Web 2.0 for Health Promotion: Reviewing the Current Evidence

Abstract

As Web 2.0 and social media make the communication landscape increasingly participatory, empirical evidence is needed regarding their impact on and utility for health promotion. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched 4 medical and social science databases for literature (2004-present) on the intersection of Web 2.0 and health. A total of 514 unique publications matched our criteria. We classified references as commentaries and reviews (n = 267), descriptive studies (n = 213), and pilot intervention studies (n = 34). The scarcity of empirical evidence points to the need for more interventions with participatory and user-generated features. Innovative study designs and measurement methods are needed to understand the communication landscape and to critically assess intervention effectiveness. To address health disparities, interventions must consider accessibility for vulnerable populations.

Obesity in social media: a mixed methods analysis

“…The role of social media in shaping attitudes about obesity Over the past decade, social media have allowed Internet users to interact with one another on unlimited topics, including health and weight [2,3]. Recent studies have noted the presence of weight stigma in social media dialogue.…”

Translating a health behavior change intervention for delivery to 2-year college students: the importance of formative research

“…The original course included units on how to navigate health behaviors while living in a residence hall or other campus housing, details of recreation and dining facilities specific to the University at which it was developed, and did not depict students outside of the 18-22 year age range [25]; all of these factors required that the course be reviewed and appropriately modified for 2-year students. Likewise, since there was no existing website encouraging 2-year college students to engage in healthy weight maintenance behaviors, and due to the relative newness of the evidence base regarding feasibility and usability of social media and web technologies in health interventions [26], formative assessment was critical to the web development stage of the project.…”

“Testing is Healthy” TimePlay campaign: Evaluation of sexual health promotion gamification intervention targeting young adults

“…4 Such platforms have been considered potentially cost-effective compared with conventional methods such as face-to-face interventions, which often require facilitator training and material costs, or with traditional mass-media campaigns (e.g., television, radio and newspapers), which are generally passive and costly. 5,27,28 Second, TimePlay exposes the movie audience to the campaign regardless of their participation in the application, maximizing the reach, which we aimed to quantify in this study. Our results show that our campaign using the TimePlay application had a wide reach (77 149 TimePlay participations and 471 261 who viewed the campaign, but did not participate in the TimePlay application).…”

“…Another strength is the use of interactive elements, such as the question-and-answer format that encourages audience participation. 28 In addition, the campaign materials can be reused on other platforms (e.g., Fraser Health website, digital signage, etc. ), as well as in other venues (e.g., health clinics, casinos) across the province and nationally, promoting scalability.…”