Communicating Online about Healthcare....what works?

Defining "Quality" in Online Communications

Quality has many different definitions.  Definitions, or measurement criteria, for quality that might apply when assessing the quality of online communications include the number of hits, value of the content, the appeal of the site's presentation, and/or the ability of the site to engage others (i.e. number of postings to blogs).  Ultimately, I like to think that the true test of quality of any web-based communication is it's ability to add value - or produce something of value that can help indiviudals, groups, or society as a whole improve some component of health or healthcare. 

Blog vs. Twitter....do they balance each other out?

In looking at both the class blogs and other blogs on healthcare (of which ebiz states there are at least 12,000), my observations include the following:

1.  The amount of web-based blog information is seemingly limitless
2.  Twittering may be used balance out the non-stop chatter of blogging
3.  Personal opinion appears to be the basis for the information in most indiviudal blogs (including the 12,000 rated by ebiz.) 
4.  Titles matter - if you can capture the essence of your blog in the title, you have done users a service
5.  Engagement versus entertainment....many sites appear to be more focused on entertaining the user (like number the 2 rated blog "Respectful Insolence") and, like the Respectful Insolence blog, they are filled with videos of the ego-centric authors of the blog
6.  Offering a service....some of the best blogs I visited offered services to the reader/user.  For example, some offer a listing of current books, websites, etc that the authors have read along with a brief synopsis...others offered healthy recipes, etc.

Community Blogging - the real value?

If we slightly modify the criteria for quality by adding to the "value" criteria "user satisfaction" which might include both number of hits and number of responses to blogs, then true quality appears to be embedded in the sites that house Community Blogs.  Community Blogs can be defined as sites that bring together a medium-sized group of individuals to comment regularly on topics relevant to the blog theme.  The depth and breath of information (and usually also the professionalism) from individuals on these types of blogs appear to be the best.  Some of my favorites include:
Healthcare blog, diabetesmine, hospital impact, psychcentral, and julie's health club.

Is Facebook replacing the typical hospital directory?

An example of value recently appeared in a blog posting on the hospital impact blogspot, entitled Five Ways to Engage Patients with Facebook Pages.  This posting quoted the Mayo Clinic exec who claimed that at Mayo Facebook has replaced the typical hospital directory and this is how patients now search for and select their physicians.  The posting then demonstrates for physicians how they can use Facebook to create an extension for their practice. 

Funny, but after all of this review, I can't help but wonder if the analysis of the quality of online communication is really just an analysis of what might be considered in the "paper" world magazines and newspapers, just presented in a more friendly manner......

Second Life and Doctor-Patient Communications

In the virtual world of Second Life, I am through my avatar, no longer Ruthann Russo, but rather Portia Komarov.  Portia because it was a first name that I like and Kamarov because it was one of the last names available to be coupled with Portia from the Vast Second Life inventory of avatar names.  In a few short days, I have visited the UN in New York City and been a patient at the Polyclinic Hospital in London among others, via teleport.  Most recently, I have had a serene visit to the Sunshine Therapy Garden in Hawau where a relaxing guided meditation of the 7 chakras convinced me to stay (at least for now).  If only I could figure out how to lay my avatar down. 

There are many locations in Second Life that address the Doctor-Patient Relationship.  I visited several during the past few days.  Some of my biggest challenges initially were in how to travel around a location or an island.  Once I discovered that I could fly, life in Second Life was much easier, and more fun, too! Here are a few of the places I visited:

Health Information Island:  This is a huge island that contains several different expos that address topics from issues in aging to eye health.  In addition, I spent some time in Miss Daisy’s reading room, which contained many different resources.  I was surprised that with the large amount of resources and fun designs to explore in this location, I did not run into another Avatar during my entire trip! 

Second Health Hospital’s Polyclinic: I visited this hospital clinic where a lovely gentleman explained the admissions procedures to me.  The entire experience was quite customer friendly.  Once I found out that I was a cancer patient, I made a beeline for the doorway – not quite ready to play that role, even as an Avatar just yet.

Geronotology Education Island:  On this island, I encountered or IM’d with many different “bots” each of whom was programmed to provide me with different information.  For example, one bot had all of the answers to government related questions, another had information about specific research projects, etc. At least this location had a good number of bots and Avatars….though I was surprised since this is not likely representative of the interests of the current population of Avatars?

The interactive clinical environments in Second Life seem limitless.  Most large academic medical centers throughout the world appear to have some interactive clinical environment representation in Second Life. In all of these locations, there is an emphasis on how to improve service to the customer.  I even visited one site that provided specific instruction to employees on how to provide informed consent to patients with learning disabilities. While there are sites that are more future oriented, many address real-time practicalities designed to improve practitioner-patient relationships today.

In addition to my visits throughout Second Life, I also found the following article about Second Life quite interesting, Towards a Virtual Doctor-Patient Relationship: Understanding virtual patients, by Vanessa G. González in the Journal of Virtual Worlds. In particular, I found the following quote by the author to be of great interest: “While the potential seems great, in practice, there are significant limitations in using virtual online communities to deliver health information. First, for many residents, these virtual worlds are fantasy spaces where they can escape the limitations of their bodies to engage in social interactions. Second, virtual worlds lack the cues that usually signal medical authority, making virtual residents skeptical about health information and advice obtained in Second Life.”  Although I agree with Vanessa, I also agree that this is indeed a second life for all of us with limitless possibilities for the future of healthcare.

Childhood Obesity: The Time for Action is Now

Childhood obesity accounts for about 9 million children in the U.S.  A series of social, economic and environmental changes have occurred over the past few decades contributing to childhood obesity. As a society, we have reacted to those changes, but we have not managed our reactions.  Some would argue that the root of our nutritional problems overall began with the Regan administration’s encouragement of Wall Street rewarding publicly traded firms for hitting short term gains, regardless of the methodology used to get there.  The processing, refinement and other adulterations that lengthen the shelf life and decrease the nutritional value of food, and add calories and weight are largely a result of this economic policy. On average, children watch 4 hours of TV, spend one hour using a computer, and 49 minutes playing video games.

If our current childhood obesity epidemic is rooted in mindless choices, then mindfulness may be the first step for each of us, as individuals, to take. One definition of mindfulness is, “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment – and, letting go of judgment” (Jon Kabat-Zinn).  Making thoughtful, healthful decisions in our nutritional choices is a first step towards mindfully managing our reaction to stress and change Let’s make food decisions based primarily on their impact on their  mental, emotional and physical impact, and not primarily their economic impact.  Take the “Vision for California” example, which includes a Ten Steps Towards Healthy Living statement for every Californian. You can view the statement at  (http://ww.preventioninstitute.org/sa/documents/VisionStatement_000.pdf .  If, like the IOM said in 2005, “the prevention of obesity in children and youth should be a national public health priority”, then we need national-level marketing about the issue as well as action.  Instead of a vision for California, what about a vision for the USA?

The obesity epidemic is deserving of marketing at the level of the anti-smoking campaigns funded by the tobacco companies as part of their class action settlements.  Healthy people, and in the case of childhood obesity, healthy future generations lay the groundwork for a healthy nation. The time for collective action, for each of us individually and for society as a whole, is now.

http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/cwh/PDFs/Summit_Governors_Vision.pdf

What you can expect from the Whole Person Healthcare (WPH) Blog

From traditional clinical resources and complimentary therapy recommendations,  to tips on how to obtain and understand your medical records, WPH is dedicated to helping healthcare consumers help themselves.  So how will we do this?  Each post will address relevant health and healthcare topics with recommendations for how to find the following using the Inernet:

• What you can do for yourself
• What type of healthcare professional to seek care from
• How to prepare for your visit with your healthcare professional
• Complimentary therapies that may be relevant
• Building your personal health record

The Whole Person Healthcare (WPH) Blogger

Hi.  I'm Ruthann Russo, the WPH Blogger.  Through years of experience and sometimes just trial and error, I have realized that what we think of as "healthcare" may only be a small piece of the puzzle.  So, for the past five years, I have been writing, teaching and researching to help every healthcare consumer find their own unique WPH.  It sometimes seems like an endless trip - and that's a good thing - because it means that there are continually more and better ways for each of us find our WPH.....and, the Internet is an essential part of that puzzle. Read my blog regularly to find out more.....