scholarly journals Beyond Medical Pluralism

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-109
Author(s):  
Marko Uibu ◽  
Katre Koppel
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
The Other ◽  
System Level ◽  
Medical Pluralism ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Scientific Medicine ◽  
Health Field

Medical pluralism does not only mean the presence of multiple therapies but also the variety of health discourses and norms. By analysing the rhetoric of active participants in the Estonian health field, we portray the diverse discourses in defining and positioning complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in relation to biomedicine (BM). On a scale of attitudes, five different positions of CAM and BM emerge. Both ends of the spectrum dominantly represent a system-level view characterized by distinct categories, opposition, and labelling. In between, integrative positions focus more on an individual’s personal needs by combining and “taking the best out of” all available knowledge systems. The presence of these competing discourses poses several challenges for health communication. Meanings offered by CAM-related health approaches are increasingly visible and influential as unlicensed health workers and laypeople contribute more to public communication due to the openness of social media. On the other hand, critics of CAM and proponents of scientific thinking have mobilized to set boundaries to defend the authoritative position of scientific medicine. Our analysis suggests that using system-level categories supports polarization, which could lead people to seek alternative explanations based on their individual experiences, and thus feeding distrust towards medicine and doctors.

scholarly journals THE EXISTENCE OF THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE INDONESIAN HUMANITARIAN COMMITTEE IN DELIVERING INFORMATION ON PREVENTION AND HANDLING COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Andre Avila ◽  
Rita Herlina
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Qualitative Data Collection

The existence of volunteers helping the government convey appropriate information to the public either through social media or plunging directly into the field of conducting public communication is the background of this research, with the theme of the Existence of the Volunteers of the Indonesian Humanitarian Committee in Delivering Information on Prevention and Handling Covid-19. This study aims to describe the motivation of volunteers, volunteer activities in the field and forms of volunteer messages on social media. The methodology of this research is descriptive qualitative. Data collection techniques are by interview and document analysis. The results of this study indicate the existence of Indonesian Humanitarian Committee volunteers as the frontline in conveying information on prevention and handling of Covid-19 to the people of South Tangerang, motivated by caring for others as an effort to remind the importance of prevention and handling of Covid 19, in volunteer activities in the field, namely distributing flyers about prevention and handling of Covid-19 through food and food distribution programs, while the form of messages on social media about prevention and handling of Covid-19 is mostly done through Facebook, Instagram, website media, with various messages in the form of articles, photos, status, and messages the other.

scholarly journals The therapeutic itinerary of health workers diagnosed with COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Faria da Silva ◽  
Emília Gallindo Cursino ◽  
Euzeli da Silva Brandão ◽  
Fernanda Garcia Bezerra Góes ◽  
Jéssica Renata Bastos Depiant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Sick Leave ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Active Search ◽  
Related Information ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Field ◽  
At Home

Objective: to analyze the therapeutic itinerary of health workers diagnosed with COVID-19. Method: qualitative study conducted with 132 health workers diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using a semi-structured form sent through the social media and processed with the Interface de R pour Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires, according to the Descending Hierarchical Classification. Results: the participants included 116 women and 16 men with 14 different professions within the health field. Five classes of excerpts emerged from the text, revealing the therapeutic itinerary from the onset of symptoms, up to referrals for testing and confirming COVID-19. Additionally, the aspects that facilitated or hindered access to testing in healthcare units were identified, in addition to misinformation and the need for workers to pay for the tests to obtain a diagnosis. Conclusion: this study’s results show the difficulties health workers experienced to access the tests and related information and the delay in accessing the results and obtaining a sick leave to remain in isolation at home. The health workers who did not get support in terms of management and monitoring from the facilities where they worked adopted an active search.

Covid-19 – rumours and facts in media

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 171-174
Author(s):  
Tarare Toshida ◽  
Chaple Jagruti
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The People ◽  
The World

The covid-19 resulted in broad range of spread throughout the world in which India has also became a prey of it and in this situation the means of media is extensively inϑluencing the mentality of the people. Media always played a role of loop between society and sources of information. In this epidemic also media is playing a vital role in shaping the reaction in ϑirst place for both good and ill by providing important facts regarding symptoms of Corona virus, preventive measures against the virus and also how to deal with any suspect of disease to overcome covid-19. On the other hand, there are endless people who spread endless rumours overs social media and are adversely affecting life of people but we always count on media because they provide us with valuable answers to our questions, facts and everything in need. Media always remains on top of the line when it comes to stop the out spread of rumours which are surely dangerous kind of information for society. So on our side we should react fairly and maturely to handle the situation to keep it in the favour of humanity and help government not only to ϑight this pandemic but also the info emic.

Industrial Technology Graduates’ Acquired Skills and Competencies from the University

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Amado C Gequinto ◽  
Do Mads
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Global Market ◽  
The Other ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Industrial Technology ◽  
The University ◽  
Descriptive Method

Skills and competencies are highly regarded in todays global market. Different agencies specifically those seeking for  technologists, technicians, and engineers, have stressed out that skills and competencies as major components  for individual workers.  This aimed to determine  the relevance and appropriateness of acquired skills and competencies by industrial technology graduates, and determine the extent of use of skills and competencies in the current employment. Review of related literatures and studies have been considered in the realization, understanding, analysis, and interpretation of this research exploration. A descriptive method of research was used with 78 graduates from 2015-2016 and 117 graduates from 2016-2017, who participated in the study survey process. The BatStateU Standardized Questionnaire was used to gather data. A brief interview and talk during the visit of alumni in the university was also considered, as well as the other means of social media like email, facebook, messenger, and text messaging.   Results show that skills and competecnices acquired by industrial technology graduates are all relevant and appropriate.  The study also found that there is some to great extent use of acquired skills and competencies to their current employment. The study implies that the acquired skills and competencies from the university significantly provided the graduates the opportunities ins the national and global markets and industries.

Conflicting Health-Related Scientific Evidence in News Reports: Effects of Hedging and Presentation Format on Perceived Issue Uncertainty and Scientists’ and Journalists’ Credibility

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Health Communication ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Presentation Format ◽  
News Article ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Health Related

Introduction: This study examined effects of two journalistic practices in reporting conflicting scientific evidence, hedging and presentation format, on scientists’ and journalists’ credibility and issue uncertainty. Methods: An online experiment was conducted using students from a western U.S. university. Hedging was manipulated as reporting methodological limitations versus not reporting the limitations in news articles covering the conflict. Presentation format was manipulated as using a single news article to report both sides of the conflict versus using double articles with one side of the conflict in one article and the other side in the other article. Results: The study found that perceived issue uncertainty was higher in hedged news articles than that in non-hedged articles; presentation format did not affect people’s perceived issue uncertainty. For scientists’ credibility (both competence and trustworthiness), this study found that it was lower in the single-article format than that in the double-article format; for journalists’ credibility, this study found that journalists’ trustworthiness in the two formats did not vary, but their competence was lower in the double-article format than that in the single-article format. Conclusion: This study contributes to the field of science and health communication by examining effects of presentation format used in communicating conflicting health-related scientific evidence and by examining effects of communicating scientific limitations in a context where conflicting evidence exists. Keywords: conflicting scientific evidence, hedging, presentation format, scientists’ credibility, journalists’ credibility

Knowledge, awareness and perceptions of diabetes mellitus among the Saudi population

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 413-422
Author(s):  
Muhammad H Mujammami ◽  
Abdulaziz A Alodhayani ◽  
Mohammad Ibrahim AlJabri ◽  
Ahmad Alhumaidi Alanazi ◽  
Sultan Sayyaf Alanazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Saudi Population ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Associated Risk Factors

Background: High prevalence of undiagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased over the last two decades, most patients with DM only become aware of their condition once they develop a complication. Limited data are available regarding the knowledge and awareness about DM and the associated risk factors, complications and management in Saudi society. Aim: This study aimed to assess knowledge of DM in general Saudi society and among Saudi healthcare workers. Results: Only 37.3% of the participants were aware of the current DM prevalence. Obesity was the most frequently identified risk factor for DM. Most comparisons indicated better awareness among health workers. Conclusion: A significant lack of knowledge about DM in Saudi society was identified. Social media and educational curriculum can improve knowledge and awareness of DM.

scholarly journals Who could be One Health Activist at the community level?: A case for India

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandul Yasobant ◽  
Walter Bruchhausen ◽  
Deepak Saxena ◽  
Farjana Zakir Memon ◽  
Timo Falkenberg
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
One Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Community Level ◽  
System Level

Abstract Background Community health workers (CHWs) are the mainstay of the public health system, serving for decades in low-resource countries. Their multi-dimensional work in various health care services, including the prevention of communicable diseases and health promotion of non-communicable diseases, makes CHWs, the frontline workers in their respective communities in India. As India is heading towards the development of One Health (OH), this study attempted to provide an insight into potential OH activists (OHA) at the community level. Thus, this case study in one of India’s western cities, Ahmedabad, targeted identifying OHA by exploring the feasibility and the motivation of CHWs in a local setting. Methods This case study explores two major CHWs, i.e., female (Accredited Social Health Activists/ASHA) health workers (FHWs) and male (multipurpose) health workers (MHWs), on their experience and motivation for becoming an OHA. The data were collected between September 2018 and August 2019 through a mixed design, i.e., quantitative data (cross-sectional structured questionnaire) followed by qualitative data (focus group discussion with a semi-structured interview guide). Results The motivation of the CHWs for liaisoning as OHA was found to be low; however, the FHWs have a higher mean motivation score [40 (36–43)] as compared to MHWs [37 (35–40)] out of a maximum score of 92. Although most CHWs have received zoonoses training or contributed to zoonoses prevention campaigns, their awareness level was found to be different among male and female health workers. Comparing the female and male health workers to act as OHA, higher motivational score, multidisciplinary collaborative work experience, and way for incentive generation documented among the female health workers. Conclusion ASHAs were willing to accept the additional new liaison role of OHAs if measures like financial incentives and improved recognition are provided. Although this study documented various systemic factors at the individual, community, and health system level, which might, directly and indirectly, impact the acceptance level to act as OHA, they need to be accounted for in the policy regime.

scholarly journals Commercial Limits to Personality: Instagram Influencers and Commoditized Content Receptivity

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Tyler Horan
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Audience Reception ◽  
Media Audiences ◽  
Unique Identity ◽  
The One ◽  
Commercial Relationships ◽  
Network Power

Social media influencers-individuals who utilize various forms of network power on social networks occupy a unique identity space. On the one hand, their network power is often tied to their social identity as creators of engaging material. On the other hand, their ability to promote commercial products and services steps outside the traditionally distinct commercial–social, occupational–personal divides. In this work, the network morphologies of influencers are explored in relation to their delivery of sponsored and non-sponsored content. This article explores how the disclosure of content as ‘sponsored’ affects audience reception. We show how that the promotion of content on social media often generates higher levels of engagement and receptiveness amongst their audience despite the platform’s assumption of organic non-commercial relationships. We find that engagement levels are highest among smaller out-degree networks. Additionally, we demonstrate that sponsored content not only returns a higher level of engagement, but that the effect of sponsorship is relatively consistent across out-degree network sizes. In sum, we suggest that social media audiences are not sensitive to commercial sponsorship when tied to identity, as long as that performance is convincing and consistent.

scholarly journals A comparison of health communication effectiveness and the improvement of management strategies: taking two Chinese traditional medicine hospitals’ WeChat public accounts as examples

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Lanting Wu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Health Care Service ◽  
Mobile Internet ◽  
Chinese Traditional Medicine ◽  
Public Account ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Background In the light of “Internet plus”, hospitals are following the trend of using mobile internet and adopting a strategy of spreading public health knowledge through mobile terminals. WeChat is a social media with the largest number of users in China. Its public account has become the most popular service among the public. Methods We examine the health communication of medical institutions on social media platforms. The WeChat public accounts of Zhejiang Provincial Chinese Traditional Medicine Hospital and Jiangxi Provincial Chinese Traditional Medicine Hospital were taken as cases to measure the communication effect from the following dimensions: update interval, content positioning and design, numbers of clicks and likes as well as topic types. Results The update interval of WeChat public account of Jiangxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was regular, compared with that of the other hospital. The accounts of the two hospitals both set up special sections to facilitate patients to obtain medical services online. There is an extremely significant difference between the two hospitals’ mean numbers of clicks (p < 0. 001), compared with no significant difference between their mean numbers of likes. One-way analysis of variance suggests the type of topic on posts is significantly correlated with the number of clicks. Moreover, there is an extremely significant difference between public health knowledge and news propaganda. Conclusion The development of hospitals’ WeChat public accounts can promote people’s health and equity in accessing medical information and service, and also boost “Internet plus health care” service. The topic type of hospital’s news publicity is paid a relatively lower attention by users. Therefore, hospitals’ WeChat public accounts need to adjust their strategy from propaganda-oriented to users-centered, with topic planning and posts designed to fulfill users’ needs.

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