Systematic Literature Review on the use of Social Media and engagement by NHS Trusts (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Engagement strategies used within the NHS, to reach out to the public and internal stakeholders, have continuously changed over time. Communication with each other is happening through more user-generated information being shared through social media (SM). The advent of SM has shifted the information-seeking behaviour of society, including healthcare. The ability of SM to engage people in the community and overcome traditional separation barriers gives SM the invaluable power of helping in the transition towards a more community and prevention focused health care delivery involving multiple stakeholders. OBJECTIVE A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to explore how SM is currently being used in the NHS using current literature. This was under the general theme of use of SM in the NHS, and strategies to engage the public in the NHS. METHODS Literature searches were performed in PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE between 2004-2017. The relevance of articles were screening using a pre decided inclusion and exclusion criteria. The papers included were critically appraised using the PRISMA Statement. Two separate search strings were created to cover both SM use in the NHS and engagement strategies in the NHS. RESULTS The search string yielded 3145 papers in total. After screening by initial limits, de-duplicating, screening by title, abstract and inclusion/exclusion criteria, a total of 55 papers were reached. These were all critically appraised and were divided based on the theme they covered. The themes found amongst these 55 papers were use of SM in: the NHS, nursing, healthcare research, conferences, gaining insights to patient perspectives and trends, recruitment, patient and medical education, successful Twitter campaigns and engaging patients. CONCLUSIONS Literature has shown two main views apparent on the use of SM in the NHS. The effectiveness of SM use in the NHS is uncertain, but SM specific uses acknowledges the potential of SM in engaging with the public and therefore helping to achieve the ambitious Five Year Forward View. Whilst limited, the literature has shown that SM in NHS has been used in research, conferences, and education of other doctors and patients. Engagement strategies in the NHS have mostly taken the form of awareness campaigns in key areas, such as lung cancer, nutrition and antibiotics use. 22% (12/55 papers) shows that the use of SM in the NHS has still far to go before it achieves full implementation and utilization.