Where do you turn for the latest research on the impact and influence of social media?

This edition of the Health Care Social Media Review (HCSM) provides the latest research your fellow colleagues are studying by highlighting social media research and related resources. Whether you’re talking with your stakeholders, board, manager, customer, or colleague, being well-versed in the research equips you with the evidence and theory needed to optimize your impact.

I have yet to attend a social media workshop or presentation where someone doesn’t ask about resources relatesd to social media research. (And thank goodness, right? We need to stay curious.) A number of people want research to help them understand the pros and cons of social media and translate how that knowledge applies to their mission. Here’s what our peers had to share this week:

Rich Resources

• Pew Internet & American Life Project: This is the main go-to for many, given Pew’s look into at the impact and use of technology across demographics. Did you see their June 5 report sharing that 56% of Americans own a smartphone? Their May 21, 2013 report may also be applicable to you as it focused on teens, social media and how they view privacy.
• DigiHealth Pulse: Enskeptos is newer to the scene but offers insights from their ongoing tracking study of digital health consumers. The study looks at 39 health topics and 11 different health behaviors to help us better understand how active digital health consumers consume, perceive and react to online health information.
• Journal of New Communications Research: The Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) is always a must-watch as they support and fund research. Both Fard Johmar (of Enskeptos) and Craig Lefebvre have participated in SNCR, helping bring health care social media research to bear.
• CDC’s Health Communication Digest: Looking for the latest peer-reviewed literature? CDC offers up its Health Communication Digest, highlighting a findings of note, many of which relate to health care social media.
• PWC, Comscore, eMarketer and Nielsen  A number of organizations offer up research and studies that can help further guide our work. For example, many of you may recall PWC’s report, “Social Media ‘Likes’ Health Care”.
• #SMMStandards: If you haven’t bookmarked this group, you’ll want to as the group is working across industries to develop standards in social media measurement .

Laying the Groundwork

This topic for this edition was inspired by some of my own social media research activities. Craig Lefebvre and I recently published a review of the research and evidence for the use of social networking sites (SNS) to improve cardiovascular health in the April 30, 2013 edition of Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. The paper, titled Digital Social Networks and Health, also offers guidance on the potential of creating social health experiences while also proposing a research agenda for better understanding the use of social media in health.

Not shortly thereafter, Damon Centola of MIT published a follow-up article, titled “Social Media and the Science of Health Behavior“, also in Circulation. Centola’s article is a great read for those looking to understand and explore new research areas thanks to the opportunities social media affords. He also shares a case study from the Healthy Lifestyles Network that helps drive home the potential of what can be when you combine the power of social networks with social media–a key theme we share.

Diving In

Here are some additional research nuggets submitted to the review:

• The Cancer Conversation Grows and Narrows: Greg Matthews shares insights from The MDigitaLife Social Oncology Project 2013, which tracked more than 16 million cancer-related conversations. He shares: “…increasingly, there isn’t just one cancer conversation – there are distinct and recognizable conversations happening now about dozens of different cancer varieties – each with its own participants, preferred channels, media coverage and physician influencers.” Having done some research into the HIV conversation online, I can share that this statement also applies to the evolved HIV discussion online and makes me wonder what other health topics and diseases are becoming more sophisticated and what that means for our work.
• Here’s a Conundrum: Hispanics are some of the greatest users of mobile and social media technologies. And despite all our work in health care social media, over half of Latinos don’t know key aspects of the new health care law. This is our fail. At the same time, it’s a great opportunity for change. Any takers?
• Twitter and Vaccine Information = A Good Mix: According to a new study, Twitter was found to be a popular and reliable source for vaccine information. Of note, researchers found that over the more than 2k tweets analyzed, 54% conveyed a neutral position on vaccinations.
• Is Social Media Helping or Hurting? Researchers in Canada are looking into the impact of social networks and social networking sites on mental health, putting a large focus on Facebook. I’ve written before on conflicting findings regarding Facebook’s impact on our health, so I can’t wait until the findings of this study are released.
• People Want Online Video, but Aren’t Sure How to Get It or Measure Its Impact: Given increasing interest in online video and YouTube’s latest design update, you may be interested in the latest report, “Into Focus: Benchmarks for Nonprofit Video and a Guide for Creators“. This is the first report of its kind and was compiled by See3 and Edelman in collaboration with YouTube’s Nonprofit Assistance Program.
• Text4Baby Works, Still: A new report came out finding that the Text4Baby program is beneficial to women and moms. This may also be one reason why the program has expanded its offerings into video. In reviewing digital health solutions, email and/or text reminders over and over are found to be effective in individual pilots and projects. Hopefully, this added research will support similar types of efforts. Email may not be as “sexy” as social media, but it is effective.

Coming Soon

While the body of research grows, some organizations are joining the effort. One such organization is the Human Factors group which is hosting a  social meida research competition with a $10,000 prize purse. What about you – do you have any social media research activities planned for 2013?

Thank you again for your contributions to this edition. Health Care Social Media Review  has information about the next edition’s host and instructions on how to submit your posts for review in future editions.

What’s the latest social media research you’re reading?

Weekly, Daily, a new social media research report or study is released, competing for our attention and analysis. What are some of the latest research nuggets you’ve found most useful? And what are some of the information sources that help you stay up-to-date as the research works to catch up with practice?

On Wednesday, June 5, SocialButterfly will again host the Health Care Social Media Review, the peer reviewed blog carnival focused on health care social media, curating some of the latest research and resources shared by our fellow colleagues.

Email a link to your post or posts (no more than two submissions per author) by 5pm (ET) on June 3.

Format your submission email as follows:

• Email Subject Line: HealthCare SocialMedia Review
• Blog Title:
• Blog URL:
• Post Headline:
• Permanent link to post:
• Your Name: Name, Username, Nickname, or Pseudonym
• Description or brief excerpt:

Learn more about the HCSM Review by visiting HealthWorks Collective or follow @healthworkscollectiv on Twitter. We look forward to your posts!

• In the past 12 months, 59% of adults reference the internet to find or access health and wellness information.
• 67% of adult searchers use general search engines as an online tool or resource for health information and only 7% referred to online drug advertisements.
• 36% of adult searchers use online health information to see what other consumers say about a medication or treatment

Because of statistics like those above, the concept of ‘Health 2.0’ has increased its usage and importance. Simply, Health 2.0 = the merging of social media into healthcare. However, others see the movement of Health 2.0 as something much wider and farther reaching. Even Google image searching shows a variety of more complex definitions. I’d be interested to see how you all define it for yourselves or for your practice.

Examples of Health 2.0

Websites

• Carol.com , started in 2006, is the marketplace for care, allowing hospitals and providers to ‘bid’ for consumers’ care
• Vitals.com, allows patients to review their current doctor’s or a potential doctor’s reviews and ratings
• DoubleCheckMD, allows consumers to check for potential drug interactions quickly and easily
• American Well , creates a healthcare marketplace where consumers and physicians come together online to acquire and provide convenient and immediate healthcare services

Wikis

• Wikipedia
• FluWiki
• WiserWiki, a medical and healthcare information wiki edited exclusively by physicians
• Clinfo Wiki, a wiki devoted to clinical informatics
• Ask Dr. Wiki, allows those with a medical background to publish review articles, clinical notes, pearls and/or medical images to the wiki. The main focus has been on Cardiology and Electrophysiology, but they have expanded to other areas.

Blogs

• DiabetesMine, a blog all about diabetes
• HealthMatters (Healthline), a collection of weblogs by professionals, covering different aspects of health, wellness, treatments, and recent advances
• WebMD, provides health and health-related information

Social Networks

• OrganizedWisdom, the first human-powered search service for health information
• PatientsLikeMe, find patients who are receiving the same or similar treatments
• DailyStrength, helps one find support groups
• Sermo, a community for physicians to share information, questions and observations amongst themselves, encouraging collaboration
• ReliefinSite, helps with pain managemnt
• NursesRecommendDoctors
• TheHealthCareScoop

Video-Sharing

• ICYou, the source of healthcare videos and videos related to health information
• Cleveland Clinic on Google Video
• TauMed, a virtual health community where one can search and share information on a variety of health topics

Online Forums

• Revolution Health Groups
• Google Health Groups, find support and community groups
• iVillage

Podcasts

• Johns Hopkins Medical Podcasts
• NIH Podcasts
• NY Times Health Pocasts
• CDC Travelers Health
• dLife podcasts for diabetes, information and inspiration for those with diabetes

Caution

Health 2.0 researchers warn that patients should be cautious about posting personal health-related information through unsecured social media as health insurance providers could gain access to this information, as well as potential employers.

Future

Social Media combined with health information, patients and user-generated content can be used for:

• User-generated health ratings for hospitals and doctors
• Bridge the gap between doctor and patient
• Bring communities together in new, innovative ways
• Establishing patients as opinion leaders
• Managing health and managing community health in new ways

For specific case studies and more information, view this report titled: The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media prepared for the California Healthcare Foundation by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.

Questions to Ponder

• Is Health 2.0 helpful or harmful?
• Is the content trustrworthy? Does it matter? Will consumers take the information at face value?
• Why are patients labeled as consumers? What does this mean/say about how health 2.0 is being approached?
• What are the ethical concerns?
• What are the privacy concerns?

Can’t wait to read your insights in the comments. =)