Multifaceted Role of Social Media in Healthcare: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Need for Quality Control

Jeyaraman, Madhan; Ramasubramanian, Swaminathan; Kumar, Shanmugapriya; Jeyaraman, Naveen; Selvaraj, Preethi; Nallakumarasamy, Arulkumar; Bondili, Suresh  K; Yadav, Sankalp

doi:10.7759/cureus.39111

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…A possible explanation for the lack of HCP presence online might be the unregulated nature of social media and the difficulty in achieving a balance in providing information on treatment options while dissociating their online persona from commercial services. A 2023 review article highlighted the importance of social media platforms in healthcare, medical education and research but concluded that quality control, stricter regulations and ethical frameworks are necessary to address potential dangers 27. Furthermore, Medical Council guidelines advise that doctors should not be seen to promote specific treatments or pharmacotherapy options.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive healthcare professionals’ representation of the disease on social media? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Maher,

McHugh,

Crotty

et al. 2024

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to explore how people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) online representation of the disease on social media. By exploring their perspective, we aimed to develop a framework to inform good practice around social media use for HCPs.DesignThis was a qualitative study using a phenomenological framework. Following in-depth semi-structured interviews, analysis was undertaken to identify superordinate themes relating to how HCPs portray living with obesity online.SettingPatient advocacy organisation (The Irish Coalition for People Living with Obesity) and three clinical sites offering obesity treatment in Ireland.Participants15 adult participants comprising of 12 women and 3 men who use social media and are living with obesity and who use obesity services.ResultsThree key themes of how people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive HCP’s online representation of the disease. (1) Negative experiences of HCPs—participants describe encountering weight stigma and bias on social media from HCPs that they characterised as simplistic and outdated conceptualisations. These engender shame, fear and anger. (2) Positive experience of HCPs—participants report social media allows HCPs to educate and inform public perception of obesity. Positive online experiences lead to feelings of inclusion, understanding and encouragement. (3) Expectations of HCPs—qualifications, professional titles and academic association affected the perceived trustworthiness of information and its impact on readers. Participants feel there is a duty of care for HCPs in obesity medicine to advocate and be active online to provide accurate medical information.ConclusionHCP’s use of social media has a powerful impact on people with obesity who use healthcare and obesity services. Social media is a key tool in obesity awareness and education. We propose the ‘3E’ framework—Empower, Evidence-Based and Educate and be educated to guide HCPs’ social media use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive healthcare professionals’ representation of the disease on social media? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Maher,

McHugh,

Crotty

et al. 2024

BMJ Open

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“…There are ongoing concerns over the accuracy and prevalence of disinformation on these platforms, despite its use by healthcare professionals to enhance public health literacy. In 2023, platforms like Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA), YouTube (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA), Instagram (Meta Platforms, Inc.), TikTok (ByteDance Ltd., Beijing, China), and Twitter (X Corp., Carson City, NV, USA) are increasingly fundamental to healthcare research because they provide contact with patients, training for healthcare providers, data management, and the exchange of information [40].…”

Section: Social Media and Health Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Neoteric Approach toward Social Media in Public Health Informatics: A Narrative Review of Current Trends and Future Directions

Awan,

Gonzalez,

Sharma

2024

Information

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Social media has become more popular in the last few years. It has been used in public health development and healthcare settings to promote healthier lifestyles. Given its important role in today’s culture, it is necessary to understand its current trends and future directions in public health. This review aims to describe and summarize how public health professionals have been using social media to improve population outcomes. This review highlights the substantial influence of social media in advancing public health objectives. The key themes explored encompass the utilization of social media to advance health initiatives, monitor diseases, track behaviors, and interact with communities. Additionally, it discusses potential future directions on how social media can be used to improve population health. The findings show how social media has been used as a tool for research, implementing health campaigns, and health promotion. Social media integration with artificial intelligence (AI) and Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPTs) can impact and offer an innovative approach to tackle the problems and difficulties in health informatics. The research shows how social media will keep growing and evolving and, if used effectively, has the potential to help close public health gaps across different cultures and improve population health.

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“…There are ongoing concerns over the accuracy and prevalence of disinformation on these platforms, despite its use by healthcare professionals to enhance public health literacy. In 2023, platforms like Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc., Menlo Park, California, United States), YouTube (Google LLC, Mountain View, California, United States), Instagram (Meta Platforms, Inc.), TikTok (ByteDance Ltd, Beijing, China), and Twitter (X Corp., Carson City, Nevada, United States) are increasingly fundamental to healthcare research because they provide contact with patients, training for healthcare providers, data management, and the exchange of information [42].…”

Section: Social Media and Health Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Neoteric Approach toward Social Media in Public Health Informatics: A Narrative Review of Current Trends and Future Directions

Awan,

Gonzalez,

Sharma

2023

Preprint

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Social media has become more popular in the last few years. It has been used in public health development and healthcare settings to promote healthier lifestyles. Given its important role in today's culture, it is necessary to understand its current trends and future directions in public health. This review aims to describe and summarize how public health professionals have been using social media to improve population outcomes. Additionally, it discusses potential future directions on how social media can be used to improve population health. The findings showed how social media has been used as a tool for research, designing and implementing health campaigns, messaging, and health promotion. In addition, social media integration with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Pre-Trained transformers (GPT) can have a big impact and offer an innovative approach to tackle the problems and difficulties in health informatics. These innovations might improve patient participation, individualized assistance, and care experiences. The research showed how likely social media will keep growing and evolving and, if used effectively, have the potential to help close public health gaps across different cultures and improve population health.

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Multifaceted Role of Social Media in Healthcare: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Need for Quality Control

Cited by 25 publications

References 43 publications

How do people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive healthcare professionals’ representation of the disease on social media? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

How do people living with obesity who use obesity services perceive healthcare professionals’ representation of the disease on social media? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

A Neoteric Approach toward Social Media in Public Health Informatics: A Narrative Review of Current Trends and Future Directions

A Neoteric Approach toward Social Media in Public Health Informatics: A Narrative Review of Current Trends and Future Directions

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