A critical analysis of the social media policies in Ontario's healthcare system

PurposeSocial media has made a revolutionary change in the relationship between the customers and business or service providers by enabling customers to publish and share feedback and views about product or service quality. This revolutionary change has not been echoed in some healthcare systems. This study analyses the social media policies of healthcare regulatory authorities in Ontario and explores how these policies encourage or discourage healthcare professionals' use of social media for collecting patient stories and understanding patient experience.Design/methodology/approachThe study used qualitative content analysis to analyse the policy documents, focusing on the manifest themes in these documents. It used convenient sampling to select 12 organizations, including regulating and licensing bodies and health service delivery organizations in Ontario. The authors collected 24 documents from these organizations, including policies, practice standards and social media learning materials.FindingsIn Ontario's healthcare system, social media is perceived as a source of risks to the healthcare professions and professionals. Healthcare regulators emphasize that the codes of conduct and professional standards extend to social media. The study found no systematic recognition of patient stories on social media as a source of information on healthcare quality that can be useful for healthcare professionals.Originality/valueThe study identifies potential unintended consequences of social media policies in the healthcare system and calls for policy and cultural changes to enable the development of safe social media platforms that can facilitate interaction between healthcare providers and patients, when necessary, without the fear of legal consequences or privacy breaches.

Using patient feedback to adapt intervention materials based on acceptance and commitment therapy for people receiving renal dialysis

Background Theory-based intervention materials must be carefully adapted to meet the needs of users with specific physical conditions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been adapted successfully for cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and a range of other conditions, but not so far for people receiving renal haemodialysis. This paper presents findings from a study to adapt ACT-based intervention materials specifically for renal dialysis. Methods Draft written materials consisting of four stories depicting fictitious individuals who used ACT-related techniques to help overcome different challenges and difficulties related to dialysis were adapted using a systematic patient consultation process. The participants were 18 people aged 19–80 years, with chronic kidney disease and receiving renal dialysis. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ views about how the content of the draft materials should be adapted to make them more realistic and relevant for people receiving renal dialysis and about how the materials should be presented and delivered to people receiving renal dialysis. The interview transcripts were analysed using a qualitative adaptation of the Delphi method in which themes are used as a framework for translating feedback into proposals for modifications. Results The analysis of patient feedback supported the use of patient stories but suggested they should be presented by video and narrated by real dialysis patients. They also indicated specific adaptations to make the stories more credible and realistic. Participant feedback was translated into proposals for change that were considered along with clinical, ethical and theoretical factors. The outcome was a design for a video-based intervention that separated the stories about individuals from the explanations of the specific ACT techniques and provided greater structure, with material organised into smaller chunks. This intervention is adapted specifically for people receiving renal dialysis while retaining the distinctive theoretical principles of ACT. Conclusions The study shows the value of consulting patients in the development of intervention materials and illustrates a process for integrating patient feedback with theoretical, clinical and practical considerations in intervention design.

Parental Views on the Role of Social Media in Pediatric Otolaryngology

Objective: Social media is playing an increasingly important role in medicine as a tool for patients and their families to find information and connect with others. The goal of this study is to understand parental views on if and how social media should be incorporated into pediatric otolaryngology by physicians and hospitals. Methods: A survey was distributed to parents of pediatric otolaryngologic patients to assess views on professional social media use by physicians and hospitals. The proportion of parents who answered with specific responses in the survey was computed using the SPSS frequency analysis function. Results: One hundred five parents completed the survey. Ninety-six percent of respondents use social media, of which 92% use social media at least once a day (n = 93). Eighty-five percent of respondents said they definitely or probably would visit their physician’s professional social media page (n = 90). Seventy-four percent would be interested in obtaining more information about the physician (n = 76). Forty-one percent would be interested in patient stories (n = 76). Twenty-eight percent would visit out of curiosity (n = 76). Twenty-six percent would want to gather more information about the hospital (n = 76). Seventeen percent would want to connect with other patients and their family members (n = 76). Sixty-seven percent of respondents believe it is important for physicians to have a professional social media page, and 79% of respondents believe it is important for hospitals to have a public social media page (n = 93). Conclusion: The vast majority of parents of pediatric otolaryngologic patients use social media regularly and would want to gather information about their physician and hospital through social media. Therefore, physicians and hospitals should consider using social media as a valuable tool to connect with and relay information to patients and their family members.

Exploring patients’ pharmacy stories: an analysis of online feedback

Background Studies have demonstrated the potential for patient feedback to inform quality care as well as a direct relationship between patient experience and clinical outcomes. Over recent years, there has been increasing use of online patient feedback platforms, however, there has been little study of the content of patient feedback relating to pharmacy and pharmacy services. Objective This study explores the content of online feedback provided by patients from across the UK in relation to their experiences of their interaction with pharmacy staff and pharmacy services. Main outcome measure Content of online patient feedback relating to pharmacy. Method Patient stories published on Care Opinion, a national online patient feedback platform, for a one-year period were searched for all content relating to patients’ pharmacy experiences. A thematic and sentiment analysis was conducted on 237 patient stories. Results Patient stories related to supply, staff attitudes, services, accessibility, systems, and errors. Patient sentiment depended on pharmacy setting, but staff attitudes, services, and accessibility were generally positive across all settings. Waiting time was the most common complaint in both hospital and community pharmacies with stories relaying experiences of slow discharge, stock shortages and poor communication and collaboration between pharmacies and GP surgeries. Conclusions Online patient feedback highlighted factors important to patients when interacting with pharmacies and their staff. Medication supply was the primary topic of patient stories with waiting times and stock shortages being clear areas for improvement; however, accessibility, pharmacy services and advice were key strengths of the profession. Further research is needed to understand how online patient feedback can be used effectively to inform improvements in pharmacy services.

Where to from here? Identifying and prioritising future directions for addressing drug-resistant infection in Australia

Background The Australian National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy calls for a collaborative effort to change practices that have contributed to the development of drug-resistance and for implementation of new initiatives to reduce antibiotic use. Methods A facilitated workshop was undertaken at the 2019 National Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Forum to explore the complexity of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) implementation in Australia and prioritise future action. Participants engaged in rotating rounds of discussion using a world café format addressing six topics relating to AMS implementation. Once all tables had discussed all themes the discussion concluded and notes were summarised. The documents were independently openly coded by two researchers to identify elements relating to the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship. Results There were 39 participants in the facilitated discussions, including pharmacists, infectious disease physicians, infection prevention nurses, and others. Participants discussed strategies they had found successful, including having a regular presence in clinical areas, adapting messaging and implementation strategies for different disciplines, maintaining positivity, and being patient-focused. Many of the recommendations for the next step involved being patient focussed and outcomesdriven. This involves linking data to practice, using patient stories, using data to celebrate wins and creating incentives. Discussion Recommendations from the workshop should be included in priority setting for the implementation of AMS initiatives across Australia.

Inspiring ‘Gifts of Health’ Exploring the use of patient stories in transmedia fundraising campaigns

Patient stories speak to the often-daunting journey that patients embark on throughout their experience of their illness or injury. The emotions these narratives convey make it easy for audiences to connect with them, thus making them an important, versatile tool for fundraising for medical causes. Today, patient stories are commonly used by hospital foundations to fundraise, but are also used frequently for crowdfunding personal medical expenses, a trend that is surging in popularity with the rise of treatment costs. This project first examines patient stories using the theoretical lenses of motivations for health communication, personal and institutional fundraising, and narratology and transmedia storytelling in health communication. Using a sample of 10 patient stories collected from Canadian GoFundMe campaigns and hospital foundation websites, this MRP specifically seeks to identify key similarities and differences in the ways that private individuals and non-profit health institutions use patient stories for fundraising efforts. It then aims to identify tactics used to produce the most successful patient stories and fundraising campaigns. The three theoretical lenses will be used to create a specific coding framework through which the motivations of different authors will be determined. Each campaign’s images, text and interactive elements will be assessed to identify trends and tactics, which will then be compared with the campaigns’ overall financial and social successes. This project will extend fundraising and health communications theory by adding depth to the existing literature on crowdfunding for personal medical expenses. It will also help to integrate transmedia storytelling theory into the larger field of health communication by identifying the different ways that online communication platforms may be used to target and connect donors while increasing funds for medical campaigns. In addition, by providing a holistic analysis of each campaign’s content, paired with a preliminary effects analysis, this project contributes a range of practical implications for hospital foundations and individuals to use when crafting patient narratives for future campaigns.

Inspiring ‘Gifts of Health’ Exploring the use of patient stories in transmedia fundraising campaigns

Patient stories speak to the often-daunting journey that patients embark on throughout their experience of their illness or injury. The emotions these narratives convey make it easy for audiences to connect with them, thus making them an important, versatile tool for fundraising for medical causes. Today, patient stories are commonly used by hospital foundations to fundraise, but are also used frequently for crowdfunding personal medical expenses, a trend that is surging in popularity with the rise of treatment costs. This project first examines patient stories using the theoretical lenses of motivations for health communication, personal and institutional fundraising, and narratology and transmedia storytelling in health communication. Using a sample of 10 patient stories collected from Canadian GoFundMe campaigns and hospital foundation websites, this MRP specifically seeks to identify key similarities and differences in the ways that private individuals and non-profit health institutions use patient stories for fundraising efforts. It then aims to identify tactics used to produce the most successful patient stories and fundraising campaigns. The three theoretical lenses will be used to create a specific coding framework through which the motivations of different authors will be determined. Each campaign’s images, text and interactive elements will be assessed to identify trends and tactics, which will then be compared with the campaigns’ overall financial and social successes. This project will extend fundraising and health communications theory by adding depth to the existing literature on crowdfunding for personal medical expenses. It will also help to integrate transmedia storytelling theory into the larger field of health communication by identifying the different ways that online communication platforms may be used to target and connect donors while increasing funds for medical campaigns. In addition, by providing a holistic analysis of each campaign’s content, paired with a preliminary effects analysis, this project contributes a range of practical implications for hospital foundations and individuals to use when crafting patient narratives for future campaigns.