information quality and social support, whilst confirmation of expectation, information quality and social support are determinants of satisfaction. This study offers new insights into the domain of post-technology adoption and health communication literature. It also provides important information for healthcare providers on how to improve the effectiveness of social network-based interactions.

Social media in health communication: A literature review of information quality.

Social media is used in health communication by individuals, health professionals, disease centres and other health regulatory bodies. However, varying degrees of information quality are churned out daily on social media. This review is concerned with the quality of Social Media Health Information (SMHI). The review sought to understand how SMHI quality issues have been framed and addressed in the literature. Health topics, users and social media platforms that have raised health information quality concerns are reviewed. The review also looked at the suitability of existing criteria and instruments used in evaluating SMHI and identified gaps for future research. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and the forward chaining strategy were used in the document search. Data were sourced according to inclusion criteria from five academic databases, namely Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed and MEDLINE. A total of 93 articles published between 2000 and 2019 were used in the review. The review revealed a worrying trend of health content and communication on social media, especially of cancer, dental care and diabetes information on YouTube. The review further discovered that the Journal of the American Medical Association, the DISCERN and the Health on the Net Foundation, which were designed before the advent of social media, continue to be used as quality evaluation instruments for SMHI, even though technical and user characteristics of social media differ from traditional portals such as websites. The study synthesises varied opinions on SMHI quality in the literature and recommends that future research proposes quality evaluation criteria and instruments specifically for SMHI.

Exploring Influence Factors of WeChat Users’ Health Information Sharing Behavior: Based on an Integrated Model of TPB, UGT and SCT

ABSTRACT In this digital era, social media plays a significant role in information distribution. Health information sharing behavior is an essential component of information exchange, which has become one of the key research fields in health communication. Yet, knowledge about the influence factors of health information sharing behavior in social media remains limited. Hence, drawing from the theory of planned behavior (TPB), uses and gratifications (U&G), and social cognitive theory (SCT), this study explored the impact factors of health information sharing intention and behavior. To examine the research model, an online survey was drawn up and administered to 412 WeChat users. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that the research model fits the data well. Our finding indicated that these factors impact users’ health information sharing behavior on WeChat via their attitude, subjective norm, perceived self-efficacy, and behavioral intention in various patterns. It was found that three factors positively influence both attitude toward behavior and subjective norm: status seeking, social interaction, and norm of reciprocity. We also found that social support has positive effects on the subjective norm within the context of health information sharing, but the critical mass has no effect on the subjective norm. Moreover, we found that entertainment is not the impact factor for users’ attitude toward behavior, but information needs. Overall, this study not only enriched the existing literature on health information sharing behavior and presents a new integrated conceptual model to explain multiple variables that affect WeChat users’ sharing behavior regards to health information, but also provides important theoretical and practical implications regarding motivating public participation through information sharing on social media in health communication.

The kiss of death – Unearthing conversations surrounding Chagas disease on YouTube

This study employed Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT), Health Belief Model (HBM) and a mix of techniques to highlight the important role of social media in health communication. A total of 602 comments posted by YouTube users as they interacted with news items reporting on Chagas disease were thus analysed. A web-based software called Netlytic was used to capture and conduct text analytics. The sentiment of user comments on each of the five videos selected for this analysis was measured using SentiStrength. This study, therefore, achieved four objectives. First, it determined the most engaging comments amongst YouTube users as they interacted with Chagas disease news information. Second, it identified the most common issues or concerns discussed by YouTube users. Third, it analyzed the extent to which YouTube users commenting about Chagas disease conveyed information related to (a) prevention benefits, (b) barriers, (c) susceptibility to Chagas disease, (d) severity of Chagas and (e) self-efficacy as part of the Health Belief Model. And finally, it measured the levels of positive and negative sentiment in the comments made by YouTube users. Study findings, limitations, and implications for future research have been discussed as well.

Pandemics and PSAs: Rapidly Changing Information in a New Media Landscape

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus a shift in the communication of health-related information. Traditionally, public service announcements (PSAs) consisted of video or radio messages, posters, or billboards created by government agencies and health organizations to provide information about health topics. However, the widespread use of the internet and the growth of social media has changed PSA creation and dissemination in many ways. Increasingly, a variety of actors, including non-official sources and lay persons, have been using social media to disseminate PSAs or PSA-like content. Audiences are larger and more engaged with content, and users have the novel ability to interact with PSAs through shares, likes, or comments. While social media for health communication has many advantages, there are also a number of disadvantages including misinformation, conspiracy theories, bots, and trolls. Credibility of different sources has also become a topic of debate. An ongoing challenge during the pandemic has been reaching audiences in a crowded online environment, establishing authority as a trusted source, and countering misinformation. In this paper, we discuss how the media landscape is changing PSAs and the implications of these changes in the context of pandemics.

Impact of Social Media on Psychological Health: Challenges and Opportunities

Background and Aim: During the past few years, social networking has become very popular. Currently, there is a lack of information about the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication in society.Material and Methods: This paper will review some of challenges and opportunities to use social and their impact on psychological health. In this review we searched all valuable and relevant information considering the social media impact on psychological health. We referred to the information databases of Medline, PubMed, Scopus and Google scholar.Conclusion: Social media brings a new dimension to health care, offering a platform used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes. More study is required to establish whether social media has impact on mental health in both the short and long terms.

Role of Social Media Promotion of Prescription Drugs on Patient Belief-system and Behaviour

In the current scenario, extremely little information exists on the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the patients and health professionals. Further, how it is affecting the patient belief system and behavior is even less studied, but it is emerging on the research horizon due to its growing significance in this digital age. This is a review article using a systematic approach. We performed a systematic literature search for papers that address social media–related challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical drugs. It identifies the needs that propel patients to take recourse to SMPs; the benefits they derive from these and their limitations. This review article confirms that healthcare information provided by the social media sites has been found to be beneficial in many ways for the stakeholders and that it complements existing patient-physician interaction. However, it has limitations that need to be explored and understood to avoid ill consequences.

Hastane-Hasta İlişkisi Bağlamında Hasta Sadakati: Sosyal Medyanın Aracı Rolü

This study aimed to investigate role of social media on patient loyalty. Based on related literature review, for assessing patient loyalty, a measurement scale, testing satisfaction shared by patient through social media, patient trust, strength of hospital-patient communication on social media, and perceived image of hospital on social media was developed. The data was collected from 625 patients by selfadministered online questionnaires. Hypotheses about the role of social media were suggested based on existing body of knowledge so that we aimed to examine underlying mechanism between the predictors and patient loyalty by means of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) framework. Findings demonstrated that satisfaction, shared by patients through social media, mediated the association between patient trust, strength of hospital-patient communication on social media, perceived image of hospital on social media, and patient loyalty. The findings provide an original empirical model with respect to gaining loyal patients whom are customers of hospitals and highlight the important role of social media in health communication.

Use of Social Media in Health Communication: Findings From the Health Information National Trends Survey 2013, 2014, and 2017.

The number of social media users has increased substantially in the past decade, creating an opportunity for health-care professionals and patients to leverage social media for health communication. This study examines the recent use and predictors of social media for health communication in a nationally representative sample of US adults over time. We used 2013, 2014, and 2017 National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey to identify respondents’ use of social media for sharing health information or exchanging medical information with a health-care professional. We conducted bivariate analysis using the Pearson χ2 test to assess the association of respondents’ basic demographic characteristics as well as health status and the use of social media for health communication. We performed multivariable logistic regression models to examine factors associated with the use of social media for health communication. We identified 4242 respondents (weighted sample size: 343 465 241 [2-year pooled sample]) who used social media for sharing health information and 4834 respondents (weighted sample size: 354 419 489 [2-year pooled sample]) who used social media for exchanging medical information. Multivariable analyses indicated the proportion of respondents who used social media for sharing health information has decreased (odds ratio [OR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.85, P = .002), while the use of social media for exchanging medical information with a health-care professional has increased (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.09-3.26, P = .025). The younger population had significantly higher odds of using social media for health communication. The study found no racial/ethnic disparities in the use of social media for health communication. Use of social media for sharing health information has declined, while exchanging medical information with health-care professionals has increased. Future research is needed to determine how to engage the population in social media–based health interventions, particularly for older adults.

How do users adopt health information from social media? The narrative paradigm perspective.

A recent trend in health information seeking and sharing is the use of social media. Although there are several benefits to the use of social media for health communication, the quality of health information exchanged on social media is troubling due to its informal, unregulated mechanisms for information collection, sharing and promotion. Therefore, it is important to understand how users adopt health information from social media. Considering the user-generated and storytelling nature of social media messages, this research employed the narrative paradigm perspective to explain the social media health information adoption phenomenon. Specifically, narrative coherence (NC) and narrative fidelity (NF) were hypothesised to have positive effects on the intention to adopt (IA). Additionally, socio-economic status (SES) was viewed as a proxy variable to cognitive capability and was hypothesised to moderate the effects of NC and NF. A scenario-based survey was conducted to test the proposed research model. We obtained a total of 257 valid questionnaires. The results indicated that NF (p < 0.001) had a positive effect on the IA social media health information. The NC (p < 0.01) had no impact on the low SES users but a positive impact on the high SES users. Further, the effect of NF (p < 0.01) on the IA was higher for high SES users than low SES users. NC and NF are two major driving forces in social media health information adoption, and the effect of both narrative paradigm variables depends on the SES users. Results of this study show how the narrative paradigm, with a focus on the storytelling method of communication rather than logical scientific argument, can not only explain the uptake of health messages from social media, but also provide guidance as to how to create health messages on social media that more effectively target end users.

Engaging Social Media for Health Communication in Africa:Approaches, Results and Lessons

Advancements in digital media and communications technology have generated considerable optimism on the role of social media in achieving developmental and public health outcomes globally. The unprecedented availability of digital devices and platforms has also prompted different development institutions to design and implement a range of social media interventions for social and behaviour change. This paper examines how social media are transforming health communication in Africa. Our study demonstrates the existence of an avalanche of interventions using different mobile devices and mobilization approaches in addressing multiple health issues. The interventions target different population groups and are not limited to young people who are considered as the major users and consumers of social media content. However, the study cautions against “new media utopianism” or “social media-centricism” because technology is a tool of development not an end in itself. It recommends strategies for effective deployment of social media in health communication including applying a theory of change model, creative integration of multimedia platforms and meaningful participation of all actors to generate a new development narrative. Implications for health communication’s theory, practice, policy, research and training are also addressed.

Understanding the adoption of Social media in the Australian Healthcare Sector: A Meta Analytical Approach

The use and application of social media in the healthcare industry is attracting the attention of the researchers worldwide. The usage and application of social media in health communication has presented a new dimension in healthcare for potentially improving health outcomes. However, there has been widespread critique of its application due to the lack of sufficient information, and grounded with a common myth that social media is limited to social interaction and has not found a beneficial usage of its application in the industry. This paper focuses on identifying the real time benefits and limitations which include the social, ideological, and technological usage of social media in the healthcare industry unlike other industries where-in a widespread application has changed the dynamics. The diverse range of social platform which entails collaborative projects, content communities, social networking sites, virtual games and social worlds have been in use already in the healthcare industry but lacks the wider acknowledgement as deserving. Information Technology acceptance has been widely researched in the extant literature. However, studies focusing on the acceptance and usage of social media from the perspectives of healthcare professionals are sparsely represented. To add to the growing work in this arena, we propose a conceptual model appropriate for determining the drivers and barriers of social media usage in the healthcare industry. The study applies unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model by identifying the existing gaps in the prevalent literature. Some modifications to the extant model were required to fit the purpose of the study. The study shall entail the examination of the drivers and barriers of social media usage of healthcare professionals with some key recommendations for future research. The results of this research will contribute immensely to the limited research available in literature and will have significant implications for practitioners and healthcare professionals in Australia and comparable parts of the world.

Social Media Health Communication: A Cross-Cultural Investigation on the Motivations and Challenges of Using Participatory Technology to Communicate with Patients

The purpose of this study is to better understand how physicians utilize social media technologies to facilitate patient communication and the motivations and barriers towards doing so. Additionally, it explores how power distances influences physician’s willingness to utilize social media as a resource in health communication by conducting in-depth interviews with physicians in the United States and in the Phillippines, based on divergent power distance scores from Hofstede’s (2010) research. Qualitative analysis of transcripts revealed two major themes : 1) hesitancy in utilizing social media in doctorpatient communication for diagnosis and treatment; and 2) the role of social media for marketing, education, and communicating with hard-to-reach patients. These findings suggest that although physicians understand the many possible benefits of utilizing social media for health communication, there are many other factors to consider. Cultural issues should be taken into account as future social media health communication programs are developed.

Adolescent and parent use of new technologies for health communication: a study in an urban latino community.

BackgroundMobile communication technologies provide novel opportunities to support clinic-based health initiatives. Adoption of technologies for daily use and for health communication can differ between communities, depending upon demographic and cultural characteristics.Design and methodsA survey was administered in adolescent primary care and subspecialty clinics to assess parent-adolescent preferences in use of mobile technologies and social media to support provider-patient communication in an urban Latino community.ResultsOf 130 respondents (65 parent-adolescent pairs), approximately half frequently sent and received text messages but lacked agreement regarding the other’s text messaging use. In contrast, adolescents only rarely used email compared to parents (15.4% versus 37.5%, P=0.006). Of social media, Facebook™/MySpace™ was most frequently used by parents and youth (60% and 55.4%, P=0.59); however, most lacked interest in using social media for health communication. Parents reported more interest than adolescents in receiving email (73.4% versus 35.9%, P<0.001) and text messages (58.5% versus 33.9%, P=0.005) for health, but had more concerns about privacy issues (26.2% versus 9.2%, P=0.01). Respondents who were American born (aOR 5.7, 95%CI 1.2-28.5) or regularly used Instant Messaging or Facebook™/MySpace™ (aOR 4.6, 95%CI 1.4-14.7) were more likely to be interested in using social media for health communication.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the importance of targeted assessment for planning the utilization of communication technologies and social media in clinical care or research for underserved youth.Significance for public healthCommunication technologies provide novel opportunities to support clinic-based health initiatives for underserved youth. However, adoption of technologies among communities may differ depending upon demographic and cultural characteristics. We surveyed a sample of urban Latino parents and youth regarding their current use of mobile and social media technologies and preferences for use of these technologies for health communication. This is the first study to compare the perspective of underserved parents and their youth regarding use of a wide variety of mobile and social communication technologies, concordance between youth-parent pairs in perceived use of texting and preferences for the purpose of health communication. Our findings differ from those from adults surveyed in other under-served communities, highlighting heterogeneity between communities. Variations in use of communication technologies and social media and preferences between parent-youth pairs suggest that understanding these factors within target populations is crucial for successful use to support health and health services.

An Investigation of the Application of New Media and Its Impact on Taiwan Health Communication

Along with the rise of social networks and mobile media, health communication models also change with each passing day. Compared to traditional media, are the new media more effective to achieve the dissemination of health knowledge, or help people and patients to implement lifestyle adjustments? With the shift in modern lifestyles, social media have revolutionized health communication. The means and channels for health communication are now very diversified. In order to assess the influence of social media in health communication, this study analyzed the “1922 Prevention Expert”, a campaign launched by Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control. In this study, the researchers collected data through interviews and a survey to investigate the use and outcomes of social media in health communication and explores how to use social media well in health communication.

How can health promotion institutions/services effectively use social media in health communication?

Background The use of internet and new applications (social media) has become a new approach and challenge for health institutions and services that promote health and/or provide health education. Due to this, the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Germany conducted a “Pilot Project on Use and Efficacy of Social Media in Health Promotion” …

A New Dimension of Health Care: Systematic Review of the Uses, Benefits, and Limitations of Social Media for Health Communication

BackgroundThere is currently a lack of information about the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals from primary research.ObjectiveTo review the current published literature to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals, and identify current gaps in the literature to provide recommendations for future health communication research.MethodsThis paper is a review using a systematic approach. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using nine electronic databases and manual searches to locate peer-reviewed studies published between January 2002 and February 2012.ResultsThe search identified 98 original research studies that included the uses, benefits, and/or limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals. The methodological quality of the studies assessed using the Downs and Black instrument was low; this was mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of the studies in this review included limited methodologies and was mainly exploratory and descriptive in nature. Seven main uses of social media for health communication were identified, including focusing on increasing interactions with others, and facilitating, sharing, and obtaining health messages. The six key overarching benefits were identified as (1) increased interactions with others, (2) more available, shared, and tailored information, (3) increased accessibility and widening access to health information, (4) peer/social/emotional support, (5) public health surveillance, and (6) potential to influence health policy. Twelve limitations were identified, primarily consisting of quality concerns and lack of reliability, confidentiality, and privacy.ConclusionsSocial media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes. Social media is a powerful tool, which offers collaboration between users and is a social interaction mechanism for a range of individuals. Although there are several benefits to the use of social media for health communication, the information exchanged needs to be monitored for quality and reliability, and the users’ confidentiality and privacy need to be maintained. Eight gaps in the literature and key recommendations for future health communication research were provided. Examples of these recommendations include the need to determine the relative effectiveness of different types of social media for health communication using randomized control trials and to explore potential mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the quality and reliability of health communication using social media. Further robust and comprehensive evaluation and review, using a range of methodologies, are required to establish whether social media improves health communication practice both in the short and long terms.

Integrative use of Social Media in Health Communication

This paper examines the integrative uses of social media in a health marketing setting. The focus is on the theory of selective and limited influences and the concepts of selective perception and exposure. Communication that engages participants enables a reduction in cognitive dissonance and enhances the perception of messages. An evaluation of communication theories and changes in health care dialogue are identified and assessed. Innovations are occurring in health communications that are improving the experience for end-users. A literature review was used to examine the topic and provide a framework for developing propositions that could be applied in a health communication setting. The specific uses for social media channels are outlined and the use of integrating social media channels is demonstrated in the obstetrics and gynecology specialty of high-risk maternal health. The findings indicate that social media should not only be delivered as independent channels but can be integrated into applications to be used in mobile settings that improve and enhance business objectives. Finally, it is proposed that organizational goals can be achieved with a well formulated social media monitoring plan.