Professional Use of Social Media by Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

BackgroundSocial media is frequently used by consumers and health care professionals; however, our knowledge about its use in a professional capacity by pharmacists is limited.ObjectiveOur aim was to investigate the professional use of social media by pharmacists.MethodsIn-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with practicing pharmacists (N=31) from nine countries. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed.ResultsWikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook were the main social media platforms used. Professional use of social media included networking with peers, discussion of health and professional topics, accessing and sharing health and professional information, job searching, and professional promotion. Wikipedia was the participants’ first choice when seeking information about unfamiliar topics, or topics that were difficult to search for. Very few pharmacy-related contributions to Wikipedia were reported. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was used for self-education. University lectures, “how-to” footage, and professionally made videos were commonly watched. No professional contribution was made to YouTube. Facebook, a general social networking site, was used for professional networking, promotion of achievements, and job advertisements. It also afforded engagement in professional discussions and information sharing among peers.ConclusionsParticipants used social media in a professional capacity, specifically for accessing and sharing health and professional information among peers. Pharmacists, as medicines experts, should take a leading role in contributing to health information dissemination in these user-friendly virtual environments, to reach not only other health care professionals but also health consumers.

Public Perceptions Regarding Use of Virtual Reality in Health Care: A Social Media Content Analysis Using Facebook

“…Social listening is an established and efficient way to study online communities [ 19 ]. Previous studies have used Facebook to examine the social media activity of clinicians and pharmacists [ 20 , 21 ]; to evaluate Facebook groups focused on diabetes and explore the information that patients request, the unsolicited information that is provided, and the nature of the virtual communities that congregate on Facebook [ 22 ]; and to examine risk perceptions of obesity among social media users [ 23 ]. We build on this methodology by using responses to the VR video posted on Facebook as a virtual focus group to characterize public knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and preferences about the use of VR in health care.…”

To tweet or not to tweet? A primer on social media for pharmacists

“…Despite the available opportunities for pharmacists to educate patients on medications and disease states using social media, this is an infrequent occurrence. A qualitative survey of 31 pharmacists across nine countries found that none of the pharmacists were delivering any type of services via social media despite recognizing the potential of social media . Deterrents for engaging patients on social media included patient privacy concerns, lack of reimbursement for providing education online, preference for face‐to‐face interactions, and need to acquire new skills to engage with social media.…”

“…A qualitative survey of 31 pharmacists across nine countries found that none of the pharmacists were delivering any type of services via social media despite recognizing the potential of social media. 5,6 Deterrents for engaging patients on social media included patient privacy concerns, lack of reimbursement for providing education online, preference for face-to-face interactions, and need to acquire new skills to engage with social media. Additionally, the legality of the pharmacist-patient relationship through social media remains untested and the pharmacists' "duty to warn" may still apply if the pharmacist has a legitimate relationship with the patient.…”

“…A qualitative analysis using in-depth semi-structured interviews of 31 practicing pharmacists from nine countries found the most frequently used social media platforms were Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook. 5 Pharmacists used these platforms primarily for peer networking, discussion of health-related topics, promotion of the pharmacy profession, and job searching. Furthermore, pharmacist use of social media for engaging with the public or patients appears to be infrequent.…”

‘WP2Cochrane’, a tool linking Wikipedia to the Cochrane Library: Results of a bibliometric analysis evaluating article quality and importance

“…Our analysis would suggest that updating these Wikipedia articles with these Cochrane Reviews would improve their quality on the basis of Wikipedia's own rating system. In light of the multi-societal disposition to consult the Internet for health-related information 19,[45][46][47][48][49] and the widely prevalent use of Wikipedia specifically to fulfil these information needs, 11,19,23,50,51 its value as a free source of knowledge, and the importance of ensuring that this knowledge reflects highquality scientific evidence, are indisputable. As the most referenced scientific journal among medical Wikipedia articles, 37 the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is an invaluable source of the secondary research cited on Wikipedia.…”