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Issaka B, Aidoo EAK, Wood SF, Mohammed F. "Anxiety is not cute" analysis of twitter users' discourses on romanticizing mental illness. BMC Psychiatry 2024; 24:221. [PMID: 38515062 PMCID: PMC10956207 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-024-05663-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The proliferation of social media platforms has provided a unique space for discourse on mental health, originally intended to destigmatize mental illness. However, recent discourses on these platforms have shown a concerning shift towards the romanticization of mental health issues. This research focuses on Twitter (now called X) users' authentic discussions on the phenomenon of romanticizing mental health, aiming to uncover unique perspectives, themes, and language used by users when engaging with this complex topic. METHODS A comprehensive content analysis was conducted on 600 relevant tweets, with the application of topic modeling techniques. This methodology allowed for the identification and exploration of six primary themes that emerged from Twitter users' discussions. Statistical tests were not applied in this qualitative analysis. RESULTS The study identified six primary themes resulting from Twitter users' discussions on the romanticization of mental health. These themes include rejecting/critiquing the glamorization of mental health, monetization of mental health by corporate organizations, societal misconceptions of mental health, the role of traditional media and social media, unfiltered realities of depression, and the emphasis on not romanticizing mental health. CONCLUSIONS This study provides valuable insights into the multifaceted discourses surrounding the romanticization of mental health on Twitter. It highlights users' critiques, concerns, and calls for change, emphasizing the potential harm caused by romanticizing mental illness. The findings underscore the importance of fostering responsible and empathetic discussions about mental health on social media platforms. By examining how Twitter users interact with and respond to the romanticization of mental health, this research advances our understanding of emerging perspectives on mental health issues among social media users, particularly young adolescents. The study also underscores the effects of this phenomenon on individuals, society, and the mental health community. Overall, this research emphasizes the need for more responsible and knowledgeable discussions around mental health in the digital age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barikisu Issaka
- Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.
- Michigan State University, Lansing, USA.
| | | | - Sandra Freda Wood
- Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA
| | - Fatima Mohammed
- Department of Information Systems , University of Nevada, Reno, USA, Reno
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Online community development in the early stages: the life cycle model application to Medical Sciences Stack Exchange. ASLIB J INFORM MANAG 2022. [DOI: 10.1108/ajim-11-2021-0345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
PurposeThis study aims to investigate the nature and evolution of online communities in the early stages of their life cycles. The authors analyze the topics of discussions in an online community to identify issues related to community development. The authors also compare the topics of exemplary questions that founding members believed to be asked with the real questions based on members' information needs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use Medical Sciences Stack Exchange, a health Q&A community of Stack Exchange, which requires four stages of development: definition, commitment, private beta and public beta. The authors collect postings of discussions and health questions in the first three stages, perform a content analysis of the postings and analyze the topics of discussions and health questions.FindingsThe authors find that the topics of discussions evolved dynamically with the issues of community governance, role as a medical/health community, members and roles, content management, quality control and community design. The authors also find that the real questions included more specific and diverse issues than the exemplary questions that founding members expected.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study tests the community life cycle model in an online community that has explicit phase markers. The findings could shed light on community development and help prioritize issues to solve and decisions to make in its early stages. Additionally, this study focuses on the challenges and concerns in online health community building and solutions generated by collective efforts that could influence health communications in online communities.
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Liu Y, Zhu Y, Xia Y. Support-Seeking Strategies and Social Support Provided in Chinese Online Health Communities Related to COVID-19. Front Psychol 2021; 12:783135. [PMID: 34867695 PMCID: PMC8635687 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.783135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Online health communities have become one of the most important means for people to seek social support during the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study details content analysis of support-seeking strategies and social support offered on the online forum "Baidu COVID-19bar" across different stages of initial stage as well as during the entire initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that asking for support and disclosing directly were the main strategies used across the different stages and during the entire initial stage. Informational support and emotional support were the most common types sought in the first two stages and the entire initial stage, and informational support was the main type during the decline stage. Furthermore, asking for support was more likely to elicit informational support while disclosing directly was more likely to elicit emotional support. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Liu
- School of Journalism and Communication, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yiwei Zhu
- School of Journalism and Communication, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yixuan Xia
- School of Journalism and Communication, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
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Wang W, Wu J, Nepal S, daSilva A, Hedlund E, Murphy E, Rogers C, Huckins J. On the Transition of Social Interaction from In-Person to Online: Predicting Changes in Social Media Usage of College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic based on Pre-COVID-19 On-Campus Colocation. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ... ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION. ICMI (CONFERENCE) 2021; 2021:425-434. [PMID: 36519953 PMCID: PMC9747327 DOI: 10.1145/3462244.3479888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Pandemics significantly impact human daily life. People throughout the world adhere to safety protocols (e.g., social distancing and self-quarantining). As a result, they willingly keep distance from workplace, friends and even family. In such circumstances, in-person social interactions may be substituted with virtual ones via online channels, such as, Instagram and Snapchat. To get insights into this phenomenon, we study a group of undergraduate students before and after the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we track N=102 undergraduate students on a small college campus prior to the pandemic using mobile sensing from phones and assign semantic labels to each location they visit on campus where they study, socialize and live. By leveraging their colocation network at these various semantically labeled places on campus, we find that colocations at certain places that possibly proxy higher in-person social interactions (e.g., dormitories, gyms and Greek houses) show significant predictive capability in identifying the individuals' change in social media usage during the pandemic period. We show that we can predict student's change in social media usage during COVID-19 with an F1 score of 0.73 purely from the in-person colocation data generated prior to the pandemic.
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Chen Y, Xu Y. Exploring the Effect of Social Support and Empathy on User Engagement in Online Mental Health Communities. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:6855. [PMID: 34206719 PMCID: PMC8296998 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18136855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
It is known that social support and empathy are beneficial for mental health. As a result of the widespread development of social media, online social support and empathy could also influence user behaviors during the development of online communities. However, few studies have examined these effects from the perspective of online mental health communities. These communities appear to be a crucial source for mental health related support, but the spread of online empathy in these communities is not well-understood. This study focused on 22 mental health related subreddits, and matched and compared users (1) who received social support with those who did not receive social support, and users (2) who received more empathic social support with those who received less empathic social support. The results showed that social support and empathy are "contagious". That is, users who received social support at their first post would be more likely to post again and provide support for others; in addition, users who received more empathic support would subsequently express a higher level of empathy to others in the future. Our findings indicate the potential chain reaction of social support and empathy in online mental health communities. Our study also provides insights into how online mental health communities might better assist people to deliver social support that can help others to deal with mental problems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yang Xu
- Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
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Haldar S, Mishra SR, Kim Y, Hartzler A, Pollack AH, Pratt W. Use and impact of an online community for hospital patients. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021; 27:549-557. [PMID: 31986197 PMCID: PMC7075532 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocz212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Although patient-peer support technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in a variety of health contexts-including diabetes, weight loss, and cancer-less is known about how hospitalized patients can benefit from this support. We investigated the nature of peer support in the hospital and the impact this support had on patients' hospital stays. MATERIALS AND METHODS We created a technology, resembling an online health community, in which patients could exchange advice about their hospitalization. We deployed it at 1 pediatric hospital and 1 adult hospital. With 30 participants, we conducted bedside interviews, observed how they used the technology during their hospitalization, and completed follow-up phone interviews. RESULTS Participants shared advice about several topics, including adjusting to the hospital and building relationships with providers. Contrary to concerns that such a system would primarily serve as a place for patients to "complain," sentiment analysis showed that 23 of 36 (64%) of the shared advice reflected positive sentiment. Patients also reported positive impacts to their quality, safety, and hospital experience due to the inpatient peer support community. DISCUSSION Participants benefited from peer support that transcended diagnoses and individual health conditions. The shared experience of being in the hospital was sufficient to yield valuable and practical peer support. Participants who did not contribute their own advice still experienced benefits from reading their peers' advice. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrated the positive nature of peer advice exchanged, and the benefits of this advice on patients' hospital stays. Inpatient peer support technologies could be an additional resource for patients to engage in their care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shefali Haldar
- Division of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Sonali R Mishra
- Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Yoojung Kim
- Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Andrea Hartzler
- Division of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Ari H Pollack
- Division of Nephrology, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Wanda Pratt
- Information School, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Mertan E, Croucher L, Shafran R, Bennett SD. An investigation of the information provided to the parents of young people with mental health needs on an internet forum. Internet Interv 2020; 23:100353. [PMID: 33365258 PMCID: PMC7749433 DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2020.100353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Access to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) can be difficult, with lengthy wait times. Many of the young people and their parents are not signposted to any form of support during their wait for initial assessment or treatment and people are increasingly turning towards web-based resources for help and advice. However, there are some concerns about the quality of the information shared online. Research on the use and quality of information shared on online platforms for mental health inquiries is limited. AIMS We aimed to investigate the content and quality of the responses shared by forum users on an online forum for parents of young people with mental health needs (Mumsnet 'Talk'). Forum users were primarily parents, but 8 posts were written by posters identifying as a healthcare worker, teacher, or autism spectrum specialist. METHODS Qualitative methodology was adopted for this study. Forum content from Mumsnet was extracted in an anonymised form and thematic analysis was conducted to explore the content. Information shared in the online forum was assessed for quality by comparing the responses with clinical guidelines. RESULTS Thread topics related to 16 mental health problems. "Autistic Traits/Autism Spectrum Disorder", "Obsessions and Intrusive Thoughts/ Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" and "Comorbid Anxiety and Depression" were the most prevalent thread topics, consisting 38.3% of the extracted content. The investigation focused on "Information Offered" as the general dimension. Based on the thematic analysis, there were four second-order themes regarding the information offered by forum users; referral, advice, anecdotal information and opinion on case. The quantitative assessment of responses found that 58.3% of the knowledge exchange on Mumsnet was congruent with evidence-based clinical guidelines. CONCLUSIONS Themes indicate that parents of children and young people with mental health needs seem to use online fora for informational support. It is promising that a significant proportion of the information shared within the extracted forum content is congruent with evidence-based knowledge. However, further investigation is needed to generate better understanding of the overall quality of mental health information available on online platforms.
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Croucher L, Mertan E, Shafran R, Bennett SD. The Use of Mumsnet by Parents of Young People With Mental Health Needs: Qualitative Investigation. JMIR Ment Health 2020; 7:e18271. [PMID: 32880583 PMCID: PMC7499161 DOI: 10.2196/18271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are high rates of mental health needs in children in the United Kingdom, and parents are increasingly seeking help for their children's needs. However, there is not enough access to child and adolescent mental health services and parents are seeking alternative forms of support and information, often from web-based sources. Mumsnet is the largest web-based parenting forum in the United Kingdom, which includes user-created discussions regarding child mental health. OBJECTIVE This qualitative investigation aimed to explore the emergent themes within the narratives of posts regarding child mental health on Mumsnet and to extrapolate these themes to understand the purpose of Mumsnet for parents of children and young people with mental health needs. METHODS A total of 50 threads from Mumsnet Talk Child Mental Health were extracted. Following the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 41 threads were analyzed thematically using the framework approach, a form of qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS In total, 28 themes were extracted and organized into 3 domains. These domains were emotional support, emotional expression, and advice and information. The results suggested that parents of children with mental health needs predominantly use Mumsnet to offer and receive emotional support and to suggest general advice, techniques, and resources that could be applied outside of help from professional services. CONCLUSIONS This paper discusses the future of health information seeking. Future research is required to establish initiatives in which web-based peer-to-peer support and information can supplement professional services to provide optimum support for parents of children with mental health needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Croucher
- University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom
| | - Elif Mertan
- University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom
| | - Roz Shafran
- University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie D Bennett
- University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom
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Lazar A, Dixon E. Safe Enough to Share: Setting the Dementia Agenda Online. CSCW : PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK. CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK 2019; 3:85. [PMID: 32601621 PMCID: PMC7323863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
CSCW research is increasingly interested in the ways that people use technology to discuss health and disability online. In addition to studying how people share information and seek and provide emotional support, a growing area of interest is health activism. In this paper, we analyze how a project centered around sharing "real and raw" experiences with dementia provides a safe platform for people to share their authentic experiences. These accounts counter predominant depictions of dementia and push back on tokenistic involvement of people with this condition. In a study involving observations and interviews with members of this project, we find that people with dementia must negotiate several goals which at times compete with each other: sharing a "real and raw" look at dementia, changing attitudes, showcasing a polished presentation, and inhabiting a safe space. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions for CSCW on configuring a space for dialogue on sensitive topics, health activism, and sharing online with dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emma Dixon
- University of Maryland, College Park, USA
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10
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Burgess ER, Ringland KE, Nicholas J, Knapp AA, Eschler J, Mohr DC, Reddy MC. "I think people are powerful": The Sociality of Individuals Managing Depression. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACM ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION 2019; 3:41. [PMID: 36467432 PMCID: PMC9714337 DOI: 10.1145/3359143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Millions of Americans struggle with depression, a condition characterized by feelings of sadness and motivation loss. To understand how individuals managing depression conceptualize their self-management activities, we conducted visual elicitations and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants managing depression in a large city in the U.S. Midwest. Many depression support tools are focused on the individual user and do not often incorporate social features. However, our analysis showed the key importance of sociality for self-management of depression. We describe how individuals connect with specific others to achieve expected support and how these interactions are mediated through locations and communication channels. We discuss factors influencing participants' sociality including relationship roles and expectations, mood state and communication channels, location and privacy, and culture and society. We broaden our understanding of sociality in CSCW through discussing diffuse sociality (being proximate to others but not interacting directly) as an important activity to support depression self-management.
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Introne J, Erickson I, Semaan B, Goggins S. Designing sustainable online support: Examining the effects of design change in 49 online health support communities. J Assoc Inf Sci Technol 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/asi.24250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Introne
- Department of Media & Information, Michigan State University East Lansing MI
| | - Ingrid Erickson
- School of Information Studies, Syracuse University Syracuse NY
| | - Bryan Semaan
- School of Information Studies, Syracuse University Syracuse NY
| | - Sean Goggins
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri Columbia MO
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VanDam C, Kanthawala S, Pratt W, Chai J, Huh J. Detecting clinically related content in online patient posts. J Biomed Inform 2017; 75:96-106. [PMID: 28986329 PMCID: PMC5685920 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2017.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Revised: 09/14/2017] [Accepted: 09/30/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Patients with chronic health conditions use online health communities to seek support and information to help manage their condition. For clinically related topics, patients can benefit from getting opinions from clinical experts, and many are concerned about misinformation and biased information being spread online. However, a large volume of community posts makes it challenging for moderators and clinical experts, if there are any, to provide necessary information. Automatically identifying forum posts that need validated clinical resources can help online health communities efficiently manage content exchange. This automation can also assist patients in need of clinical expertise by getting proper help. We present our results on testing text classification models that efficiently and accurately identify community posts containing clinical topics. We annotated 1817 posts comprised of 4966 sentences of an existing online diabetes community. We found that our classifier performed the best (F-measure: 0.83, Precision: 0.79, Recall:0.86) when using Naïve Bayes algorithm, unigrams, bigrams, trigrams, and MetaMap Symantic Types. Training took 5 s. The classification process took a fraction of 1 s. We applied our classifier to another online diabetes community, and the results were: F-measure: 0.63, Precision: 0.57, Recall: 0.71. Our results show our model is feasible to scale to other forums on identifying posts containing clinical topic with common errors properly addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Wanda Pratt
- University of Washington, Seattle, United States.
| | - Joyce Chai
- Michigan State University, United States.
| | - Jina Huh
- University of California San Diego, United States.
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Bateman DR, Brady E, Wilkerson D, Yi EH, Karanam Y, Callahan CM. Comparing Crowdsourcing and Friendsourcing: A Social Media-Based Feasibility Study to Support Alzheimer Disease Caregivers. JMIR Res Protoc 2017; 6:e56. [PMID: 28396304 PMCID: PMC5404144 DOI: 10.2196/resprot.6904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2016] [Revised: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In the United States, over 15 million informal caregivers provide unpaid care to people with Alzheimer disease (AD). Compared with others in their age group, AD caregivers have higher rates of stress, and medical and psychiatric illnesses. Psychosocial interventions improve the health of caregivers. However, constraints of time, distance, and availability inhibit the use of these services. Newer online technologies, such as social media, online groups, friendsourcing, and crowdsourcing, present alternative methods of delivering support. However, limited work has been done in this area with caregivers. Objective The primary aims of this study were to determine (1) the feasibility of innovating peer support group work delivered through social media with friendsourcing, (2) whether the intervention provides an acceptable method for AD caregivers to obtain support, and (3) whether caregiver outcomes were affected by the intervention. A Facebook app provided support to AD caregivers through collecting friendsourced answers to caregiver questions from participants’ social networks. The study’s secondary aim was to descriptively compare friendsourced answers versus crowdsourced answers. Methods We recruited AD caregivers online to participate in a 6-week-long asynchronous, online, closed group on Facebook, where caregivers received support through moderator prompts, group member interactions, and friendsourced answers to caregiver questions. We surveyed and interviewed participants before and after the online group to assess their needs, views on technology, and experience with the intervention. Caregiver questions were pushed automatically to the participants’ Facebook News Feed, allowing participants’ Facebook friends to see and post answers to the caregiver questions (Friendsourced answers). Of these caregiver questions, 2 were pushed to crowdsource workers through the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. We descriptively compared characteristics of these crowdsourced answers with the friendsourced answers. Results In total, 6 AD caregivers completed the initial online survey and semistructured telephone interview. Of these, 4 AD caregivers agreed to participate in the online Facebook closed group activity portion of the study. Friendsourcing and crowdsourcing answers to caregiver questions had similar rates of acceptability as rated by content experts: 90% (27/30) and 100% (45/45), respectively. Rates of emotional support and informational support for both groups of answers appeared to trend with the type of support emphasized in the caregiver question (emotional vs informational support question). Friendsourced answers included more shared experiences (20/30, 67%) than did crowdsourced answers (4/45, 9%). Conclusions We found an asynchronous, online, closed group on Facebook to be generally acceptable as a means to deliver support to caregivers of people with AD. This pilot is too small to make judgments on effectiveness; however, results trended toward an improvement in caregivers’ self-efficacy, sense of support, and perceived stress, but these results were not statistically significant. Both friendsourced and crowdsourced answers may be an acceptable way to provide informational and emotional support to caregivers of people with AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Robert Bateman
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Erin Brady
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Department of Human-Centered Computing, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - David Wilkerson
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,School of Social Work, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Eun-Hye Yi
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,School of Social Work, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Yamini Karanam
- Department of Human-Centered Computing, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Christopher M Callahan
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center, Indianapolis, IN, United States.,Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
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Moore D, Drey N, Ayers S. Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model. JMIR Ment Health 2017; 4:e6. [PMID: 28219879 PMCID: PMC5339438 DOI: 10.2196/mental.5926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Revised: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 08/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Perinatal mental illness is a global health concern; however, many women with the illness do not get the treatment they need to recover. Interventions that reduce the stigma around perinatal mental illness have the potential to enable women to disclose their symptoms to health care providers and consequently access treatment. There are many online forums for perinatal mental illness and thousands of women use them. Preliminary research suggests that online forums may promote help-seeking behavior, potentially because they have a role in challenging stigma. This study draws from these findings and theoretical concepts to present a model of forum use, stigma, and disclosure. OBJECTIVE This study tested a model that measured the mediating role of stigma between online forum use and disclosure of affective symptoms to health care providers. METHODS A Web-based survey of 200 women who were pregnant or had a child younger than 5 years and considered themselves to be experiencing psychological distress was conducted. Women were recruited through social media and questions measured forum usage, perinatal mental illness stigma, disclosure to health care providers, depression and anxiety symptoms, barriers to disclosure, and demographic information. RESULTS There was a significant positive indirect effect of length of forum use on disclosure of symptoms through internal stigma, b=0.40, bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) 95% CI 0.13-0.85. Long-term forum users reported higher levels of internal stigma, and higher internal stigma was associated with disclosure of symptoms to health care providers when controlling for symptoms of depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS Internal stigma mediates the relationship between length of forum use and disclosure to health care providers. Findings suggest that forums have the potential to enable women to recognize and reveal their internal stigma, which may in turn lead to greater disclosure of symptoms to health care providers. Clinicians could refer clients to trustworthy and moderated online forums that facilitate expression of perinatal mental illness stigma and promote disclosure to health care providers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donna Moore
- Centre for Maternal and Child Health, School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas Drey
- School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Susan Ayers
- Centre for Maternal and Child Health, School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom
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15
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Huh J, Marmor R, Jiang X. Lessons Learned for Online Health Community Moderator Roles: A Mixed-Methods Study of Moderators Resigning From WebMD Communities. J Med Internet Res 2016; 18:e247. [PMID: 27608721 PMCID: PMC5034150 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.6331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Revised: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Online health community (OHC) moderators help facilitate conversations and provide information to members. However, the necessity of the moderator in helping members achieve goals by providing the support they need remains unclear, with some prior research suggesting that moderation is unnecessary or even harmful for close-knit OHCs. Similarly, members’ perceptions of moderator roles are underexplored. Starting January of 2013, WebMD moderators stopped working for WebMD communities. This event provided an opportunity for us to study the perceived role of moderators in OHCs. Objective We examine the OHC members’ perception on OHC moderators by studying their reactions toward the departure of moderators in their communities. We also analyzed the relative posting activity on OHCs before and after the departure of moderators from the communities among all members and those who discussed moderators’ departures. Methods We applied a mixed-methods approach to study the posts of all 55 moderated WebMD communities by querying the terms relating to discussions surrounding moderators’ disappearance from the WebMD community. We performed open and axial coding and affinity diagramming to thematically analyze patients’ reactions to the disappeared moderators. The number of posts and poster groups (members and moderators) were analyzed over time to understand posting patterns around moderators’ departure. Results Of 821 posts retrieved under 95 threads, a total of 166 open codes were generated. The codes were then grouped into 2 main themes with 6 total subthemes. First, patients attempted to understand why moderators had left and what could be done to fill the void left by the missing moderators. During these discussions, the posts revealed that patients believed that moderators played critical roles in the communities by making the communities vibrant and healthy, finding solutions, and giving medical information. Some patients felt personally attached with moderators, expressing they would cease their community participation. On the other hand, patients also indicated that moderators were not useful or sometimes even harmful for peer interactions. The overall communities’ posting activity, which was already in decline, showed no significant difference before and after the moderators’ departure. In fact, the overall posting activities of the communities were declining well before the moderators’ departure. These declining posting activities might be the reason why WebMD removed the moderators. Conclusion Compassionate moderators who provide medical expertise, control destructive member posts, and help answer questions can provide important support for patient engagement in OHCs. Moderators are in general received positively by community members and do not appear to interfere with peer interactions. Members are well aware of the possibility of misinformation spreading in OHCs. Further investigation into the attitudes of less vocal community members should be conducted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jina Huh
- University of California San Diego, Department of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, United States.
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Kanthawala S, Vermeesch A, Given B, Huh J. Answers to Health Questions: Internet Search Results Versus Online Health Community Responses. J Med Internet Res 2016; 18:e95. [PMID: 27125622 PMCID: PMC4865652 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.5369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2015] [Revised: 02/19/2016] [Accepted: 03/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background About 6 million people search for health information on the Internet each day in the United States. Both patients and caregivers search for information about prescribed courses of treatments, unanswered questions after a visit to their providers, or diet and exercise regimens. Past literature has indicated potential challenges around quality in health information available on the Internet. However, diverse information exists on the Internet—ranging from government-initiated webpages to personal blog pages. Yet we do not fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of different types of information available on the Internet. Objective The objective of this research was to investigate the strengths and challenges of various types of health information available online and to suggest what information sources best fit various question types. Methods We collected questions posted to and the responses they received from an online diabetes community and classified them according to Rothwell’s classification of question types (fact, policy, or value questions). We selected 60 questions (20 each of fact, policy, and value) and the replies the questions received from the community. We then searched for responses to the same questions using a search engine and recorded the Results Community responses answered more questions than did search results overall. Search results were most effective in answering value questions and least effective in answering policy questions. Community responses answered questions across question types at an equivalent rate, but most answered policy questions and the least answered fact questions. Value questions were most answered by community responses, but some of these answers provided by the community were incorrect. Fact question search results were the most clinically valid. Conclusions The Internet is a prevalent source of health information for people. The information quality people encounter online can have a large impact on them. We present what kinds of questions people ask online and the advantages and disadvantages of various information sources in getting answers to those questions. This study contributes to addressing people’s online health information needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaheen Kanthawala
- Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
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Kwon BC, Kim SH, Lee S, Choo J, Huh J, Yi JS. VisOHC: Designing Visual Analytics for Online Health Communities. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS 2016; 22:71-80. [PMID: 26529688 PMCID: PMC4638132 DOI: 10.1109/tvcg.2015.2467555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Through online health communities (OHCs), patients and caregivers exchange their illness experiences and strategies for overcoming the illness, and provide emotional support. To facilitate healthy and lively conversations in these communities, their members should be continuously monitored and nurtured by OHC administrators. The main challenge of OHC administrators' tasks lies in understanding the diverse dimensions of conversation threads that lead to productive discussions in their communities. In this paper, we present a design study in which three domain expert groups participated, an OHC researcher and two OHC administrators of online health communities, which was conducted to find with a visual analytic solution. Through our design study, we characterized the domain goals of OHC administrators and derived tasks to achieve these goals. As a result of this study, we propose a system called VisOHC, which visualizes individual OHC conversation threads as collapsed boxes-a visual metaphor of conversation threads. In addition, we augmented the posters' reply authorship network with marks and/or beams to show conversation dynamics within threads. We also developed unique measures tailored to the characteristics of OHCs, which can be encoded for thread visualizations at the users' requests. Our observation of the two administrators while using VisOHC showed that it supports their tasks and reveals interesting insights into online health communities. Finally, we share our methodological lessons on probing visual designs together with domain experts by allowing them to freely encode measurements into visual variables.
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