This poster asks how do allied health and other primary health care professionals currently use social media technologies? the current limitations and challenges and future directions

Anikeeva, Olga

Bywood, Petra Teresia

Flinders Academic Commons

 Social Media: Opportunities to Enhance Communication and Collaboration Between Allied Health and Other Primary Health Care ProfessionalsOLGA ANIKEEVA and PETRA BYWOODINTRODUCTION WIKISPrimary Health Care Research and Information Service (PHC RIS), Flinders University, South AustraliaEmail: olga.anikeeva@flinders.edu.au     Tel: (08) 7221 8510HOW DO ALLIED HEALTH AND OTHER PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS CURRENTLY USE SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES?•	 Online	page	or	series	of	documents,	where	participants			 collaborate	on	projects	by	adding,	editing	and	sharing			 information2;	3	•	 Popular	in	health	education,	as	it	supports	active	engagement	in			 problem	solving	activities	•	 The	collaborative	nature	of	this	tool	provides	reliable	quality			 control	(outdated	or	inaccurate	information	is	rapidly	edited	by			 the	community	of	users)2;	3	•	 Accuracy	depends	on	the	size	of	the	community,	their	expertise			 and	the	frequency	of	their	engagement	with	the	tool.•	 Wikipedia	(http://www.wikipedia.org)	is	the	most	widely-known			 Wiki•	 Numerous	Wikis	have	been	created	specifically	for	allied	health			 professionals•	 Example:	The	Psychology	Wiki	is	a	dynamic	information	resource			 for	professionals	and	consumers	interested	in	psychology	(Figure	3).•	 Social	media	is	becoming	increasingly	popular	in	education	and			 health	care.1	•	 Principles	of	open	access,	user-generated	content	and	networking			 are	central	and	provide	an	exciting	new	way	to	deliver	health			 information	and	build	partnerships.1Social and professional networking•	 Users	with	shared	interests	or	backgrounds	connect	to	others			 through	group-forming	applications2	•	 Personal	information	or	‘profiles’	can	be	shared	amongst	network			 members2	•	 Facebook	(http://www.facebook.com)	is	primarily	used	for	social			 interactions•	 Businesses,	non-profit	organisations	and	professional	peak	bodies			 increasingly	use	Facebook	for	promotion	and	networking•	 Example:	A	group	established	by	Services	for	Australian	Rural	and			 Remote	Allied	Health	Inc	(SARRAH)	provides	an	open	forum	for			 members	and	encourages	professional	networking	(Figure	1).Figure 1:	Services	for	Australian	Rural	and	Remote	Allied	Health	Inc:	https://www.facebook.com/groups/sarrah/•	 LinkedIn	(http://www.linkedin.com),	which	is	mainly	used	for			 professional	networking,	is	gaining	popularity	among	academics			 and	health	professionals•	 Groups	enable	members	to	engage	with	fellow	professionals	•	 Example:	The	Australian	Pharmacists	group	was	created	to			 facilitate	information	sharing	and	networking	among	members			 (Figure	2).Figure 2:	Australian	Pharmacists:http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3255867&trk=anet_ug_hm•	 Ongoing	training	and	support	are	essential	•	 Allied	health	professionals	have	expressed	willingness	to	under-		 take	educational	courses	delivered	online6	•	 Busy	professionals	do	not	have	time	to	use	tools	that	need	to	be			 opened	in	separate	windows	and	operated	differently4	•	 Tools	could	be	integrated	into	one	application,	which	can	be			 customised	according	to	need•	 If	barriers	are	successfully	addressed,	these	technologies	have			 great	potential	for	increasing	and	improving	communication	and			 collaboration	between	allied	health	and	other	primary	health	care			 professionals.Figure 3:	Psychology	Wiki:	http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Main_PageBLOGS AND MICROBLOGS•	 Content-management	tools,	with	information	presented	in			 reverse-chronological	order2	•	 Blog	networks	are	formed	when	users	link	to	other	blogs	focusing			 on	the	same	topic,	enabling	easy	navigation2	•	 Provide	opportunities	for	allied	health	and	other	primary	health			 care	professionals	to	share	information	and	build	new	connections•	 Example:	The	Biting	the	Dust	blog	presents	information,	opinion			 and	discussion	about	pharmacy	in	remote	Australia	(Figure	4).	Figure 4:	Biting	the	Dust	blog:	http://bitethedust.com.au/bitingthedust/•	 Microblogging	is	a	similar	concept,	with	briefer	entries•	 Twitter	(http://www.twitter.com),	which	imposes	a	140	character			 limit	on	each	entry,	is	widely	used4;	5	•	 Particularly	suited	to	time-poor	professionals,	who	can	judge			 whether	a	topic	is	relevant	to	them	from	140	characters•	 Used	to	disseminate	conference	updates,4;	5	providing	a	real-time			 account	that	may	be	useful	for	geographically	isolated			 professionals•	 Example:	The	Royal	Australian	and	New	Zealand	College	of			 Psychiatrists	keeps	followers	updated	about	policy	changes,	news			 and	recent	developments	(Figure	5).Figure 5:	The	Royal	Australian	and	New	Zealand	College	of	Psychiatrists:	https://twitter.com/#!/RANZCPCURRENT LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES•	 Australian	allied	health	professionals	utilise	social	media	for			 personal	use,	but	not	for	professional	purposes6	•	 Barriers	include	lack	of	comprehensive	training,	concerns	about			 increase	in	workload	and	preference	for	the	traditional	approach			 to	collaboration	•	 Concerns	about	privacy2	limit	the	utility	of	social	networking			 (difficult	to	form	connections	if	users	hide	information	from	their			 searchable	profile)	•	 Anyone	is	able	to	upload	and	edit	information,	which	may			 compromise	accuracy2	•	 Users	can	remain	anonymous,	making	it	difficult	to	judge	the			 credibility	of	content.4FUTURE DIRECTIONS1.	 Hughes,	B.,	Joshi,	I.,	&	Wareham,	J.	(2008).	Health	2.0	and	Medicine			 2.0:	tensions	and	controversies	in	the	field.	Journal of Medical   Internet Research, 10(3),	e23.2.	 Boulos,	M.	N.	K.,	&	Wheeler,	S.	(2007).	The	emerging	Web	2.0	social			 software:	an	enabling	suite	of	sociable	technologies	in	health	and			 health	care	education.	Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24,			 2-23.3.	 Boulos,	M.	N.	K.,	Maramba,	I.,	&	Wheeler,	S.	(2006).	Wikis,	blogs	and			 podcasts:	a	new	generation	of	Web-based	tools	for	virtual			 collaborative	clinical	practice	and	education.	BMC Medical   Education, 6,	41.4.	Bacigalupe,	G.	(2011).	Is	there	a	role	for	social	technologies	in			 collaborative	healthcare?	Families, Systems & Health, 29(1),	1-14.5.	 Terry,	M.	(2009).	Twittering	healthcare:	social	media	and	medicine.			 Telemedicine Journal and e-Health, 15(6),	507-510.6.	Usher,	W.	(2011).	Types	of	social	media	(web	2.0)	used	by	Australian			 allied	health	professionals	to	deliver	early	twenty-first-century			 practice	promotion	and	health	care.	Social Work in Health Care,   50(4),	305-329.REFERENCES

Social media: Opportunities to enhance communication and collaboration between Allied Health and other primary health care professionals

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