In
week 6 of health informatics we discussed eHealth. Gulzar, Khoja and Sajwani
(2013) state “eHealth is defined as the utilization of information and
communication technologies (ICT) to support health and health related fields,
such as health surveillance, healthcare services, health literature, health
education, knowledge and research” (p.1).
This
weeks class facilitation began their activity by asking the class about their
social media accounts and if they had ever used these to research health
information. What I did not know that this group made clear to me was that
Facebook could be used to search general information. After discovering this I
will take into consideration using Facebook as a resource when searching topics
online. Another question this group asked the class was if they had ever self
diagnosed online. I was able to admit that I have done this before and continue
to do so. Unfortunately I rarely tend to make visits with my doctor to follow
up on these findings that I come across. Do you ever self diagnose online as well? A more professional term for self
diagnosing is cyberchondriac. Anwar and
Khan (2013) state “cyberchondriac is a term pertaining to a person who seeks
health-related information on the Internet” (p.72). When self diagnosing
online, people tend to search their symptoms and focus on the worst
possibilities. This may lead people to feeling anxiety over their current
health status.
A hands on activity that this group
assigned to the class was having us read a case study about a young boy with
certain symptoms he was experiencing. Each group from the class was given a
social media account to research these symptoms and see what results we came
across. The variety of predictions that the class stumbled upon made me realize
how many possibilities of findings there were to this specific case and how
this is a non effective method of research. When looking up symptoms online,
one should remember that not each answer is the accurate one and a check up to
the doctor would be required to confirm these assumptions.
During class lecture there was an
activity where groups were able to choose a health topic and explore it on a
social media site of our choice. I chose
to look up chickenpox on YouTube. From the comments on various videos I came across, I was
able to read on peoples personal experiences with this health issue and the
advice they were giving to the public. This is evidence-informed advice as it
incorporates peoples personal experiences and understandings.
A new model was introduced to me during
this weeks lecture, the Honeycomb model. Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy and
Silvestre (2011) describe the honeycomb as the “constructs that allow us to
make sense of how different levels of social media functionality can be
configured” (p.243). The honeycomb is separated into 7 sections: Presence,
sharing, conversations, groups, reputation, relationships and identity.
During an activity in class, my group was assigned the social media
site Flickr to examine based on these 7 sections. What I understood from this
is that different social medias play specific roles for viewers. This may be
support such as emotional, instrumental (financial or practical), informational
or appraisal (Khalili, 2013). This has made me explore what my role as
a nurse would be related to providing online health information and when
working with clients who research online. I believe a nurse should be educated
on what makes a source reliable, so that when patients come in, a nurse is able
to direct them to credible and accurate websites. As social media is expanding,
more sites are being created that provide health information. It would be
beneficial for clients to know which online sites they can rely on.
References
Anwar, S., & Khan, S. (2013). Risks of online self-diagnosing: Cyberchondriacs. British
Columbia Medical Journal, 55(2), 72-73.
Gulzar, S., Khoja, S., & Sajwani, A. (2013). Experience of
nurses with using eHealth in Gilgit-
Baltistan, Pakistan: a
qualitative study in primary and secondary healthcare. BMC Nursing,
12(1), 6-11.
doi:10.1186/1472-6955-12-6
Khalili, H. (2013). Health
informatics within nursing; Week 6 consumer health informatics and
eHealth
– cont’d [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
Kietzmann, J. H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I. P., & Silvestre, B. S. (2011). Social media? Get
serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons,
54(3), 241–251. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.005
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