What's up #<scp>DOC</scp>? The role of social media in diabetes management

O’Keeffe, Derek; Montori, Víctor M.

doi:10.1111/dme.12955

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…The recent emergence and growth of the diabetes online community (DOC) presents opportunities and challenges to health care professionals and health care systems [ 11 - 16 ]. People with diabetes can now interact with one another irrespective of time or place, and this impacts how knowledge about diabetes is acquired and exchanged [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial

et al. 2020

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Background There is a growing focus on the potential uses, benefits, and limitations of social media in the context of health care communication. In this study, we have sought to evaluate an initiative pioneered at a hospital in Denmark that uses Facebook to support and enhance patient-provider communication about diabetes. Objective This paper aims to evaluate the success of the trial according to its initial objectives and to assess its potential scalability. Methods The study was undertaken in a clinic for diabetes and hormonal diseases at a large regional hospital in Denmark. Using a realist evaluation approach, we identified 4 key components in the program theory of the initiative, which we formulated as context-mechanism-outcome configurations (eg, complex and iterative chains of causality). These configurations informed data gathering and analysis. Primary data sources were the activity and content in the Facebook group, in the form of posts, likes, and comments, and interviews with patients (n=26) and staff (n=6) at the clinic. Results New developments in diabetes technology were the most popular posts in the forum, judged by number of likes and comments. Otherwise, information specific to the clinic received the most attention. All 4 components of the program theory were compromised to varying degrees, either as a result of failings in the anticipated mechanisms of change or contextual factors derived from the mode of implementation. Conclusions Social media serves well as a conduit for imagining positive change, but this can be a strength and weakness when attempting to enact change via concrete interventions, where stakeholder expectations may be unreasonably high or incompatible. Nonetheless, such initiatives may possess intangible benefits difficult to measure in terms of cost-effectiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial

et al. 2020

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Is diabetes self-management education still the Cinderella of diabetes care?

Hurley

O'Donnell

O’Hara

et al. 2017

Patient Education and Counseling

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This paper reflects on the status of diabetes self-management education (DSME) as a branch of diabetology in Europe and discusses some opportunities for better supporting DSME delivery. DSME (also commonly known as Therapeutic Patient Education) has been evolving as a therapy for diabetes for decades. As a continent, Europe is fortunate to have nurtured many pioneers in DSME, and currently has many experts in the field progressing the knowledge base and striving to improve access to DSME for people with diabetes. While there is a wide variety of DSME programmes being delivered throughout Europe, for most people diabetes education is not truly embedded in routine clinical care, being seen as more of an optional add-on to conventional therapies. In comparison to drugs and devices, DSME lacks investment, and funding for DSME research lags far behind other therapies. The rigour with which forms of DSME are developed and evaluated varies, and there is a lack of European quality standards. To try to address some of these deficiencies, greater pan-European collaboration and leadership is required.

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Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial (Preprint)

Cleal¹,

Willaing²,

Høybye³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BACKGROUND

There is a growing focus on the potential uses, benefits and limitations of social media in the context of healthcare communication. In this study we have sought to evaluate an initiative, pioneered at a hospital in Denmark, to utilize Facebook to support and enhance patient-provider communication about diabetes.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the success of the trial according to its initial objectives and to assess its potential scalability.

METHODS

The study was undertaken in a clinic for diabetes and hormonal diseases, at a large regional hospital in Denmark. Using a Realistic Evaluation approach, we identified four key components in the program theory of the initiative, which we formulated as context, mechanism, outcome configurations eg. complex and iterative chains of causality. These configurations informed data gathering and analysis. Primary data sources were the activity and content in the Facebook group, in the form of posts, likes and comments, and interviews with patients and staff at the clinic (N = 26 & 6).

RESULTS

New developments in diabetes technology were the most popular posts in the forum, judged by number of likes and comments. Otherwise, information specific to the clinic received most attention. All four components of the program theory were compromised to varying degrees, either as result of failings in the anticipated mechanisms of change or contextual factors derived from the mode of implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

Social media serves well as a conduit for imagining positive change, but this can be a strength and weakness when attempting to enact change via concrete interventions where stakeholder expectations may be unreasonably high or incompatible. Nonetheless, such initiatives may possess intangible benefits difficult to measure in terms of cost-effectivity.

CLINICALTRIAL

N/A

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What's up #DOC? The role of social media in diabetes management

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial

Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial

Is diabetes self-management education still the Cinderella of diabetes care?

Facebook as a Medium for the Support and Enhancement of Ambulatory Care for People With Diabetes: Qualitative Realist Evaluation of a Real-World Trial (Preprint)

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