Using Narrative Evidence to Convey Health Information on Social Media: The Case of COVID-19

Gesser‐Edelsburg, Anat

doi:10.2196/24948

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 95 publications

(73 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A few times, patient blogs were also shared with the purpose of staying connected to the user who asked the question, as shown in the two following comments: “If XXX or you would like to connect with me more, I am at www.xxxblog.com” and “I recommend you go to my blog www.xxx.blogspot.com if you would like to stay in touch.” Thus, patient blogs are important resources that contain real patient experiences and provide a platform for connecting with fellow OHC users. Previous studies have found that forum users prefer narrative articles and user blogs over nonnarrative articles [ 65 , 66 ]. However, our study observed that patient blogs were shared only 4.5% (8/176) of the time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Resource-Sharing Behaviors for Finding Relevant Health Resources: Analysis of an Online Ovarian Cancer Community

Thaker¹,

Chi²,

Birkhoff³

et al. 2022

JMIR Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Online health communities (OHCs) provide patients and survivors of ovarian cancer (OvCa) and their caregivers with help beyond traditional support channels, such as health care providers and clinicians. OvCa OHCs promote connections and exchanges of information among users with similar experiences. Users often exchange information, which leads to the sharing of resources in the form of web links. Although OHCs are important platforms for health management, concerns exist regarding the quality and relevance of shared resources. Previous studies have examined different aspects of resource-sharing behaviors, such as the purpose of sharing, the type of shared resources, and peer user reactions to shared resources in OHCs to evaluate resource exchange scenarios. However, there is a paucity of research examining whether resource-sharing behaviors can ultimately determine the relevance of shared resources. Objective This study aimed to examine the association between OHC resource-sharing behaviors and the relevance of shared resources. We analyzed three aspects of resource-sharing behaviors: types of shared resources, purposes of sharing resources, and OHC users’ reactions to shared resources. Methods Using a retrospective design, data were extracted from the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition discussion forum. The relevance of a resource was classified into three levels: relevant, partially relevant, and not relevant. Resource-sharing behaviors were identified through manual content analysis. A significance test was performed to determine the association between resource relevance and resource-sharing behaviors. Results Approximately 48.3% (85/176) of the shared resources were identified as relevant, 29.5% (52/176) as partially relevant, and 22.2% (39/176) as irrelevant. The study established a significant association between the types of shared resources (χ218=33.2; P<.001) and resource relevance (through chi-square tests of independence). Among the types of shared resources, health consumer materials such as health news (P<.001) and health organizations (P=.02) exhibited significantly more relevant resources. Patient educational materials (P<.001) and patient-generated resources (P=.01) were more significantly associated with partially relevant and irrelevant resources, respectively. Expert health materials, including academic literature, were only shared a few times but had significantly (P<.001) more relevant resources. A significant association (χ210=22.9; P<.001) was also established between the purpose of resource sharing and overall resource relevance. Resources shared with the purpose of providing additional readings (P=.01) and pointing to resources (P=.03) had significantly more relevant resources, whereas subjects for discussion and staying connected did not include any relevant shared resources. Conclusions The associations found between resource-sharing behaviors and the relevance of these resources can help in collecting relevant resources, along with the corresponding information needs from OvCa OHCs, on a large scale through automation. The results from this study can be leveraged to prioritize the resources required by survivors of OvCa and their caregivers, as well as to automate the search for relevant shared resources in OvCa OHCs.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Resource-Sharing Behaviors for Finding Relevant Health Resources: Analysis of an Online Ovarian Cancer Community

Thaker¹,

Chi²,

Birkhoff³

et al. 2022

JMIR Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the availability of vaccines, coupled with their politicization, means views on vaccination today are both more crystalized and more divided along partisan lines. 39 To successfully address these issues, narrative messages may need to be modified to focus on current concerns (e.g., fertility or myocarditis risk) 40 and highlight values relevant to either side of the political spectrum. 41 , 42 Additionally, the use of unauthorized treatments (e.g., ivermectin) has become an increasingly pressing concern, 43 suggesting that there is an urgent need to effectively communicate about the risks of taking unproven treatments without generating reactance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Narrative Messages on Key COVID-19 Protective Responses: Findings From a Randomized Online Experiment

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose. We investigated the effectiveness of narrative versus non-narrative messages in changing COVID-19-related perceptions and intentions. Design/Setting. The study employed a between-subjects two-group (narratives versus non-narratives) experimental design and was administered online. Subjects/Intervention. 1,804 U.S. adults recruited via Amazon MTurk in September 2020 were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions and read either three narrative or three non-narrative messages about social distancing, vaccination, and unproven treatments. Measures. Perceptions and intentions were assessed before and after message exposure (7-point scales). Analysis. Using multivariable regression, we assessed main effects of the experimental condition (controlling for baseline measures) and interactions between the condition and pre-exposure perceptions/intentions in predicting post-exposure outcomes. Results. Compared to non-narratives, narratives led to 1) less positive perceptions about the benefits of unproven treatments (Mnarrative=3.60, Mnon-narrative =3.77, p=.007); and 2) less willingness to receive an unproven drug (Mnarrative=3.46, Mnon-narrative=3.77, p<.001); this effect was stronger among individuals with higher baseline willingness to receive unproven drugs (baseline willingness=2.09: b=-0.06, p=.461; baseline willingness=3.90: b=-0.30, p<.001; baseline willingness=5.71: b=-0.55, p<.001). Narratives also led to more positive perceptions of vaccine safety/effectiveness, but only among individuals with lower baseline vaccine perceptions (baseline perceptions=4.51: b=0.10, p=.008; baseline perceptions=5.89: b=0.04, p=.167; baseline perceptions=7: b=-0.01, p=.688). Conclusion. Narratives are a promising communication strategy, particularly for topics where views are not entrenched and among individuals who are more resistant to recommendations.

show abstract

“…One way to address the need to include emotional aspects in how organizations transmit information to the public is through the use of narrative. 101 A narrative is defined as a representation of connected events and characters that has an identifiable structure, is bounded in space and time, and contains implicit or explicit messages about the topic being addressed. 102 Narrative humanizes dry scientific facts by engaging the human voice of both narrator and listener.…”

Section: Recommendation: Use Narrative To Address the Public's Emotional Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Make Health and Risk Communication on Social Media More “Social” During COVID-19

Gesser‐Edelsburg¹

2021

RMHP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social media have changed the way citizens participate in and express opinions about government policy. Social media serve organizations in achieving four main goals: interacting with citizens; fostering citizen participation; furthering open government; and analyzing/monitoring public opinion and activities. We contend that despite the importance of social media, international and local health organizations have been slow to adopt to them, primarily due to the discrepancy between intraorganizational discourse modes and the type of discourse suitable for dialogue with the public. In this perspective paper, we recommend strategies for such public dialogue based on understanding the challenges faced by organizations on the road to becoming more “social” in their social media presence and in their health and risk communication. Subsequently, we propose an integrative approach that combines three complementary paths: (1) putting the “social” back into health organizations’ culture by inserting more “social” content into the internal organizational discourse through consultation with experts from different fields, including those who diverge from the scientific consensus. (2) Using strategies to enable health organizations to respond to the public on social networks, based on health communications research and studies on emerging infectious disease (EID) communication. (3) Engaging the public on social media based on the participatory approach, which considers the public as a partner that understands science and can work with the organizations to develop an open and innovative pandemic realm by using crowdsourcing to solve complex global health problems. For each path, we define the current challenges, among which are (1) overcoming organizational groupthink and hidden profiles, (2) treating all unofficial information as misleading, and (3) insufficient public engagement in solving complex global problems. We then offer recommendations for dealing with each challenge.

show abstract

Using Narrative Evidence to Convey Health Information on Social Media: The Case of COVID-19

Cited by 31 publications

References 95 publications

Exploring Resource-Sharing Behaviors for Finding Relevant Health Resources: Analysis of an Online Ovarian Cancer Community

Exploring Resource-Sharing Behaviors for Finding Relevant Health Resources: Analysis of an Online Ovarian Cancer Community

Effects of Narrative Messages on Key COVID-19 Protective Responses: Findings From a Randomized Online Experiment

How to Make Health and Risk Communication on Social Media More “Social” During COVID-19

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About