HEALTH EDUCATION THROUGH MEDIA

HEALTH EDUCATION
THROUGH MEDIA
HELEN V. MADAMBA, MD MPH-TM DHPEd FPOGS FPIDSOG

Purpose of Media Advocacy
• to promote public health goals
• addresses the power gap rather
than just the information gap
• focuses on public policy rather
than personal behavior
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103576/
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Mission of Public Health
- to create an
environment in which
people can be healthy
Key to Health
Promotion
• Community
citizenship
• Strength
• Participation
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Mass media, particularly the
news media, can amplify
voices so that policymakers
cannot ignore them.
Media advocacy represents a
fundamental change from
traditional public
information and social
marketing approaches, which
also use mass media to
promote health.
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In our ‘mass-mediated’
democracy, public health
battles are fought not only in
the clinics and hospitals, but
also in the:
• News
• Magazines
• Radio
• Social Media
The Media, it is often said, may not tell people what to think but certainly tell people
what to think about.
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Logic of the new public health is
expressed in a series of six premises:
1. Health is the presence of physical, social, and economic well-
being.
2. Health is associated with positive social and environmental
conditions such as adequate housing, employment, health care,
and personal security.
3. The nature and quality of these conditions can be controlled.
4. The key to control is broad-based participation, multisectorial
planning, and political will.
5. Interventions are best applied at the community and policy
levels
6. Healthy public policy choices add up to a health society.
The key to health promotion in this model is community citizenship,
strength, and participlation.
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“Traditional”
Disease-Oriented
Public Health
emphasizes:
• Social and political issues
• Role of social conditions
• Importance of policy
development
• Healthy environments
• Multisectoral planning
• Broad-based participation in
problem definition
• Social accountability
• Advocacy and legislation
“New”
Health-Oriented
Public Health
emphasizes:
• Personal and behavioral
problems
• Role of risk factor
knowledge
• Importance of service
delivery
• Determinants of disease
• Health sector planning
• Limited participation in
problem definition
• Individual responsibility
• Education and treatment
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What is Social Media?
Refers to Internet-based tools that allow individuals
and communities to gather and communicate, share
information, ideas, personal messages, image and
other content.
Content
Production
• Tumblr (Blogs)
• Twitter (micro
blogs)
• Youtube (Vlogs)
Knowledge
Information
• Google
• Wikipedia
Social networking
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Google
• Twitter
Professional
networking
• LinkedIn
Media Sharing
• Youtube
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Many social Media tools are available for
health care professionals (HCPs), including:
• Social networking
platforms
• Blogs
• Microblogs
• Wikis
• Media-sharing sites
• Virtual reality
These tools can be used to improve or enhance professional
networking and educationm and public health programs.
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Participation in Social
Media by Health Care
Professionals
Social Media provide
HCPs with tools the
share information to:
• Debate healthcare policy and
practice issues
• Promote health behaviors
• Engage with the public
• Interact with patients
• Patients
• Caregivers
• Students
• Colleagues
• Community
To educate:
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Participation in Social Media
by Health Care Professionals
Physicians most often join
online communities where
they can read news articles,
listen to experts, research
medical developments,
consult colleagues regarding
patient issues, and network.
There they can share cases
and ideas, discuss practice
management challenges,
make referrals, disseminate
their research, market their
practices, or engage in
health advocacy.
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Social Media Sites for
Health Care Professionals
Social
Networking
Sites
Blogs Microblogs Wikis Media
Sharing
Sites
Are often private
and protected
from
nonmembers,
such as the lay
public and even
members of ther
health
professionals.
A term formed by
truncating “Web
log”, is the oldest
and most
established form
of social media,
which has been
used in
medicine since
as early as 2004.
Provide the most
dynamic and
concise form of
information
exchange via
social media.
Format allows
users to post a
large number of
brief messages
or updates over
a short period of
time.
Public forum
websites
featuring text
and multi-media
content tnat can
be edited by
users. “Wiki”
hawaiian word
meaning “quick”.
Tools that are
optimized for
viewing,
sharing, and
embedding
digital media
content on the
web.
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USES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA IN
HEALTH CARE
 For physicians, they can participate in online
communities
 Listen to experts
 Communicate with colleagues regarding patient
issues
 Cinical topics, discussions on these sites
address diverse subjects, such as ethics,
politics, biostatistics, practice management and
career strategies
Crowd Sourcing – involves
harnessing knowledge and skills
of a community to solve
problems or the gather
informations and opinions.
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Social Media can also be
used to connect HCPs in
third-world countries
with specialists in more
medically advanced
locations.
For Example:
Surgical procedures can be
streamed via the Internet
and questions can be asked
via Twitter in real time.
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PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
 High usage rate of social media by 18 to 29 year-olds
has motivated the adaptation of clinical curricula to reflect the
changing habits and culture of incomning students.
 Students discribe social media “enhance clinical students
understanding of communication, professionalism and ethics.”
 One-third of pharmacy programs have reported using Twitter
 2011 survey found that 38% of pharmacy faculty members use
Facebook for teaching
 Survey reporting that 53% of nursing schools are now using social
media
Youtube can also be used in classroom to stimulate
discussion, illustrate a point, and reinforce a
concept. Students can view a video and ask
questions that promote clinical reasoning.
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ORGANIZATIONAL PROMOTION
 Health Care Organizations
 Hospitals
 Health Systems
 Professional Societies
 Pharmaceutical Companies
 Patient Advocacy Groups; and
 Pharmacy Benefit Companies
USING SOCIAL MEDIA
FOR MANY PURPOSES
 Communicating with community
and patients
 Enhancing organizational visibility
 Marketing products and services
 Establishing venue for acquiring
news about activities
 Promotions
 Fund raising
 Channel for patient resources and
education
 Customer service and support
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ORGANIZATIONAL PROMOTION
 In one study, 57% of consumers said that a
hospital’s of consumers said that a hospital’s
social media presence would strongly
influence their choice regarding where to go
for services.
 A strong social media presence was also
interpretedby 81% of consumers as being an
indication that hospital offers cutting-edge
technologies
 In another study, 12.5% of surveyed health
care organizations reported having
successfully attracted new patients
through the use of social media.
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PATIENT CARE
 Recent studies found that physicians have begun
to develop an interest in interacting patients
online including Facebook and Twitter.
 Approximately 60% of physicians were found to
favor interacting with patients through social
media, purpose of providing patient education,
health monitoring behavioral changes and drug
adherence.
“Better education, increased compliance, and better outcomes.”
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PATIENT EDUCATION
 In the US 8 out of 10 Internet users search for
health information online, and 74% of these
people use social media.
 56% Out patients wanted
their HCPs use social
media for:
 Reminders
 Scheduling Appointments
 Diagnostic Test Results
 Prescription notifications
 Answering General
Questions
Through social media, patients
can:
 Join virtual communities
 Participate in research
 Receive financial and moral
support
 Set goals; and
 Track personal progress
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PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS
With this, real-time social media sites providegreater
agility and enhanced preparedness for responses to
disasters and public health emergencies.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) maintains an active presence in on Twitter
and Facebook to track “tweets” that might indicate
a outbreak and to share updates about such
incidents.
Red Cross track social media posts during natural
disasters.
*The widespread use of social media can also influence public
health behaviors and goals through social reinforcement.
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DANGERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The main limitation of health
information found on social media
and other online sources are:
Lack of quality and reliability
Unreferenced
Incomplete
Informal
Fake news
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DAMAGE TO PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
A major risk with the use of social media is the
posting of unprofessional content that can reflect
unfavorably on HCPs, students, and affiliated
institutes.
Behavior that could be construed as
unprofessional includes violation of:
 Patient Privacy
 Use of profanity or discriminatory language
 Images of sexual suggestiveness
 Intoxication
 Negative comments about patients
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VIOLATION OF THE PATIENT-HCP BOUNDARY
Healthcare Provider should familiar
with the privacy settings and
terms of agreements for the social
media platforms.
Rather than “friending” or
communicating with a patient on
social media, HCPs can suggest
that the patient can visit the
official website of the Hospital or
clinic for their concerns.
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CONCEPTS OF HEALTH CARE
ORGANIZATIONS SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
 Address discrimination, harassment, leaking of confidentiality.
 Address expectations regarding employee behavior outside the realm of
employment.
 Ban, limit, and/or monitor employee access to the Internet and/or social
networking sites.
 Define employees responsibilities when witnessing inappropriate use of
social media.
 Define policy regarding the use if organizational email addresses and
graphics or logos.
 Define disciplinary action for the inappropriate use of social media.
 Designate who can access social media on the organizations premises
and for what purpose.
 Ensure that medical staff and employees acknowledge that they are not
presenting the organization when they post material to their personal
social media sites.
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CONCEPTS OF HEALTH CARE
ORGANIZATIONS SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES
 Ensure that medical staff and employees disclose any conflicts of
interest.
 Ensure that the medical staff and employees are familiar with state and
federal guidelines regarding patients privacy.
 Ensure that the medical staff and employees include a disclaimer when
they are not speaking on behalf of the organization.
 Ensure that medical staff, employees, and students understand the need
to adhere to the organizations social media policy.
 Revise or expand current policies regarding patient consent and the
posting of patient information on social media.
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COMMON GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA BY HCPs
Context Concept
Content credibility • Share only information from credible sources
• Refute any inaccurate information you
encounter
Legal Concerns • Remember that the content you author may
be discoverable
• Comply with federal and state privacy laws
• Respect copyright laws
Licensing Concerns • Know professional licensure requirements for
your state
Networking Practices • Do not contact patients with requests to join
your network
• Direct patients who want to join your
personal network to a more secure means of
communication or to your professional site.
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Context Concept
Patient Care • Avoid providing specific medical advice to
nonpatients
• Make appropriate disclosures and disclaimers
regarding the accuracym timeless, and
privacy of electronic communications
Patient Privacy • Avoid writing about specific patients
• Make sure you are in compliance with state
and federal privacy laws
• Obtain patient consent when required
• Protect patient information through “de-
identification.”
• Use a respectful tone when discussing
patients
Professional Ethics • Disclose any in-kind or finansial
compensation received
• Do not make false or misleading claims
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Context Concept
Self-Identification • Identify yourself on professional sites
• Make sure that your credentials are correctly
stated
• Specify whether or not you are representing
an employer
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CONCLUSION
When used wisely and
prudently, social media
sites and platforms
offer the potential to
promote individual and
public health, as well as
professional
development and
advancement.
Guidelines issued by
health care
organizations and
professional societies
provide sound and
useful principles that
HCPs should follow to
avoid pitfalls.
MADAMBA2022

HEALTH EDUCATION THROUGH MEDIA

HEALTH EDUCATION THROUGH MEDIA

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