Like, comment, tag, share: Facebook interactions in health research

Background and objectives: A key aspect of the Internet that facilitates research is social media, especially the meteoric rise in the use of Facebook as one of the primary applications for social connectivity. Facebook can be considered a rich source of data due to the high amounts of demographic information shared by users and stored in the system, as well as the way in which users share their thoughts and behaviour in their natural environment. This report focuses on one functionality that as yet remained under-discussed and perhaps under-utilised as a tool in health research – the ability for participants or interested parties to leave comments directly on Facebook posts relating to research projects. Further, this report provides some considerations for researchers intending to use Facebook in recruiting participants for research. Methods: The study was a Bowel Cancer Awareness Study conducted by the Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania to assess bowel cancer risk awareness in Tasmania. Participants were recruited to complete a survey on LimeSurveyTM via a Facebook page used to advertise the study. Several comments were made on the Facebook page over a three-month period, which were then further categorised and thematically analysed. Specifically, these comments were reviewed to determine how valuable Facebook comments can be for research. Results: The Facebook advertisement for the survey reached 136,640 people at a cost of $0.04 (4 cents) per person. From the range of comments received, four separate functions of these comments became apparent upon analysis – the capacity to ask questions, the ability to interact with others, promotion of the survey, and suggestions for future research. Discussion: From the bowel cancer awareness study, we found that Facebook comments on our study page allowed for an opportunity for ongoing contact with respondents, opportunity to receive feedback, address concerns and harness future research ideas. The ability to further utilize the potential for Facebook comments to enrich data collection and health research warrants a continuous and sustained interest, as research methodology progressively utilises the Internet and social media platforms as an effective and affordable option

Benefits, barriers and enablers of mentoring female health academics: An integrative review

This integrative literature review synthesizes the primary research evidence on mentoring female health academics published from 2000 to 2018, to identify the benefits, enablers and barriers to mentoring women. The need for this review is underpinned by the magnitude of change in higher education, the high number of women in health disciplines, limited progress in advancing women’s academic careers, escalating role expectations, faculty shortages and staff turnover. Data were sourced from Scopus, PubMed, EMBASE and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Twenty-seven studies were included. Although effective mentoring facilitates personal and career development, academic craftsmanship, psychosocial support and job satisfaction, it is complicated by organizational factors and personal and relational dynamics. Enablers of mentoring are mentor availability and expertise, supportive relationships, mutuality and responsiveness. Lack of, or inadequate mentoring compromise women’s job satisfaction, career development and academic productivity. Providing female health academics access to experienced, well-connected mentors with common interests who are committed to advancing their career, is an investment in optimizing potential, promoting supportive work environments and increasing productivity and retention. Realizing the institutional potential that mentoring female health academics offers, is contingent on academic leaders valuing mentorship as faculty business and understanding the role that the contemporary academic environment plays in achieving mentoring outcomes. Further empirical and longitudinal research is needed to evaluate effective approaches for mentoring women in the contemporary academic environment

Study characteristics.

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