5 research outputs found
Development of Trust in an Online Breast Cancer Forum: A Qualitative Study
Background: Online health forums provide peer support for a range of medical conditions, including
life-threatening and terminal illnesses. Trust is an important component of peer-to-peer support,
although relatively little is known about how trust forms within online health forums.
Objective: The aim of this paper is to examine how trust develops and influences sharing among
users of an online breast cancer forum.
Methods: An interpretive qualitative approach was adopted. Data were collected from forum posts
from 135 threads on nine boards on the UK charity, Breast Cancer Care (BCC). Semi-structured
interviews were conducted with 14 BCC forum users. Both datasets were analysed thematically using
Braun and Clarkeâs [2006] approach and combined to triangulate analysis.
Results: Trust operates in three dimensions, structural, relational and temporal, which intersect with
each other and do not operate in isolation. The structural dimension relates to how the affordances
and formal rules of the site affected trust. The relational dimension refers to how trust was
necessarily experienced in interactions with other forum users: it emerged within relationships and
was a social phenomenon. The temporal dimension relates to how trust changed over time and was
influenced by the length of time users spent on the forum.
Conclusions: Trust is a process that changes over time, and which is influenced by structural features
of the forum and informal but collectively understood relational interactions among forum users.
The study provides a better understanding of how the intersecting structural, relational and
temporal aspects that support the development of trust facilitate sharing in online environments.
These findings will help organisations developing online health forums
Group interventions to improve health outcomes : a framework for their design and delivery
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Cancer patientsâ experiences of using an Interactive Health Communication Application (IHCA)
Interactive Health Communication Applications (IHCAs) are increasingly used in health care. Studies document that IHCAs provide patients with knowledge and social support, enhance self- efficacy and can improve behavioural and clinical outcomes. However, research exploring patientsâ experiences of using IHCAs has been scarce. The aim of this study was to explore cancer patientsâ perspectives and experiences related to the use of an IHCA called WebChoice in their homes. Qualitative interviews were conducted with infrequent, medium and frequent IHCA usersâsix women and four men with breast and prostate cancer. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed inspired by interactionistic perspectives. We found that some patientsâ perceived WebChoice as a âfriend,â others as a âstranger.â Access to WebChoice stimulated particularly high frequency users to position themselves as âinformation seeking agents,â assuming an active patient role. However, to position oneself as an âactive patientâ was ambiguous and emotional. Feelings of âcalmnessâ, ânormalization of symptomsâ, feelings of âbeing part of a communityâ, feeling âupsetâ and âvulnerableâ, as well as âfeeling supportedâ were identified. Interaction with WebChoice implied for some users an increased focus on illness. Our findings indicate that the interaction between patients and an IHCA such as WebChoice occurs in a variety of ways, some of which are ambivalent or conflicting. Particularly for frequent and medium frequency users, it offers support, but may at the same time reinforce an element of uncertainty in their life. Such insights should be taken into consideration in the future development of IHCAs in healthcare in general and in particular for implementation into patientsâ private sphere