Opportunities and challenges of social media for health knowledge management: A narrative review

The individual-level effects of social media campaigns related to healthy eating, physical activity, and healthy weight: A narrative review

Objective

Social media are promising channels for health communication promoting positive weight-related behaviors, but no prior studies have synthesized evidence on the independent effects of social media campaigns focused on promoting healthy eating, physical activity (PA), and healthy weight. This study aimed to fill that gap and inform future social media-based obesity-prevention research and practice by reviewing findings from studies testing the effects of such campaigns on individual-level cognitive, behavioral, and anthropometric outcomes.

Method

The Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 2012 and 2023 that explored the independent effects of social media campaigns related to healthy eating, PA, or weight management. Study characteristics and outcomes were extracted and summarized.

Results

Eleven studies were included in this review describing campaigns targeting healthy eating-related outcomes (e.g., fruit and vegetable consumption, meal preparation, nutrition label reading), PA, or weight management. Most campaigns (n = 7) were developed by universities or research centers. Priority audiences included parents, adult females, adolescents, college students, and adult government employees. The majority (n = 8) of the campaigns used single platforms, with the most common being Facebook, Instagram, blogs, and YouTube. Campaigns had mixed effects on cognitive outcomes (e.g., intention, attitude, knowledge), behavioral outcomes (e.g., food choices, PA), and anthropometric outcomes (e.g., weight, waist circumference).

Conclusion

Social media campaigns focused on promoting healthy eating, PA, and healthy weight had mixed effects on individual-level cognitive, behavioral, and anthropometric outcomes. Various limitations of the included studies make it difficult to ascertain which factors influence campaign effectiveness. Advancing knowledge in this area is important, particularly given social media's widespread use and potential for broad reach. New research with features such as rigorous study designs, larger and more diverse samples, and strong theoretical foundations may provide important insights into what types of interventions are effective or not and under what conditions.

Why should we care about social media codes of conduct in healthcare organisations? A systematic literature review

Background

The conduct of healthcare organisation employees on social media can impact both their personal reputation and that of the organisation. However, social media has blurred the lines between professional and personal communication, and what is acceptable and ethical conduct is not always clear. Furthermore, the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed how healthcare organisations and their employees approach the use of social media, expediting the need to ensure that employees communicating health-related information adhere to employee codes of conduct.

Aims

This review aims to investigate the challenges associated with healthcare organisation employees' use of social media for sharing health-related information, identify the crucial elements for inclusion in social media codes of conduct for healthcare organisations, and examine the enablers for good codes of conduct.

Methods

A systematic review of the literature from six research database platforms on articles related to codes of conduct addressing the use of social media for healthcare organisation employees was conducted. The screening process yielded 52 articles.

Results

The key finding in this review focuses on privacy, protecting both patients and healthcare organisation employees. While maintaining separate professional and personal social media accounts is a much-discussed approach, training and education on social media codes of conduct can clarify acceptable behaviour both personally and professionally.

Conclusion

The results raise essential questions about healthcare organisation employees' use of social media. It is evident that organisational support and a constructive culture will enable healthcare organisations to fully realise the benefits of using social media.

The Use of Social Media in Delivering Rehabilitation Services by Healthcare Professionals at a Rehabilitation Healthcare City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background:

The growing popularity of social media has been welcomed by medical professionals. With an increase in the number of healthcare providers addressing healthcare issues by using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram, as well as communicating and educating patients on public health, this new technology has a substantial impact on improving the overall public health.

Objective:

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the challenges and benefits of using social media in delivering rehabilitation healthcare services from the perspective of healthcare workers at a private institution in a rehabilitation healthcare city in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among rehabilitation department staff working at a selected rehabilitation healthcare city in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An online web-based questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The survey was distributed to the employees of the rehabilitation department via their work email addresses.

Results:

The study population was 108 healthcare providers. Overall, 77.78% of participants had used social media for over five years. Participants reported using social media for numerous purposes. The majority (35.19%) used it for education purposes, 30.56% used it for networking, and others used it for other things, such as communication with patients, online consultations, and job hunting. Furthermore, 49.07% of participants were already using social media to deliver rehabilitation services.

Conclusion:

The study found that most healthcare providers agreed on the benefits of utilizing social media in the healthcare sector. Most of the benefits were expanding the knowledge of both healthcare workers and patients, easier communication with patients, and also a cost-effective means of communication. However, some of the concerns that were raised by healthcare providers were regarding patients’ privacy and confidentiality, the dissemination of false or misleading information, and legal and ethical considerations.

Social networks: A quality tool for health dissemination?

BACKGROUND

Social networks are integrated in our lives and, amongst other functions, they are a means of dissemination. There are numerous social network accounts dedicated to health that could be used as an educational resource. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of accounts dedicated to health in different social networks, assessing their content and didactic and technological effectiveness and accessibility.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Observational cross-sectional descriptive study in which an analysis of social networks related to health was carried out from April to June 2021 in Spain. Twenty-eight accounts were analysed using a mixed qualitative-quantitative methodology. Content analysis of the speeches disseminated through the selected accounts was performed. In addition, the quality of the accounts was assessed with the Instrumento de Evaluación de Recursos Educativos Digitales (#IE_RED) (Digital Educational Resources Evaluation Instrument [#IE_RED]).

RESULTS

Four categories were identified according to the content: student-focused profiles, specific professionals' profiles, current health issues and profiles promoting a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the quality of the accounts obtained a score that indicates they meet the requirements to be validated as a good educational digital resource but could be improved. Instagram social network accounts and those managed by nurses scored significantly higher.

CONCLUSIONS

The analysed accounts were revealed as a quality tool for health dissemination, with varied content and applicable to teaching. Their use could be applied both to the training of health professionals and to the promotion of the population's health.

Exposure to Misinformation, Risk Perception, and Confidence towards the Government as Factors Influencing Negative Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccination in Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

This study explored exposure to misinformation, COVID-19 risk perception, and confidence towards the government as predictors of negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was carried out from 30 June to 30 August 2021 involving 775 respondents. The survey instrument for the questionnaire was an adaptation from various different studies consisting of five main variables: (1) misinformation about vaccination; (2) risk perception toward COVID-19; (3) attitudes toward the vaccination programme; (4) intention to get vaccinated; and (5) public confidence in the government in executing the vaccination programme.

RESULTS

The results of this study indicate that higher exposure to misinformation led to higher levels of negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine. When the perceived risk of COVID-19 infection was high, mistrust of vaccine benefits was low but there were also higher worries about the future effects of the vaccine. Confidence in the government was associated with lower negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study may help develop an understanding of negative attitudes toward vaccinations in Malaysia and its contributing factors.

Association between ethnicity and health knowledge among the floating population in China

Background

Health equity remains a priority concerns by central government in China. This study aimed to explore ethnic gaps in access to health knowledge categories and sources based on the survey data from a publicly available dataset.

Methods

Data were from 2015 China Migrants Dynamic Survey issued by The National Health Commission in China. Descriptive analyses were performed to reflect geodemographic differences in the floating population of ethnic minority (EMFP) and Han majority (HMFP) with Chi-square test. Ethnic gaps in access to health knowledge categories and sources were explored with Poisson regressions, logistic regressions, and bivariate ordered probit regressions.

Results

In the sample, most of participants had inadequate health information literacy. There were significant differences regarding geodemographic factors between EMFP and HMFP. Illiterate EMFP had likelihood to obtain less health knowledge categories (IRR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.77–0.84) and sources (IRR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.80–0.86) as compared to illiterate HMFP. Most of correlations between health knowledge categories and sources were weak in the samples of EMFP and HMFP.

Conclusion

Ethnic disparities in access to health knowledge categories and sources among the floating population in China were confirmed. Further effective efforts should be provided to reduce ethnic disparities in access to health knowledge under the ethnicity-orientated support of public health resource.

How Social Media Facilitates the Knowledge Management Process: A Systematic Review

The aim of this review is to present the social media roles that facilitate knowledge management processes. This paper used a systematic literature review method based on PRISMA guidelines. The literature search was conducted using the following five electronic scientific databases: Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, Emerald, PubMed and Scopus. The search identified 82 selected works and the findings showed that social media facilitates knowledge acquisition by being used as a source of knowledge, facilitating knowledge accessibility and influencing knowledge creation and creating an interactive environment. Social media has created a new dimension of knowledge organisation by evolving knowledge storage, retrieval and classification activities. Social media has developed into a new flexible form of user’s communication by removing knowledge-sharing barriers, and accelerated knowledge sharing, in particular collaborative sharing. Finally, social media facilitates knowledge application activities such as knowledge translation, decision-making, education, problem-solving, team work and research process. The knowledge activities in social media need to be monitored for quality and reliability, and endangerment of ethics, users’ privacy, fake news, false information and negative comments need to be maintained.

Development and validation of scale for measuring attitudes towards e-professionalism among medical and dental students: SMePROF-S scale

BACKGROUND

Social media permeated everyday life and consequently it brought some changes to behaviour of health professionals. New form of professionalism emerged called e-professionalism depicting professional behaviour while using social media. There are a number of studies conducted in the past several years measuring behaviour of different populations of health professionals on social media and social media sites. Many studies have investigated aspects of e-professionalism of medical or dental students as future health professionals, but there are no validated instruments made for assessing attitude towards e-professionalism of those two populations. Objective of this paper is to validate a newly developed scale for measuring attitudes towards e-professionalism among medical and dental students.

METHODS

The original 32-item scale was developed and administered to 411 medical students (RR 69%), and 287 dental students (RR 49.7%). Exploratory factor analysis was used to investigate the existence of underlying factors. Principal component analysis was used as an extraction method with oblimin as selected oblique rotation method. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability.

RESULTS

Total of 698 student answers entered analysis. The final scale had 24 items that formed seven factors named: ethical aspects, dangers of social media, excluding physicians, freedom of choice, importance of professionalism, physicians in the digital age, negative consequences. Cronbach's alpha indicating scale reliability was .72. Reliability conducted on each factor ranged from .570 to .877.

CONCLUSIONS

The scale measures seven factors of attitude towards e-professionalism and exhibits satisfactory reliability. Based on insights from validation, some possible improvements are suggested.

Social media exposure and mental health problems during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

Several preventive measures were used by governments around the world to suppress the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including quarantine. During quarantine more people are at risk of developing mental health problems as social media exposure was increasing.

OBJECTIVES

The objective is to investigate the impact of social media exposure during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on depression, anxiety, and stress.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted between April and May 2020 during the large scale social restriction in Indonesia using online questionnaire Indonesian citizens over 18 years of age were invited to take part by answering online questionnaire through Google forms (http://bit.ly/duniamayaCOVID). Data gathered were demographic data, depression, anxiety, and stress that were assessed using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, duration of social media usage, and social media platforms used during COVID-19 pandemic. Data was analysed using Pearson Chi-square and ANOVA. Statistically significant variables and additional risk factors was analyzed using multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

The median age was 24 years (range 17-56 years), 121 (55,0%) samples were female. The three most frequent social media platforms used by participants were Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Female were more likely to suffer from mild-moderate depression compared to male (odds ratio [OR]: 2.344; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.105-4.972; P = 0.026) and more likely to suffer from severe-extremely severe anxiety (OR: 2.066; 95% CI: 1.019-4.187; P = 0.044). Social media exposure was associated with less likelihood to suffer from severe-extremely severe depression, mild-moderate, and severe-extremely severe anxiety, mild-moderate stress.

CONCLUSION

Social media exposure was associated with less depression, anxiety, and stress in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Medical professionals and government officials could use social media to disseminate knowledge about COIVD-19 to bring positive psychological effect.