“Ask a Doctor About Coronavirus”: How Physicians on Social Media Can Provide Valid Health Information During a Pandemic

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the information stream has overflowed with accurate information, misinformation, and constantly changing guidelines. There is a great need for guidance on the identification of trustworthy health information, and official channels are struggling to keep pace with this infodemic. Consequently, a Facebook group was created where volunteer medical physicians would answer laypeople’s questions about the 2019 novel coronavirus. There is not much precedence in health care professional–driven Facebook groups, and the framework was thus developed continuously. We ended up with an approach without room for debate, which fostered a sense of calmness, trust, and safety among the questioners. Substantial moderator effort was needed to ensure high quality and consistency through collaboration among the presently >200 physicians participating in this group. At the time of writing, the group provides a much-needed service to >58,000 people in Denmark during this crisis.

Knowledge, Anxiety, Depression, and Sleep Quality Among Medical Staff in Central South Areas of China During the Break of COVID-19: Does the Level of Hospitals Make a Difference?

“…Therefore, it is important to control and prevent mental disorders of these medical staff for control of the epidemic and their long-term health. Some policies, measures and interventions have been taken in China to reduce the pressure on medical workers and address these mental disorders, such as establishing a shift system and online platforms with medical advice and identifying medical staff infected with COVID-19 while at work as work-related injuries ( 12 , 36 ). It is worth mentioning that the National Health Commission of China published a national guideline of psychological crisis intervention for COVID-19 on 27th January, 2020, which was the first to initiate the guidance to provide multifaceted psychological protection of the mental health of medical staff in China ( 36 ).…”

“…Some policies, measures and interventions have been taken in China to reduce the pressure on medical workers and address these mental disorders, such as establishing a shift system and online platforms with medical advice and identifying medical staff infected with COVID-19 while at work as workrelated injuries (12,36). It is worth mentioning that the National Health Commission of China published a national guideline of psychological crisis intervention for COVID-19 on 27th January, 2020, which was the first to initiate the guidance to provide multifaceted psychological protection of the mental health of medical staff in China (36). Some demographic characteristics have been found to be related with health workers' knowledge and attitudes toward a certain disease, including age, title, education level, and hospital levels (14)(15)(16).…”

A Comprehensive Analysis of E-Health Literacy Research Focuses and Trends

“…Meanwhile, during the recent coronavirus epidemic, with correct information, disinformation, and changing recommendations blended in a massive amount of materials, there was a tremendous need for instructions on how to identify trustworthy health information among them. As a result, the engagement of people with higher e-health literacy in guiding people with lower e-health literacy, such as college students assisting the elderly [ 87 ] and volunteer doctors providing the most up-to-date epidemic-related information to the general population [ 88 ], can help improve e-health literacy and narrow the digital divide.…”

Addressing health literacy in the digital domain: insights from a literature review

“…Relational skills are critical to enable patients, informal caregivers and health-care professionals to fully take advantage of technological advancements, which enable remote consultations and permit people to get in contact with the providers of care even when the former are unable to do so physically (Barsom et al , 2021). Service exchanges are hosted in digital environments, which activate a friendly environment where health-care professionals, patients and informal caregivers may interact in order to achieve a continuum of care which is consistent with the specific needs and expectations of the cared for (Furstrand et al , 2021). Digital health settings pave the way for the creation of personal learning networks, which are crucial to nurture the patients and informal caregivers’ relational digital skills (Konstantinidis et al , 2017) and to ensure the access to timely and relevant information about issues related to health promotion and risk prevention (Sykes et al , 2020).…”