The Leading EdgeUsing social media to engage adolescents and young adults with their health
Section snippets
Opportunities
Social media contains a wealth of patient-generated content, providing an opportunity to better understand the patient-perspective on their healthcare and their perception of quality.6 For example, regularly tracking comments or reviews that adolescents and young adults post on physician or healthcare rating sites, such as Yelp.com and Healthgrades.com, can identify patients׳ opinions on the strengths and areas for improvement in the care we provide, thereby serving as a proxy for what they
Opportunities
There is growing evidence that peer-to-peer healthcare is an important source of information and support for patients.30 The empowerment and information exchange among patients and families with shared conditions already occurs in online support groups and forums (e.g., PatientsLikeMe.com, Crohnology.com, SmartPatients.com).[32], [33] In a study of PatientsLikeMe.com, patients not only used the social network to learn about their symptoms and treatment options but also reported health benefits,
Opportunities
Lastly, social media is playing a role in increasing young adult engagement with health reform under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Though the ACA offers several provisions for increasing health insurance coverage for young adults (e.g., extended parental dependent coverage, health insurance marketplaces and Medicaid expansions), some young adults remain uninsured.[51], [52] The successful enrollment of more young adults in part depends on outreach efforts, including via
Conclusions
It׳s no longer enough to know that social media exists. Social media has infiltrated the lives of our adolescent and young adult patients, and we need to expand our capacity to meet them “on their turf.” However, to make a value proposition or develop evidence-based frameworks to better engage young people with their health through social media, further research is needed. For existing health-related social media sites, a first step would be to identify those that resonate with adolescents and
Conflict of insert
None
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