Online communities as a new source of exploring patient dissatisfaction

A Mapping Review of Netnography in Nursing

People use the Web to seek health-related information and to discuss health issues with peers. Netnography, a qualitative research methodology, has gained the attention of researchers interested in people's health and health issues. However, no previous reviews have accounted for how netnography is used in nursing research. The purpose of this mapping review was to generate a map of netnographic research in nursing. The search was conducted in PubMed, Academic Search Elite, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Data were extracted from 53 original articles. The results show an increasing trend in published netnographies over time; 34% of the total sample was published in 2021. Of the total, 28% originated from Sweden, and 81% had used a covert approach. In studies in which the researchers used more participatory designs, the time spent on online forums ranged between 4 weeks and 20 months. Informed consent is found to be an issue in netnographic studies. We discuss the fact that nursing researchers have used netnography to address a wide range of research topics of concern and interest, from self-care support in an online forum for older adults to nursing students' perspectives on effective pedagogy. In line with the digital transformation in society in general, we discuss the fact that netnography as a research methodology offers great opportunities for nurse researchers to monitor new spaces and places that presuppose online methodological knowledge.

Foresight study on online health community: The perspective of knowledge empowerment for patients with chronic diseases

Patient empowerment is an indispensable precondition for patients to self-manage their disease. The article takes the position that patients are empowered for disease self-management through patient knowledge empowerment when sharing knowledge. One of the most important instruments to successfully empower a patient to manage a chronic disease and maintain social relations, which are also a precondition for the prevention of chronic illnesses, is the possibility to access online health communities (OHCs) and participate in them. The aim of the article is to model possible development scenarios of OHCs as enablers of patient knowledge in relation to other digital health technologies (DHTs). A foresight methodology was used to achieve the goal, employing a technology scanning approach after selecting 10 foresight studies, which resulted in four future scenario models for the empowerment of patients wcith chronic diseases through digital health communities. They reveal options for the future interoperability of OHCs with other DHTs and highlight their importance and significance for the healthcare system as a technology for balancing patient self-efficacy and social relations as well as the need to maintain and develop them.