Social media in Health care settings

Social Media: Friend or Foe to Healthcare?

Muireann O'Keeffe, Institute of Leadership , RCSI

Today’s workshop

Aim: is to explore what social media is and its potential use in health care settings

• Introductions • My online identity…………………..Your online identity?• Social media in the headlines• What is Web 2.0/ social media? • Benefits and Challenges • Dealing with Information overload

Group activity: Design a strategy involving social media that could address a problem existing in your professional practice

My online identity

Muireann O’Keeffe

Twitter - Why I use it

• Ranked as Top tool for learning (http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/)

• Tool to support my professional development

• I share and collect information relating to my discipline via twitter

• Conferences: continues dialogue, commentary and networking, backchannel

• Support mechanism for my studies & research

Twitter on Grey’s Anatomy

What is Social Media?

• What is your definition of social media?

• Any website that allows social interaction between people• Communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or

who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others• Bottom up approach to collaboration rather that top down• The use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn

communication into interactive dialogue• Web 2.0 refers to interactions on social media to encourage

participation, collaboration and knowledge creation

History of Social Media

Evolution of Participatory Internet

In the Headlines……………………….

Flash Mobs

The power of Social Media to organise collective action

Healthcare practitioners using Social Media?

How are healthcare practitioners using Social Media?

How is social media used in Healthcare settings?

• Healthcare recruitment – LinkedIn• Communicating with employees• Health campaigns – Twitter & Facebook • Apps/ Games: mobiles/ tablets

Data From http://www.slideshare.net/KarenOBrien/healthcare-and-social-media

Social Media in Healthcare

What are the Opportunities for patients? • Public Health alerts• Monitoring flu outbreaks• E-doctoring (Anne Cunningham)• Social & psychological support • Academic research

Social Media in Healthcare

Enables …………

• Engagement• Participation• Collaboration • Empowered patients

E-patients – empowered patients

Patient E-patient

Passive role Active engaged role

Information is given to them They seek out information (internet)

Top down delivery of healthcare Partner in their healthcare

Paternalistic medicine Participatory medicine

What is an e-patient?

From http://www.slideshare.net/KarenOBrien/healthcare-and-social-media

Social Media in Healthcare

What Challenges face patients using social media? • Reliability of information• Dr. Google• Information overload• Other patients dispensing advice• Confidentiality/ safety

Information Overload of Social media

Managing Information Overload

• Filtering of information • Involvement in medical social

networks in fields of interest• Crowd sourcing clinical questions

in correct fields/communities • Knowing the communities• Trust is fundamental, established

relationships

• Need to learn about digital literacy

Dealing with Information overload……….

Research into Social Media in Health

Health 2.0: how interactive Web sites are changing the healthcare industry

Realizing the promise of Web 2.0: engaging community intelligence

Summary

• Social Media is here to stay • Many social media tools, ever increasing • Potential to create a rich engaging environment • Patients become active participants and rather passive consumers• Patients want to be empowered to build their needs into any

technology on offer

To think about.....• Best practice/policies• Digital literacy• Online Data reliability • Online identity

References & acknowledgments

Thank you fellow Tweeters for helping shape this presentation

Healthcare and Social Media: http://www.slideshare.net/KarenOBrien/healthcare-and-social-media

Boulos, M., Wheeler, S., (2007)The emerging Web 2.0 social software: an enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care Education. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24, pp.2–23

Blog: Anne Marie Cunningham: Wishful thinking in medical education http://wishfulthinkinginmedicaleducation.blogspot.ie/

Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT) http://c4lpt.co.uk/jane-hart/