Accessing dental anxiety online support groups: An exploratory qualitative study of motives and experiences

Factors that influence public engagement with eHealth: A literature review

“…The findings were similar to those of Buchanan and Coulson [46] although participants reported that it was absence of face-to-face contact on the Internet rather than anonymity that made it easier to start discussions on difficult and painful subjects; the intimacy and trust formed online created the basis for discussion when women met face-to-face. Anonymity may actually act as a barrier to engagement with some eHealth services.…”

“…anonymity acts as a facilitator for managing sensitive content. Participants with dental phobias (n=143) in an online survey of an international online support group to provide support to those with dental anxiety [46] appeared to benefit from a feeling of not being alone and appreciated a safe and nonjudgemental, empathic, understanding environment. Participants reported that online communication conferred a degree of autonomy and control that would not be possible in face-to-face interactions.…”

Are online support groups always beneficial? A qualitative exploration of the empowering and disempowering processes of participation within HIV/AIDS-related online support groups

“…In order to gain a richer insight into the experience of using HIV/AIDS-related online support groups, participants were then asked to respond to a series of open-ended questions which explored: reasons for participating in/accessing online support groups, differences between support obtained online versus that from the face to face context, perceived advantages and disadvantages of participating in/accessing online support groups, and impact of online support group use on disease management. These questions have previously been used in studies examining online support group use experience across other health conditions (Buchanan & Coulson, 2007;Coulson & Knibb, 2007) and have been found to be useful in eliciting patients' online experiences. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations of the University of Nottingham.…”

“…They may also seek to reduce the sense of loneliness often experienced by members and help them realise that they are not alone (Buchanan & Coulson, 2007;Cunningham, van Mierlo, & Fournier, 2008;Sillence, 2013).…”

Understanding User Reactions and Interactions with an Internet-Based Intervention for Tinnitus Self-Management: Mixed-Methods Process Evaluation (Preprint)

“…Reminder emails were sent two months later to those with valid email addresses. Sample sizes for similar descriptive online survey studies have been between 50-249 individuals [19][20][21][22][23]. Therefore, a sample size of 50 was deemed acceptable.…”