This document provides an introduction to using social media for healthcare professionals. It discusses how social media can be used to connect, collaborate, inform and influence others. It recommends starting with Twitter or blogs to engage peers and the public. Several hashtags for healthcare topics are listed, as well as examples of influential healthcare professionals to follow on social media. The document encourages setting reasonable goals and starting small by listening, asking questions, and sharing information in order to learn how social media can benefit work in the healthcare field.

1. KT Therapy for the Social Media Phobic
Why you want to be a tweep

2. Follow today on Twitter
#PAL12

3. Your hosts
Shelly Cory @VirtualHospice
Executive Director
Colleen Young
Awareness and Engagement Manager
www.virtualhospice.ca www.portailpalliatif.ca

4. What is social media?
It is the use of technology combined with social
interaction to collaborate, create and share.

5. Learn
"Simply put, social media has allowed me to
access ideas, thoughts and opinions I would
never have been able to before."
Prajesh Narendra Chhanabhai, @Zimbarama,
PhD Candidate, University of Otago; New Zealand

6. Connect & Collaborate
"Social media doesn’t just help me in my
research, it totally changed the way I
interact with collaborators."
Bertalan Meskó, @Berci, Physician, Founder
of Webicina.com; Hungary

7. Inform & influence
"People use social networking for health.
We need to connect, inform and inspire
them to affect change."
Mike Evans, @docmikeevans, Family Physician, Founder of
Health Design Lab; Canada

8. Knowledge translation

9. Where do you start?

10. Your network now
• Who do you connect with?
• Who do you learn from?
• Who or what do you want to influence?
• And why?

12. What tool is right for you?

13. Twitter
• Peers and public
• Learn and inform
• Crowd-source information quickly

14. Dissemination acceleration
"Social impact measures complement
traditional citation metrics [and can be] a
useful and timely metric to measure the
uptake of research findings."
Gunter Eysenbach, @eysenbach, MD, Senior Scientist, Editor-in-
chief & publisher of JMIR; Canada

16. Blogs
• Peers and public
• Articulate what we do and think
• Share opinions

17. Facebook, Google+
• General public
• Curate reliable information
• Connect with people and their networks

18. Facebook feedback on Twitter

19. Social video sharing
• General public
• Educate and inform

20. LinkedIn
• Professional networks
• Connect with peers
• Join groups and participate in discussions

21. And so much more…
• Pinterest
• Skype
• Curation tools
• Photosharing
• Wikis
• Quora
• Slideshare

22. Start small
Set reasonable goals and then…
• Listen and learn.
• Ask and learn.
• Share and learn.
• Inform and learn.

23. How can social media
benefit you?

24. Where can you get more
ideas and help?

25. Healthcare hashtags
www.symplur.com
• #hpm
• #hpmglobal
• #eolchat
• #meded
• #hcsmca

26. People to follow to get started

27. Thank you
shelly@virtualhospice.ca
colleen@virtualhospice.ca
@virtualhospice
www.facebook.com/CanadianVirtualHospice
www.virtualhospice.ca www.portailpalliatif.ca