Health Information Engagement Factors in Malaysia: A Content Analysis of Facebook Use by the Ministry of Health in 2016 and 2017

Health organizations have widely adopted social media for health promotion, public health communication conveyance, and organizational promotion activities. However, little published data exists on the factors that facilitate health information diffusion in South East Asia, especially Malaysia compared with Western countries. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with good engagement rates among internet users on the Facebook (FB) page of Ministry of Health Malaysia. In this observational study, 2123 FB posts were randomly selected. Data dated from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2017 was gathered from the Facebook Insight. The logistic regression model was applied to identify factors associated with good engagement rates. This study found that a FB post with a good engagement rate was significantly associated with a health education post (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 3.80, 95% Confidence Interval CI: 3.02–4.78, p < 0.001), a risk communication post (AOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.39–2.26, p < 0.001), a post in the afternoon (AOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.34–2.31, p < 0.001) or in the evening (AOR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.20–1.82, p < 0.001), and a video format (AOR: 3.74, 95% CI: 1.44–9.71, p = 0.007). Therefore, we present the first comprehensive analysis of health information engagement among internet users in Malaysia. The growing trends of online health information-seeking behaviors and demand for the availability of validated health information require effective strategies by public health organizations to disseminate health information and achieve better audience engagement on social media.

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Health Information Engagement Factors: A Content Analysis of Facebook of Ministry of Health, Malaysia. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.12375 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Afiq Izzudin A Rahim ◽

Faizul Nizam A Salim ◽

Mohd Ariff Ikram Ariffin ◽

Mohd Ismail Ibrahim

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Diffusion ◽

Limited Information ◽

Ministry Of Health ◽

Health Organizations ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Study Objective ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Engagement Factors

BACKGROUND Health organizations have widely adopted social media for health promotion, public health communication conveyance and organizational, promotional activities. However, limited information is available on the factors that facilitate the health information diffusion in Malaysia, an Asia country with different socio-economic, cultural events and average internet penetration rate compared to Western countries. OBJECTIVE This study aims to look at factors associated with good engagement rates among netizens using Facebook (FB) Page of the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia. METHODS Two thousand one hundred twenty-three FB posts randomly selected in the cross-sectional study design. The sample was determined based on the study objective using two proportion formula. Data gathered from Facebook Insight of MOH’s FB Page from November 2016 to October 2017. The logistic regression model was applied to identify factors associated with good engagement rate. RESULTS The most prevalent type of health information was the organizational promotion (n=766) while the majority of posts were posted between midnight till early morning (n=870) and the most frequent types of the post was the photo (n=1366). This study found that good engagement rate significantly associated with health education post (AOR 3.80, 95% CI 3.02, 4.78, P<0.001), risk communication post (AOR 1.77, 95% CI 1.39, 2.26, P<0.001), post in afternoon (AOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.34, 2.31, P<0.001), or in evening (AOR: 1.48, 95% CI 1.20, 1.82, P<0.001) and video post (AOR: 3.74, 95% CI 1.44, 9.71, P= 0.007). The engagement was negatively associated with FB post at morning, and utilization of different FB type of post namely link, share video or photo. CONCLUSIONS Understanding of engagement factors on social media such as Facebook may improve the dissemination of health information among netizens by health organizations.

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Trust in national health information sources in the United States: comparing predictors and levels of trust across three health domains

Translational Behavioral Medicine ◽

10.1093/tbm/ibz066 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 978-988 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emily B Peterson ◽

Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou ◽

Dannielle E Kelley ◽

Brad Hesse

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Information ◽

National Health ◽

Information Seeking ◽

General Health ◽

Trust In Government ◽

Health Organizations ◽

Government Health ◽

Health Agencies ◽

Multiple Health

Abstract Public trust in traditional sources of health information is essential for public health agencies and organizations to perform necessary public health functions. Little research has examined levels and predictors of trust in government health agencies and national health organizations. Additionally, few studies have simultaneously analyzed trust in multiple health topics. The major aim of this study was to compare levels and factors associated with trust in national health sources across three health topics: information about tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and general health. Data from two cycles of the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey collected in 2015 and 2017 were merged and analyzed for this study (n = 5,474). A series of weighted multivariable logistic regression models calculated odds of high trust in government health agencies and health organizations for each health topic. More respondents reported high trust in health organizations than for government health agencies across all topics. More participants reported high trust in these sources tobacco information, as compared to general health or e-cigarette information. Logistic models found that those higher in information seeking confidence were more likely to report high trust across all models. Other demographic variables were inconsistent predictors of trust across topics. This study highlights inconsistent sociodemographic predictors of trust across multiple health topics and national health sources. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers should consider the unique context of specific health topics in health promotion campaigns, partner with existing community-based organizations, and encourage and enable health information seeking.

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Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.29802 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen Neely ◽

Christina Eldredge ◽

Ron Sanders

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Health Information ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Care Providers ◽

Related Information ◽

Public Health Officials ◽

Health Consumers

BACKGROUND In recent years, medical journals have emphasized the increasingly critical role that social media plays in the dissemination of public health information and disease prevention guidelines. However, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter continue to pose unique challenges for clinical health care providers and public health officials alike. In order to effectively communicate during public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly critical for health care providers and public health officials to understand how patients gather health-related information on the internet and adjudicate the merits of such information. OBJECTIVE With that goal in mind, we conducted a survey of 1003 US-based adults to better understand how health consumers have used social media to learn and stay informed about the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which they have relied on credible scientific information sources, and how they have gone about fact-checking pandemic-related information. METHODS A web-based survey was conducted with a sample that was purchased through an industry-leading market research provider. The results were reported with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 3. Participants included 1003 US-based adults (aged ≥18 years). Participants were selected via a stratified quota sampling approach to ensure that the sample was representative of the US population. Balanced quotas were determined (by region of the country) for gender, age, race, and ethnicity. RESULTS The results showed a heavy reliance on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic; more than three-quarters of respondents (762/1003, 76%) reported that they have relied on social media at least “a little,” and 59.2% (594/1003) of respondents indicated that they read information about COVID-19 on social media at least once per week. According to the findings, most social media users (638/1003, 63.6%) were unlikely to fact-check what they see on the internet with a health professional, despite the high levels of mistrust in the accuracy of COVID-19–related information on social media. We also found a greater likelihood of undergoing vaccination among those following more credible scientific sources on social media during the pandemic (χ216=50.790; φ=0.258; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that health professionals will need to be both strategic and proactive when engaging with health consumers on social media if they hope to counteract the deleterious effects of misinformation and disinformation. Effective training, institutional support, and proactive collaboration can help health professionals adapt to the evolving patterns of health information seeking.

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Young People’s Experiences and Perceptions of YouTuber-Produced Health Content: Implications for Health Promotion

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/1090198120974964 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 109019812097496

Author(s):

Jane Harris ◽

Amanda Atkinson ◽

Michael Mink ◽

Lorna Porcellato

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Young People ◽

Health Information ◽

Health Organizations ◽

North West ◽

Public Health Organizations ◽

Sources Of Health Information ◽

Many Sources ◽

Health Content

The growing diversity and uptake of social media has increased the sources of health information available to young people. YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms for young people in the United Kingdom, and YouTubers are the most important influencers on the platform producing diverse health content. They are increasingly recognized by popular media and public health organizations as a potentially influential source of health information for young people. This study aimed to qualitatively explore young people’s experiences and perceptions of YouTuber health content. Focus groups (November 2017 to January 2018) with 85 young people (13–18 years) were recruited from schools in a single county in North West England. The findings suggest young people’s engagement with YouTuber health content is dependent on how they encounter it, YouTubers’ motivations for producing it, and the perceived relatability, sincerity, and generalization present in this content. The study confirms YouTuber health content was one of the many sources of health information used by young people and was most frequently encountered during young people’s routine viewing. Collaboration between public health organizations and YouTubers could be promising in communicating health messages to young people already engaged with these YouTubers, as part of wider campaigns or interventions. These messages could be particularly effective if they focused on experiences and norms rather than advice, remained consistent with YouTubers’ existing health content, incorporate clear indicators of accuracy into their narrative, and state their intention to benefit young people.

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Health Pandemic and Social Media: A Content Analysis of COVID-Related Posts on a Telegram Channel With More Than One Million Subscribers

Navigating Healthcare Through Challenging Times - Studies in Health Technology and Informatics ◽

10.3233/shti210098 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Simin Mehdipour ◽

Nazanin Jannati ◽

Mozhgan Negarestani ◽

Saber Amirzadeh ◽

Sareh Keshvardoost ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Health Information ◽

Health Organizations ◽

Public Health Emergencies

Background: Mobile-based social media play an important role in the dissemination of information during public health emergencies. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the contents and trends of public messages posted on Telegram during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: A content analysis of the 1781 messages, posted in a public Telegram channel with more than one million subscribers performed over 9-weeks. The messages were categorized into seven categories. Results: In total, 39% (n=703) of all messages were related to COVID-19. With the official confirmation of the case of COVID-19 in Iran, the number of COVID-related massages started to rise. Overall, the most frequent messages were of joke and humor (n=292, 41.5%), followed by educational messages (n=140, 19.9%). Conclusion: Our study showed that the most popular messages during first weeks of COVID pandemic were satirical, indicating that people may not had taken the risks of this pandemic seriously. It is crucial for health organizations to develop strategies for dissemination of reliable health information through social media.

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Social Media and the Transformation of Healthcare: A Viewpoint (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25230 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ella Forgie ◽

Hollis Lai ◽

Bo Cao ◽

Eleni Stroulia ◽

Andrew James Greenshaw ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Community Support ◽

Security And Privacy ◽

Support Network ◽

Full Potential ◽

Physician Patient Relationship ◽

Mediation Effects

UNSTRUCTURED As many as 80% of internet users seek health information online. The social determinants of health (SDoH) are intimately related to who has access to the internet and healthcare as a whole. Those who face more barriers to care are more likely to benefit from accessing health information online, granted the information they are retrieving is accurate. Virtual communities on social media platforms are particularly interesting as venues for seeking health information online because peers have been shown to influence health behaviour more than almost anything else. Thus, it is important to recognize the potential of social media to have positive mediation effects on health, so long as any negative mediation effects are reconcilable. As a positive mediator of health, social media can be used as a direct or indirect mode of communication between physicians and patients, a venue for health promotion and health information, and a community support network. False or misleading content, social contagion, confirmation bias, and security and privacy concerns must be mitigated in order to realize full potential of social media as a positive mediator of health. In any case, it is clear that the intersections between the SDoH, social media, and health are intimate, and they must be taken into consideration by physicians. Here, we argue that a paradigm shift in the physician-patient relationship is warranted, one where physicians: a) acknowledge the impacts of the SDoH on information-seeking behaviour, b) recognize the positive and negative roles of social media as a mediator of health through the lens of the SDoH, and c) use social media to catalyze positive changes in the standard of care.

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