HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 1
Healthcare and Social Media Assignment
Elizabeth Buckles
Graduate School of Nursing, Liberty University
Author Note
Elizabeth S. Buckles
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elizabeth Buckles
Email: esbuckles@liberty.edu
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 2
Healthcare and Social Media
Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the
ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange
of user generated content (Nelson & Staggers, 2018). Types of social media include social
networking sites, blogs and microblogs, video hosting sites, professional networking, and
knowledge/information aggregation sites. Social media has evolved over the last decade to
become an important driver for acquiring and spreading information in different domains, such
as business, entertainment, science, crisis management, and politics (Stieglitz et al., 2018).
Types of Social Media
Three major social media types include social networking sites, blogs, and video hosting
sites. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are used for personal and/or
professional relationships as a way to stay connected to others through the internet. These sites
are also a way to meet new people who have similar interests. Blogs are a type of website that
updated on a regular basis and usually are in a conversation style. These are sometimes used as
an online diary where individuals can express their feelings and thoughts on topics for others to
read. Video hosting sites are websites where users can upload videos of various types to their
profiles for others to stream. YouTube is one of the most popular video hosting sites, where users
can find movies, television clips, comedy skits, and even educational materials.
Impact of Social Media on Healthcare
Sohail et al. found that 87% of healthcare professionals use internet on mobile phones
during clinical practice. Through social media, patients can join virtual communities, participate
in research, receive financial or moral support, set goals, and track personal progress (Ventola,
2014). In a 2018 study on targeted social networking interventions aimed at adolescent mothers,
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 3
it was found that the mothers benefited from online healthcare professional support and reduced
infant emergency room department visits (Nolan et al., 2018). The use of holistic, youth-focused
approaches to integrated social networking sites may not only improve adolescent mothers’
postpartum health and psychological wellbeing but encourage favorable outcomes in terms of
future education, employment, community participation and social inclusion (Nolan et al., 2018).
This is a great example of how social media can be used to target patients in a way they can
relate to and provide meaningful change to their health. This also cuts down on false information
they would be finding elsewhere on the internet. Ali et al. present the issue of social networking
healthcare monitoring and how in the past it has been unsuccessful in sorting through the large
amounts of data and making use of it (2021). This study presents a novel healthcare monitoring
framework, which integrates advanced technologies and enhances the performance of data
handling and processing to improve the accuracy of healthcare data classification (Ali et al.,
2021). Sources for data would include smartphones, wearable sensors, and social media sites,
further proving that social media can be used as an asset to healthcare professionals if used in the
right context.
Negative implications of social media for healthcare can include cyber bullying, false
information, internet overuse and addiction. Baccarella et al. highlight the fact that children are
losing their sense of empathy, because when they insult someone online, they no longer see the
impact of their actions and the sadness of their victims’ faces (2018). The authors also describe
the damage social media can cause in businesses, from employers monitoring their employees’
activities online, disgruntled employees causing damage to employers’ public reputation, co-
workers bullying each other, and the spread of misinformation (Bacarella et al., 2018). Sohail et
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 4
al. describe internet addiction as a recognizable disorder from the spectrum of Problematic
Internet Use, which is an emerging mental health concern (2020).
Social Media Policies for Healthcare Organizations
By carefully describing and clearly communicating social-media policies, employers can
avoid many of the problematic policies that have plagued others in the past (Smith & Colvin,
2016). Rivera-Romero et al. states “we must all understand and pay special attention to ethical
and trust-related considerations, such as privacy, confidentiality, consent, and cyber-security”
(2020). The American Hospital Association states in their social media policy, “our use of Social
Media enables the AHA to communicate with and educate our various audiences about health
care issues and trends as they affect hospitals and health systems, and to ensure that the
perspectives and needs of the health care field are clearly articulated and understood (2021). This
policy touches on key components such as antitrust laws, intellectual property, ethics and values,
defamation, profanity, bullying, and confidentiality.
Employers and organizations have to be prepared to adapt their social media policies in
accordance to current law. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provides employee with
protection over social media posting. To aid in writing a social media policy, the U.S.
Department of Health and Hospitals has created a checklist that includes copyrighted materials,
licensing, IT security, accessibility, information collection from the public, and protecting the
public’s privacy, and can be found on their website (2019).
Biblical Worldview on Social Media
“Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”
(Proverbs 13:3). We are given the gift of free will and a mind with limitless opportunities; it is up
to us how we use it and how we respect others. In a Liberty University blog, Graf compares
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 5
digital communication to fast food, requiring no significant investment of time and not fulfilling
us for long; on the other hand, face-to-face communication is like a feast, requiring the
commitment of money and energy along with spending quality time with the person in front of
you (2015). Let us not forget the value of human interactions that fill us with the joy and
happiness of the human experience. I believe that as long as we as Christians can stick to our
beliefs and views while we are on social media, our Christian worldview will flow over into our
online communities for the better.
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 6
References
Ali, F., El-Sappagh, S., Islam, S. M. R., Ali, A., Attique, M., Imran, M., & Kwak, K.-S. (2021).
An intelligent healthcare monitoring framework using wearable sensors and social
networking data. Future Generation Computer Systems, 114, 23–43.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2020.07.047
American Hospital Association Social Media Policy: AHA. American Hospital Association.
(2021). https://www.aha.org/standardsguidelines/american-hospital-association-social-
media-policy.
Baccarella, C. V., Wagner, T. F., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2018). Social media? It's
serious! Understanding the dark side of social media. European Management Journal,
36(4), 431–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2018.07.002
Graf, R. (2015, November 3). A Christian view of social media. The Liberty Champion.
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/11/a-christian-view-of-social-media/.
Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2018). Health informatics: an interprofessional approach. Mosby.
Nolan, S., Hendricks, J., Williamson, M., & Ferguson, S. (2018). Social networking sites (SNS)
as a tool for midwives to enhance social capital for adolescent mothers. Midwifery, 62,
119–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.03.022
Rivera-Romero, O., Konstantinidis, S., Denecke, K., Gabarrón, E., Petersen, C., Househ, M.,
Merolli, M., & Mayer, M. Á. (2020). Ethical Considerations for Participatory Health
through Social Media: Healthcare Workforce and Policy Maker Perspectives. Yearbook of
medical informatics, 29(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1701981 Smith, K. J., &
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 7
Colvin, L. (2016). Crafting a Social-Media Policy You Can “Like.” Employment Relations
Today, 43(2), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1002/ert.21559
Sohail, M., Haris Rauf, Tayyeba Iftikhar Mirza, Rabia Ashfaq, Anbreen Aziz, & Hasan Ibrahim.
(2020). The PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USE AMONG HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONALS: EMERGING BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS IN SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES ADDICTION. Journal of University Medical & Dental College,
11(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.37723/jumdc.v11i1.262
Stieglitz, S., Mirbabaie, M., Ross, B., & Neuberger, C. (2018). Social media analytics –
Challenges in topic discovery, data collection, and data preparation. International Journal
of Information Management.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401217308526.
U.S. Department of Health and Hospitals. (2019). HHS Social Media Policies Checklist [PDF].
checklist_social_media_policies.pdf (hhs.gov)
Ventola C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best
practices. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 39(7), 491–520.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
