Social Media Technology and Public Health in Ontario: Findings from a Planning Meeting Exploring Current Practices and Future Research Directions

The Experiences of Stakeholders Using Social Media as a Tool for Health Service Design and Quality Improvement: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Health organisations and stakeholders use social media for a range of functions, including engaging stakeholders in the design and quality improvement (QI) of services. Social media may help overcome some of the limitations of traditional stakeholder engagement methods. This scoping review explores the benefits, risks, barriers and enablers for using social media as a tool for stakeholder engagement in health service design and QI.

METHODS

The searches were conducted on 16 August 2022. Inclusion criteria were: studies of any health service stakeholders, in any health setting, where social media was used as a tool for service design or QI. Data was analysed using deductive content analysis. A committee of stakeholders provided input on research questions, data analysis and key findings.

RESULTS

61 studies were included. Benefits included improved organisational communication and relationship building. Risks/limitations included low quality of engagement and harms to users. Limited access and familiarity with social media were frequently reported barriers. Making discussions safe and facilitating access were common enablers.

CONCLUSION

The benefits, risks, barriers and enablers identified highlight the complexity of social media as an engagement tool for health service design and QI. Understanding these experiences may help implementers design more effective social media-based engagement activities.

The risks and benefits of using social media to engage consumers in service design and quality improvement in Australian public hospitals: findings from an interview study of key stakeholders

BACKGROUND

Engaging consumers - patients, families, carers and community members who are current or potential service users - in the planning, design, delivery, and improvement of health services is a requirement of public hospital accreditation in Australia. There is evidence of social media being used for consumer engagement in hospitals internationally, but in Australia this use is uncommon and stakeholders' experiences have not been investigated. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences and beliefs of key Australian public hospital stakeholders around using social media as a consumer engagement tool. This article focuses on the study findings relating to methods, risks, and benefits of social media use.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian public hospital stakeholders in consumer representative, consumer engagement/patient experience, communications or quality improvement roles. Qualitative data were analysed using a deductive content analysis method. An advisory committee of consumer and service provider stakeholders provided input into the design and conduct of this study.

RESULTS

Twenty-six Australian public hospital service providers and consumers were interviewed. Participants described social media being used to: recruit consumers for service design and quality improvement activities; as an online space to conduct consultations or co-design; and, to gather feedback and patient experience data. The risks and benefits discussed by interview participants were grouped into five themes: 1) overcoming barriers to engagement, 2) consumer-initiated engagement; 3) breadth vs depth of engagement, 4) organisational transparency vs control and 5) users causing harm.

CONCLUSIONS

Social media can be used to facilitate consumer engagement in hospital service design and quality improvement. However, social media alone is unlikely to solve broader issues commonly experienced within health consumer engagement activities, such as tokenistic engagement methods, and lack of clear processes for integrating consumer and patient feedback into quality improvement activities.

How do Canadian public health agencies respond to the COVID-19 emergency using social media: a protocol for a case study using content and sentiment analysis

INTRODUCTION

Keeping Canadians safe requires a robust public health (PH) system. This is especially true when there is a PH emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media, like Twitter and Facebook, is an important information channel because most people use the internet for their health information. The PH sector can use social media during emergency events for (1) PH messaging, (2) monitoring misinformation, and (3) responding to questions and concerns raised by the public. In this study, we ask: what is the Canadian PH risk communication response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of social media?

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will conduct a case study using content and sentiment analysis to examine how provinces and provincial PH leaders, and the Public Health Agency of Canada and national public heath leaders, engage with the public using social media during the first wave of the pandemic (1 January-3 September 2020). We will focus specifically on Twitter and Facebook. We will compare findings to a gold standard during the emergency with respect to message content.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Western University's research ethics boards confirmed that this study does not require research ethics board review as we are using social media data in the public domain. Using our study findings, we will work with PH stakeholders to collaboratively develop Canadian social media emergency response guideline recommendations for PH and other health system organisations. Findings will also be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations.

The use of social media as a tool for stakeholder engagement in health service design and quality improvement: A scoping review

Background

Health-related social media use is common but few health organisations have embraced its potential for engaging stakeholders in service design and quality improvement (QI). Social media may provide new ways to engage more diverse stakeholders and conduct health design and QI activities.

Objective

To map how social media is used by health services, providers and consumers to contribute to service design or QI activities.

Methods

The scoping review was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. An advisory committee of stakeholders provided guidance throughout the review. Inclusion criteria were studies of any health service stakeholders, in any health setting, where social media was used as a tool for communications which influenced or advocated for changes to health service design or delivery. A descriptive numerical summary of the communication models, user populations and QI activities was created from the included studies, and the findings were further synthesised using deductive qualitative content analysis.

Results

40 studies were included. User populations included organisations, clinical and non-clinical providers, young people, people with chronic illness/disability and First Nations people. Twitter was the most common platform for design and QI activities. Most activities were conducted using two-way communication models. A typology of social media use is presented, identifying nine major models of use.

Conclusion

This review identifies the ways in which social media is being used as a tool to engage stakeholders in health service design and QI, with different models of use appropriate for different activities, user populations and stages of the QI cycle.