Learning from the field and its listserv: Issues that concern health literacy practitioners

Abstract

Abstract. This study assesses the content of email messages posted to the Health Literacy Discussion List (HLDL) during a two-year period. The study identifies issues of concern to list subscribers, describes the purposes the list serves for health professionals, and contributes to the health literacy literature by providing an email listserv as a research corpus. The authors conducted an inductive qualitative analysis of email posts to the HLDL from October 2013 to October 2015. Using an iterative process, the authors identified descriptive categories for types of posts and topics of posts. The first (SKR) and third (JM) authors reviewed subject lines of all 2,036 posts and brainstormed type and topic categories, independently read and sorted a random sample of 200 posts into those categories, and then discussed discrepancies. Based on the latter experience, the authors combined, added, or excluded certain categories and jointly created a detailed description for each type and topic category. We then sorted another random sample of 200 posts and generated a list of key words relating emails to topic categories. A Cohen's kappa reliability coefficient was calculated to establish intercoder reliability. The second author (RVR) then conducted key word searches for sorting the remaining 1,836 email posts. The existence and frequency of email clusters and the content of emails in these clusters were used to identify and explore in greater detail the "hot topics" of interest to the field. Our analysis suggests the utility of the HLDL as a platform for sharing information and resources, announcements and calls for action, technical assistance and professional discourse.

Realizing the potential of real-time clinical collaboration in maternal–fetal and obstetric medicine through WhatsApp

“…16 The clinical forum on the North American Society of OM, although initially underutilized, after distribution of an email list of North American and international members, showed improved membership, usage and communication. 17 There have been similar reports on the success of existing listservers by some other groups, 18–20 although some others reported that although they functioned well as information boards, they did not function effectively for scientific case discussions. 21,22…”

Intensive care nurses on social media: An exploration of knowledge exchange on an intensive care virtual community of practice

“…This discussion thread model illustrated collective knowledge creation, as various VC members worked together to solve a knowledge need or local problem presented by the first poster. These conversations, discussions and potential difference of opinion that occur online are a key attribute of a VCoP (Barnett et al, ; Chang et al, ), enabling development of professional knowledge for individual members and the collective practice knowledge of the community, leading to potential improvements in practice and innovation (Kurtz‐Rossi et al, ; Trinacty et al, ; Wenger, ).…”

“…MEDLIB, a community for medical librarians established in 1991, continues to use a listserv platform and was rated higher than other social media by members (Muñoz‐Cañavate, Fernández‐Falero, & Hurtado‐Guapo, ). The ongoing relevance of the platform is also seen in the continuing use of the RedIRIS communities by Spanish HCPs (Muñoz‐Cañavate, Fernández‐Falero, & Hurtado‐Guapo, ), the health literacy discussion list (HLDL; Kurtz‐Rossi et al, ) and the “Implementation and Optimization Forum” created in 2012 by American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).…”

“…This suggests the presence of a critical mass of experienced and expert members have developed vital community norms, thus ensuring the availability of high-quality content (Antonacci et al, 2017;Barnett et al, 2012;Chang et al, 2014). These online practice norms include altruism, reciprocity, social interaction, knowledge sharing and trust (Antonacci et al, 2017;Kurtz-Rossi, Rikard, & Mckinney, 2017).…”

Why Health Care Professionals Belong to an Intensive Care Virtual Community: Qualitative Study

“…Although user needs drive individuals to experiment with social media, the perceived innovation characteristics of that media will influence final adoption decisions [77,81]. The ongoing relevance and viability of listservs can be seen its continued use by MEDLIB (a VC established in 1991) [82], the REDIRIS communities by Spanish HCPs and the health literacy discussion list [83].…”