scholarly journals Diabetes self-management in online health communities: an information exchange perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Min ◽  
Yan Chen ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Ting He ◽  
Sha Tang
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Health Communities

Abstract Background Online health communities (OHCs), with a wealth of multi-source information exchange, have provided a convenient way for people with diabetes to actively participate in their self-management and have been widely used. Information exchange assists people with diabetes with health-related decisions to actively engage in their care, and reduce the occurrence of potential complications of diabetes. However, there has been relatively little research on the information exchange behaviors and their effect on health in professional online medical platforms—OHCs. Objective Using a social exchange theory, this study focuses on two sources of information (doctors and people with diabetes) to investigate information exchange behaviors and consequences. Moreover, we also examine moderating effects of information price as patients need to pay prices for consulting with doctors to obtain medical information on OHCs. Methods By using the Python program, a rich dataset contained 22,746 doctor-patient dialogues from December 2017 to December 2018 is collected from the biggest OHC in China. Then the logistic and ordinal regression models are used to get empirical results. Results We found that first information sharing from doctors and other people with diabetes can promote their information sharing behavior. Second, the moderating effects of information price are heterogeneous and change with the exchange participants. Third, rich information exchange supports self-management of people with diabetes and improves their health status. Conclusion This study is among the first that tests the information exchange behavior and consequence for diabetes in OHCs and examines the moderating effects of the information price. The present study produces several insights, which have implications for social exchange, patient behavior, online health communities, and information technology in diabetes self-management literature.

Diabetes self-management in online health communities: an information exchange perspective (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Min
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Diabetes Patients

BACKGROUND Online health communities (OHCs), with a wealth of multi-source information exchange, have provided a convenient way for diabetes patients to actively involve in their self-management and been widely used. Information exchange assists patients with health-related decisions to actively engage in their care, and reduce the occurrence of potential complications of diabetes. However, there has been relatively little research on the information exchange behaviors and its effect on health on professional online medical platforms—OHCs. OBJECTIVE Using a social exchange theory, we focus on two sources of information (doctors and patients) to investigate information exchange behaviors and moderating effects of information price. METHODS The logistic and ordinal regression models are used to get our empirical results by collecting a rich dataset from the biggest OHC in China. RESULTS We found that first information sharing from doctors (β=0.014, p<0.001) and other patients (β=0.009, p<0.01) can promote the patient’s information sharing behavior. Second, the moderating effects of information price are heterogeneous and change with the exchange participants (β=-0.005, p<0.001; β=0.003, p<0.05). Third, rich information exchange supports patients’ self-management and improves their health status (β=0.009, p<0.001; β=0.018, p<0.003). CONCLUSIONS This study is among the first that tests the information exchange behavior and consequence for diabetes patients in OHCs and examines the moderating effects of information price. Our present study produces several insights, which have implications for social exchange, patient behavior, online health communities, and information technology in diabetes self-management literature. By understanding the online information exchange behaviors of doctor-patient and patient-patient, we are able to understand how to reach people to receive and deliver diabetes information through these professional OHCs.

scholarly journals The Exchange of Informational Support in Online Health Communities at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Content Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Jong ◽  
Ou Stella Liang ◽  
Christopher C. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Types Of Information

BACKGROUND Online health communities (OHCs) provide social support for ongoing health related problems. COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been an acute and substantial stressor globally. The disease and its impact, especially in the beginning phases, left many with questions about its nature, treatment, and prevention. Unlike typical chronic ailments on OHCs, which are more established, COVID-19, at least at the onset of the pandemic, is distinct in that it lacks a consensus of clinical diagnosis and an existing community foundation. OBJECTIVE The study aims to investigate a newly formed OHC for COVID-19 to determine the topics and types of information exchange as well as the sources of information this community referenced during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. METHODS A total of 357 posts from a COVID-19 OHC on the MedHelp platform were annotated following an open-coding process. Participants’ engagement patterns, topics of posts, and sources of information were quantified. RESULTS Participants who were in a position to offer informational support had a significantly higher percentage of responding more than once than those seeking information (P < 0.001). Among the information seeking topics, symptoms and public health practice and psychological impacts were the most frequently discussed with 26% (17/65) and 15% (10/65) of posts respectively. The majority of informational support was expressed through feedback/opinion at 82.3% (181/220). Additionally, the most referred source of information was news outlets/websites at 55% (11/20). CONCLUSIONS The trends of this community could be useful in prioritizing public health responses to address the most common questions sought by the general public during crisis communication and in identifying which venue of communication is most effective in reaching the public audience during these times.

scholarly journals Analysis of Network Structure and Doctor Behaviors in E-Health Communities from a Social-Capital Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Xu Xu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Service Levels ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Professional Titles ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Social Capital Perspective ◽  
Doctor Communication

In tandem with internet development and widespread social media use, e-health communities have begun to emerge in recent years. These communities allow doctors to access forums anywhere, anytime, seek or exchange medical information online, find literature, and so on. This is convenient and can solve some problems for doctors while also promoting doctor communication. This study collected and collated 102 doctors in the “Lilac Forum” and used social network tools to quantify the overall network density, centrality, core–periphery structure, and structural hole indicators of doctors’ information exchange from a social-capital perspective. The results showed that the frequency of interaction between doctors differed because of differences in the identities and participation of doctors in the e-health community. The density of the doctors’ information dissemination network (0.228) and network cohesion (0.610) were relatively high. Thus, the doctors were more closely connected, and information was easily spread. At the same time, doctors with higher professional titles had obvious location characteristics, familiarity and trust, and high levels of reciprocity. They could obtain redundant information in the network and were more likely to influence the behavior of other doctors. This study’s findings provide support for improving information exchange among doctors in e-health communities and improving the service levels of the platforms.

EFFECTS OF INTERPERSONAL TRUST AMONG USERS OF ONLINE HEALTH COMMUNITIES ON PATIENT TRUST IN AND SATISFACTION WITH THEIR PHYSICIAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Françoise Audrain-Pontevia ◽  
Loick Menvielle
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Patient Trust ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
The Impact

Objectives:Online Health Communities (OHCs) are increasingly being used by patients in the Web 2.0 era. Today's patients have instant access to a great deal of medical information and contacts. Despite the considerable development of OHCs, little is known regarding the impact on the patient–physician relationship. This research aims at filling this gap and examines how interpersonal trust on peer-to-peer OHCs influences two key relational variables, namely patient trust in the physician and patient satisfaction with the physician. It also investigates their influences on the patient's attitude toward the physician.Methods:Drawing on both the relational and medical literatures, we propose a research model that brings out the relationships between interpersonal trust in OHCs, and patients’ trust, satisfaction and attitude toward the physician. We then conduct a quantitative survey of 512 OHC users in France, using structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses.Results:Our findings indicate that interpersonal trust in OHCs exerts a positive influence on both patients’ trust in and satisfaction with their physician. It also highlights that these two relational variables have a positive influence on patient attitude toward the physician. Our findings also indicate that patient trust influences patient satisfaction with the physician.Conclusions:This research highlights the importance of OHCs, which can be seen as valuable instruments for enhancing patient–physician relationships. It shows that healthcare managers should seek to enhance interpersonal trust among OHC users, because this trust has a positive influence on patient satisfaction with, trust in and attitude toward the physician.

scholarly journals Social exchange approach in knowledge sharing of online communities – A Case of online health communities at Ho Chi Minh City

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (Q4) ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Phong Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Tuan Manh Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Online Health Community ◽  
Writing Group ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Face Concern ◽  
Health Communities

The demand to look for information and share information in nowaday society are a huge needed, especially in the internet revolution are developing more and more. The studies proposed the model that includes the benefit factors (sense of self-worth, face concern, reputation and social support) and cost factors (executional costs, cognitive costs) with the points of view of Social Exchange Theory that influences to knowledge donating behavior, knowledge collecting behavior and community promotion among members. The studies will be verified in health care member of the online health communities in Ho Chi Minh City. Quantitative research also was conducted 336 samples were used to evaluate and test the research. The results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) show that the theoretical models are suited the market data and hypotheses of the research model are supported. In particular, factors of the benifit group (sense of self-worth, face concern, reputation and social support) have a positive impact on the knowledge donating behavior and knowledge collecting behavior. In addition, factors of the cost group (executional costs, cognitive costs) have a negative impact the knowledge donating behavior and knowledge collecting behavior. Knowledge donating behavior and knowledge collecting behavior have a positive impact on community promotion to the online health community. In addition, the results of multi-group analysis that there is no difference between knowledge sharing’s writing group and no knowledge sharing’s writing group. The results may be usefull for online health community, hospitals, doctors, individuals and businesses.

scholarly journals Study on the Evolution of Information Sharing Strategy for Users of Medical Cloud

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panpan Zhu ◽  
Jiang Shen ◽  
Man Xu
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Online Health Community ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Community Information ◽  
Free Network ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Sharing Behavior ◽  
Community Patients

Abstract Technological advances are driving the growth of online health communities. However, there are some problems such as low user participation and insignificant social benefits in online health communities. This paper discusses the evolution law of information sharing behavior of members of online health community to study the influence of different behaviors on health information sharing results and explore the ways to improve the level of community information sharing. Based on BA scale-free network (Albert-László Barabás and Réka Albert scale-free network) , this paper established an information sharing behavior model for members of online health community with the evolutionary game theory method, and discussed the influence of different game parameters and initial conditions on the evolution results of information sharing behavior of community patients with the method of numerical experiment.Results: It is found that the key to improve the level of community information sharing is to improve the benefit of patients' information sharing, the proportion of patients sharing information at the initial moment, the degree of network nodes, and reduce the sharing cost. Community managers should improve the information conversion ability and information absorption ability of community patients through offline activities, professional guidance and other forms. At the same time, it can reduce the difficulty and risk of information sharing and strengthen the connection among members, thus comprehensively enhancing the value of the community.

Do online health communities enhance patient–physician relationship? An assessment of the impact of social support and patient empowerment

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Francoise Audrain-Pontevia ◽  
Loick Menvielle
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Patient Empowerment ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
User Empowerment ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Physician Relationship ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
The Impact

The diffusion of the Web 2.0 has made it possible for patients to exchange on online health communities, defined as computer-mediated communities dedicated to health topics, wherein members can build relationships with other members. It is now acknowledged that online health communities provide users not only with medical information but also with social support with no time or geographical boundaries. However, in spite of their considerable interest, there is still a paucity of research as to how online health communities alter the patient–physician relationship. This research aims at filling this gap and examines how online health communities, while providing users with computer-mediated social support and empowerment, impact the patient–physician relationship. Six hypotheses are proposed and tested. A survey was developed and 328 responses were collected from online patient groups in Canada in 2016. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. All but one hypothesis are validated. The results show that user computer-mediated social support positively influences user empowerment and participation during the consultation, which in turn determines user commitment to the relationship with the physician. Importantly and contrary to our expectations, user empowerment is found to be significantly but negatively related to user commitment with the physician.

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