During the COVID-19 pandemic, 80% of cancer patients connected with their peers online to learn more about the disease and to receive support [1]. In addition to using social media to connect with peers and access health information, health care professionals also use social media to promote their practice, provide educational resources to patients, and establish themselves as trusted and credible sources of information barder.
Medical Experts and Patients Need to Follow HIPAA Rules
Health experts are required by law to maintain confidentiality of their patient records and should never share those records online without permission from their patients. Since physicians and nurses are often the main people using social media in health care facilities, it is important to set up policies that show everyone how to use social media within the confines of privacy laws jigaboo.
Healthcare Social Media Managers Need to Monitor the News
Despite the importance of using social media to share information, many people still find that they are not getting the most reliable health information on the internet. Studies have shown that false news is shared seven times more often than the truth on social media, and a large majority of articles that are viewed as being important in health are misleading or wrong distresses.
Misleading and Unreliable Content is a Problem
The healthcare industry is full of people who are not aware of the importance of protecting their patients’ privacy on social media. Those who do not know how to handle the risks of posting personal information on a public platform can risk breaching HIPAA regulations and getting fired or pressed with criminal charges precipitous.
In addition, misinformation on a social media site can spread like wildfire, and it can be difficult to get rid of negative feedback once it has been posted. This can be especially dangerous during outbreaks and epidemics, when false and potentially harmful information is being spread online.
Healthcare Professionals and Researchers Need to Be Aware of the Benefits and Drawbacks
In the past few years, there has been a thriving research effort focused on integrating social media into health interventions. These campaigns are typically designed to increase knowledge about a specific health issue or to promote positive behaviors. In general, these efforts are effective and well-accepted by target populations mypba.
However, researchers are also interested in exploring how these social media-based interventions may affect health behavior change differently from other methods. In this regard, experimental studies and meta-analyses could be useful to test if social media-based health interventions are more effective in motivating users to adopt health behaviors than other types of interventions.
A Study on the Impact of Social Media on Identity Building and the Health Outcomes of Individuals With Chronic Conditions
Despite the benefits of social media for patients with chronic conditions, it can also have negative effects on their health and the healthcare system as a whole. For example, the identity-building function of social media may facilitate mutual support and a sense of belonging among patients with similar conditions, but it can also reinforce unhealthy behaviors such as disordered eating habits.