Exploring healthcare experiences among online interactive weight loss forum users

Faith, Jennifer; Thorburn, Sheryl; Sinky, Tassnym H.

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.048

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Another consideration is that forums differ in their posts concerning health care providers. Recent research has highlighted that some forums include many negative experiences with illness symptoms and experiences with health care providers [ 68 ]. Thus, some forums may contain conversations that reduce disclosure stigma and external stigma, and others, albeit inadvertently, may increase external stigma and disclosure stigma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model

Moore¹,

Drey²,

Ayers³

2017

JMIR Ment Health

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BackgroundPerinatal mental illness is a global health concern; however, many women with the illness do not get the treatment they need to recover. Interventions that reduce the stigma around perinatal mental illness have the potential to enable women to disclose their symptoms to health care providers and consequently access treatment. There are many online forums for perinatal mental illness and thousands of women use them. Preliminary research suggests that online forums may promote help-seeking behavior, potentially because they have a role in challenging stigma. This study draws from these findings and theoretical concepts to present a model of forum use, stigma, and disclosure.ObjectiveThis study tested a model that measured the mediating role of stigma between online forum use and disclosure of affective symptoms to health care providers.MethodsA Web-based survey of 200 women who were pregnant or had a child younger than 5 years and considered themselves to be experiencing psychological distress was conducted. Women were recruited through social media and questions measured forum usage, perinatal mental illness stigma, disclosure to health care providers, depression and anxiety symptoms, barriers to disclosure, and demographic information.ResultsThere was a significant positive indirect effect of length of forum use on disclosure of symptoms through internal stigma, b=0.40, bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) 95% CI 0.13-0.85. Long-term forum users reported higher levels of internal stigma, and higher internal stigma was associated with disclosure of symptoms to health care providers when controlling for symptoms of depression and anxiety.ConclusionsInternal stigma mediates the relationship between length of forum use and disclosure to health care providers. Findings suggest that forums have the potential to enable women to recognize and reveal their internal stigma, which may in turn lead to greater disclosure of symptoms to health care providers. Clinicians could refer clients to trustworthy and moderated online forums that facilitate expression of perinatal mental illness stigma and promote disclosure to health care providers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model

Moore¹,

Drey²,

Ayers³

2017

JMIR Ment Health

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“…Additionally, research has demonstrated that individuals who turn to common social media platforms to share mental health system perceptions were likely to specifically share information about their experiences with treatment providers (Shepherd, Sanders, Doyle, & Shaw, 2015). Previous work has also suggested that some individuals utilize social media as a method for seeking health care information when they do not trust their healthcare provider or have negative rapport with their provider (Faith, Thorburn, & Sinky, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On being a client with posttraumatic stress disorder: Interactions with treatment providers and institutional barriers

Ferrell

Russin

Grant

2020

Journal Community Psychology

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Premature dropout from psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common. Little research has sought to understand perceptions of treatment and barriers to treatment in this population. This study analyzed anonymous posts among an online community of individuals with PTSD (93 forum users comprising 158 posts regarding treatment providers and 40 forum users comprising 50 posts regarding institutional barriers). Results indicated that individuals with PTSD desire greater clarity about expectations for treatment, collaboration toward treatment goals, open discussion of client‐therapist boundaries, and increased validation among therapists in response to trauma disclosure. Individuals with PTSD also reported multiple systemic issues that were barriers to treatment including a lack of available services in their area, being placed on a waitlist for long periods of time, the cost of treatment as a financial burden, and poor crisis response in emergency rooms. Findings indicated areas of growth for treatment providers which will help inform future treatment studies in improving care and treatment adherence among individuals with PTSD.

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“…The use of the Internet as a health information source has become increasingly common (Myrick 2017), especially for health conditions such as obesity (Faith, Thorburn and Sinky 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of prior knowledge structures on website attitudes and behavioral intentions

Manika

Gregory‐Smith

Papagiannidis

2018

Computers in Human Behavior

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Exploring healthcare experiences among online interactive weight loss forum users

Cited by 21 publications

References 49 publications

Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model

Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model

On being a client with posttraumatic stress disorder: Interactions with treatment providers and institutional barriers

The influence of prior knowledge structures on website attitudes and behavioral intentions

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