Online Communities Are Valued by People With Type 1 Diabetes for Peer Support: How Well Do Health Professionals Understand This?

Gilbert, Kate; Dodson, Sarity; Gill, Marie; McKenzie, Rosemary

doi:10.2337/diaspect.25.3.180

Cited by 25 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Mental health can be enhanced when peer health is present. For example, peer health can improve coping [3], increase psychosocial support [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], and decrease diabetes distress [12] by means of shared experiences [7,8,10,13,14]. Peer health can also increase patient knowledge [4,15,16], confidence in diabetes management [17], self-efficacy [12,18,19], and improve glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) [12,16,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Diabetes Mixer: Fostering a Diabetes Community to Support Peer Health

Litchman¹,

Tran²

2016

PLAID

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Objective: Opportunities for individuals affected by type 1 diabetes (T1D) to engage in peer health activities are limited. The Diabetes Mixer is a community-based, non-clinical, face-to-face, peer health event for adults with T1D and their support person. The purpose of this paper is to 1) provide a program description of the Diabetes Mixer, and 2) analyze attendee perceptions of the Diabetes Mixer. Research Design and Method:An analysis was conducted with Diabetes Mixer attendees to understand their perceptions of the event. Attendees included individuals with T1D and their support person. Surveys included quantitative and qualitative questions and were completed by attendees at the conclusion of the Diabetes Mixer. A descriptive analysis was conducted.Results: Both individuals with T1D and support persons valued the Diabetes Mixer as a peer health event. All attendees stated they would attend a future Diabetes Mixer. Attendees planned to continue their relationship with the individuals they met at the Diabetes Mixer beyond the event, in-person, and through social media. Three themes were identified: building a community, connection through common experiences, and a fun venue to gain resources. Conclusions:The Diabetes Mixer is a feasible, successful peer health event that provides education and support to individuals with T1D and their support person in a judgment-free atmosphere. Diabetes stakeholders should work together to develop peer-support resources for adults with T1D in non-clinical settings. Further research is needed to identify how interactions with peers can support diabetes management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Diabetes Mixer: Fostering a Diabetes Community to Support Peer Health

Litchman¹,

Tran²

2016

PLAID

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“…They all have an impact on the person with the specific illness as well as society and healthcare in general, but they have different types of users and different ways of In most of the cases, health-related online sources enabled peer support. Seeking a connection with others with the same medical condition is one coping strategy, with the resulting process being termed "peer support" (Gilbert et al 2012). Healthcare consumers were able to find another person with similar symptoms through online sources.…”

Section: The Impact Of the Health-related Online Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer-led health-related online sources and their impact on consumers: An integrative review of the literature

Laukka

Rantakokko

Suhonen

2017

Health Informatics J

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The aim of the review was to describe consumer-led health-related online sources and their impact on consumers. The review was carried out as an integrative literature review. Quantisation and qualitative content analysis were used as the analysis method. The most common method used by the included studies was qualitative content analysis. This review identified the consumer-led health-related online sources used between 2009 and 2016 as health-related online communities, health-related social networking sites and health-related rating websites. These sources had an impact on peer support; empowerment; health literacy; physical, mental and emotional wellbeing; illness management; and relationships between healthcare organisations and consumers. The knowledge of the existence of the health-related online sources provides healthcare organisations with an opportunity to listen to their consumers' 'voice'. The sources make healthcare consumers more competent actors in relation to healthcare, and the knowledge of them is a valuable resource for healthcare organisations. Additionally, these health-related online sources might create an opportunity to reduce the need for drifting among the healthcare services. Healthcare policymakers and organisations could benefit from having a strategy of increasing their health-related online sources.

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“…9 Online peer support in T1DM has been shown to improve psychological outcomes, reducing feelings of isolation and improving perception of self-care behaviour. 10,11 A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of online social networking peer support in diabetes found an improvement in HbA1c of 0.5%, equivalent to that of insulin pump therapy. 12 Barriers to accessing peer support exist, with most users being well-educated professionals, increasing inequalities in health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

T1resources.uk; rated, reviewed, reliable. A co-created website for people affected by type 1 diabetes.

Kendall¹,

Cleverly

Winchcombe³

et al. 2017

Br J Diabetes

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People with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) spend many hours each year on self-care activities. They are often isolated and find it difficult to access trustworthy information online. T1resources.uk fills this gap: it is the first of its kind to provide a curated library of resources created for and by people with T1DM. The website is co-curated, with equal healthcare professional and peer representation and input. It signposts its users to pre-existing digital material, having first ensured their safety and usability using a robust review process. The website is low-cost, maximising on social capital. It houses a comprehensive range of resources that vary from peer blog posts to pdf files of sick-day rules. Each resource is catalogued under easy-to-navigate categories to make self-care as straightforward as possible. Since its launch in September 2016, over 7,500 users have accessed the website and feedback has been very positive both from healthcare professionals and people with T1DM.

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Online Communities Are Valued by People With Type 1 Diabetes for Peer Support: How Well Do Health Professionals Understand This?

Cited by 25 publications

References 24 publications

The Diabetes Mixer: Fostering a Diabetes Community to Support Peer Health

The Diabetes Mixer: Fostering a Diabetes Community to Support Peer Health

Consumer-led health-related online sources and their impact on consumers: An integrative review of the literature

T1resources.uk; rated, reviewed, reliable. A co-created website for people affected by type 1 diabetes.

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