A Holistic Perspective of Security in Health Related Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 1190-1204
Author(s):  
I. Apostolakis ◽  
A. Chryssanthou ◽  
I. Varlamis
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Data Transfer ◽  
Medical Data ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Access Rights ◽  
Doctor's Office ◽  
Identification Mechanism

A significant issue in health related applications is protecting a patient’s profile data from unauthorized access. In the case of telemedicine systems a patient’s medical profile and other medical information is transferred over the network from the examination lab to the doctor’s office in order for the doctor to be able to perform a diagnosis. The medical information transferred across the network should be encrypted, secured and protected until it reaches its final destination. Patients’ medical profiles should be accessible by their doctors in order to support diagnosis and care, but must also be protected from other patients, medical companies and others who are not certified by the patient to access his medical data. A very important element of virtual communities is trust. Trust should be built upon the same specifications for secure data transfer and leveled access with medical information. Furthermore, trust requires a strict policy based mechanism, which defines roles, access rights and limitation among community members, as well as a flexible identification mechanism, which allows anonymity of patients, while in the same time guarantees the truthfulness of doctors’ identity and expertise.

A Holistic Perspective of Security in Health Related Virtual Communities

2009 ◽  
pp. 367-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Apostolakis ◽  
A. Chryssanthou ◽  
I. Varlamis
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Data Transfer ◽  
Medical Data ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Access Rights ◽  
Doctor's Office ◽  
Identification Mechanism

A significant issue in health related applications is protecting a patient’s profile data from unauthorized access. In the case of telemedicine systems a patient’s medical profile and other medical information is transferred over the network from the examination lab to the doctor’s office in order for the doctor to be able to perform a diagnosis. The medical information transferred across the network should be encrypted, secured and protected until it reaches its final destination. Patients’ medical profiles should be accessible by their doctors in order to support diagnosis and care, but must also be protected from other patients, medical companies and others who are not certified by the patient to access his medical data. A very important element of virtual communities is trust. Trust should be built upon the same specifications for secure data transfer and leveled access with medical information. Furthermore, trust requires a strict policy based mechanism, which defines roles, access rights and limitation among community members, as well as a flexible identification mechanism, which allows anonymity of patients, while in the same time guarantees the truthfulness of doctors’ identity and expertise.

scholarly journals Motivations for Participation in an Online Social Media Community for Diabetes

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 712-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine White ◽  
Achamyeleh Gebremariam ◽  
Dana Lewis ◽  
Weston Nordgren ◽  
James Wedding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Patients With Diabetes ◽  
Health Related ◽  
High Level ◽  
Medical Recommendations ◽  
To Receive

Background: Our objectives were to describe individuals’ motivations for participation in an online social media community and to assess their level of trust in medical information provided by medical professionals and community members. Methods: A purposive survey was delivered to participants recruited through posts on the CGM in the Cloud group, Twitter, and blogs. Individuals were asked a series of demographic and social media use questions. Results: A total of 1268 members of the CGM in the Cloud community responded to the survey. The majority were non-Hispanic White (92.1%) and caregivers of an individual with diabetes (80.9%). Mean age was 41 years old, and 74.8% were female. Primary goals of the Facebook group were to learn more about Nightscout technology and to receive technological assistance. Individuals provided assistance to the community through spreading awareness, technical assistance, support, and donation. Respondents put a high level of trust in their peers versus health professionals in many health situations with nearly 40% of individuals reported to be helped by following advice found in the Facebook group, and 99% reported no harm. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with diabetes and their caregivers use social media for many health-related purposes including medical recommendations and technical support for medical devices and systems as well as emotional support.

scholarly journals Lessening the Evils, Online

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-101
Author(s):  
Annette Leibing
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
North American ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Embodied Learning ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Dual Purpose ◽  
Health Related

Virtual communities are an especially rich subject for social scientists studying the dynamic and multifaceted ways that groups negotiate health-related knowledge. What are the forces shaping the health information that virtual community members circulate, evaluate and incorporate? This article explores health information circulating on an international, though mainly North American, email list for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The dual purpose of the list?"of support and knowledge exchange?"is shaped by a particular politics of hope, which channels knowledge and projects it into the future. This politics of hope is, at least partly, based on what I want to call “embodied molecules”?"the effectiveness of medications created by the list’s “cyberbody.” Cyberbodies, in this article, are created through the virtual community members’ embodied learning.

Current Status of a Medical Information System

1970 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Van Brunt ◽  
L. S. Davis ◽  
J. F. Terdiman ◽  
S. Singer ◽  
E. Besag ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Medical Data ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Medical Information System ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Central System

A pilot medical information system is being implemented and currently is providing services for limited categories of patient data. In one year, physicians’ diagnoses for 500,000 office visits, 300,000 drug prescriptions for outpatients, one million clinical laboratory tests, and 60,000 multiphasic screening examinations are being stored in and retrieved from integrated, direct access, patient computer medical records.This medical information system is a part of a long-term research and development program. Its major objective is the development of a multifacility computer-based system which will support eventually the medical data requirements of a population of one million persons and one thousand physicians. The strategy employed provides for modular development. The central system, the computer-stored medical records which are therein maintained, and a satellite pilot medical data system in one medical facility are described.

Mental health data: A case for the African communities in New South Wales

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Daniel Kwai Apat ◽  
Wellington Digwa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Services ◽  
New South ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Community Members ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Health Related

This paper examines mental health policies in relation to African communities residing in New South Wales, Australia and the attitudes of African communities toward mental disorders and mental health services. Current mental health policy frameworks have shown an inadequate inclusion of African communities. This may negatively affect the design of mental health interventions and how African communities engage with mental health services. The available mental health literature on African communities showed disjointed and uncoordinated data which focuses on specific community-groups within African communities. Insufficient mental health or suicide data, combined with African community members’ perception toward mental disorders and mental health services, makes it very difficult to progress engagement and interventions. There is a need for proper and sizable data on mental health related to people of African descent in NSW and Australia wide, if positive outcomes are to be realised.

scholarly journals Sustainable electricity for sustainable health? A case study in North-western Zambia

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 72-82
Author(s):  
Lizzie Caperon ◽  
Lina Brand-Correa
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Hydropower Plant ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This study explores the under-researched link between clean energy and public health outcomes, and offers new insights into the link between wider access to clean energy and progress towards health outcomes, in particular the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. This is the first study to consider the impact of a run-of-river hydropower plant (RORHP) in a remote rural community in Zambia in relation to health outcomes. Exploring this relationship establishes how the health benefits which renewable energy can bring can be capitalised upon to meet the health-related objectives of the United Nations sustainable development goals. Workshops and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders including community members, health workers, business owners, and key people involved with the plant, to establish health and social impacts of the introduction of electricity in the community of Ikelenge. Findings are used to establish both synergies and trade-offs of the RORHP on the health of the community, and recommendations are made for the continued improvement of health following the introduction of the RORHP, to achieve further progress towards meeting SDG targets.

scholarly journals Community Needs Assessments in a Student-Run Clinic serving a West Philadelphia Neighborhood

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Arenas ◽  
Dania D. Hallak ◽  
Rommell Noche ◽  
Gilberto Vila-Arroyo ◽  
Swathi Raman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pap Smear ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Healthcare Interventions ◽  
Local Healthcare

ABSTRACTBackgroundWhile Community Needs Assessments (CNAs) are an important tool for Student-Run Clinics (SRCs) to understand local communities’ healthcare needs, few studies have evaluated CNAs and their impact on care provided at SRCs.ObjectiveEvaluate results from two CNAs of an SRC in East Parkside, Philadelphia to better comprehend (1) community awareness and opinions regarding the SRC and (2) local healthcare concerns and access.Methods58 and 105 East Parkside residents were surveyed in 2011 and 2015 respectively. The results were analyzed to quantify various health-related measures in the community.ResultsResults showed high rates of hypertension, asthma, and diabetes. Rates of pap-smear and hypertension screening matched national averages while mammograms and colonoscopies were below national rates. Both CNAs showed that less than 40% of community members were aware of the clinic’s existence.ConclusionsCNAs can provide valuable insights regarding local health needs which can inform future healthcare interventions.

Abstract 249: Online Health Information for Myocardial Infarction: Trusted Source or Fake News?

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishak Kumar ◽  
Mohammed Abualenain ◽  
Andrew D Choi
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Mozilla Firefox ◽  
Assess Quality

Objective: As the internet is a leading destination for health information for patients, there is a need for this information to be accurate and easy to understand. In this study, we assessed the quality and readability of online health related information for myocardial infarction (MI) directed towards patients. Methods: Websites were collected from 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo! and Bing) using the search term “Heart Attack” on a newly installed Mozilla Firefox browser. The first 30 websites from each engine were selected and those belonging to advertisements, new articles and physician oriented sites were excluded. The resulting sites were assessed for quality using the DISCERN instrument via 2 physician investigators knowledgeable in MI and blinded to each other’s results; following this, the results were discussed amidst the team to agree on a coalesced score for each website. Health On the Net (HONcode) was also used as an added measure to assess quality. Readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Ease (FLRE) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level (FLGL) tool. Results: Overall, 24 websites were assessed. The average overall quality for DISCERN was 2.58 out of 5 with a median of 2.5 while the average total DISCERN score was 37.75 out of 80; the highest total quality among them being 61 out of 80. Only 29.17% (7 of 24) of the websites were HONcode certified. The average FLRE was 59.07 out of 100, while the average FLGL was 7.28 with the lowest grade level being 5.20. Conclusion: Patient health related information, on average, were of lower quality, while those higher quality websites were deemed less readable and needed a higher level of education to understand. The average reading grade level was that of the 7 th grade which is lower than what the average American reads at (8 th grade). The highest quality website based on total DISCERN score was from Wikipedia, however FLRE and FLGL tell us it was also harder to comprehend for the average American. Going forward there are important opportunities to improve the quality of online health related information for MI, in order to remain a trusted source of medical information for patients.

Missing Link of the Health Information Exchange Loop

2017 ◽  
pp. 1185-1196
Author(s):  
Alice Noblin ◽  
Kendall Cortelyou-Ward
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Patient Engagement ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Health Information Exchange ◽  
Medical Data ◽  
Patient Portals ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Care Industry ◽  
Basic Services

Since 2004, the services of the Florida Health Information Exchange (HIE) have grown, and in 2011, the state contracted with Harris Corporation to provide some basic services to the Florida health care industry and provide functional improvements to the expanding state-wide HIE. The endeavors of this public-private partnership continue to the present day; however, as HIE services have expanded, challenges continue to be encountered. Ultimately, successful exchange of medical data requires patient engagement and “buy-in.” The purpose of this article will consider why patient engagement is important for HIE success, offer recommendations to improve both patient and provider interest, and consider the importance of online patient portals to increase the effectiveness of health record keeping and the sharing of vital patient medical information needed by caregivers and their patients.

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