Social Media in Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention Behaviour among Young People in Botswana

This chapter explores the effects of social media in influencing the behavior of young people in relation to HIV/AIDS. The platform used for the project is an online discussion forum. The study is a One Group Pretest and Posttest inquiry. Formative evaluation is performed at the beginning of the study to establish participants behaviour, the intervention is introduced, then a summative evaluation is done to find out whether the intervention had any effect on the behaviour of the participants. The findings of the study indicate that there is a significant change in the behaviour of participants in relation to HIV/AIDS due to the use of the online forum. The study recommends that more efforts need to be directed to the use of various technologies that young people have at their disposal in the fight against HIV/AIDS as this can be very economical and effective.

Analysis and Linkage of Data from Patient-Controlled Self-Monitoring Devices and Personal Health Records

This chapter outlines the recent advances in self-tracking technology both for wellness and healthcare purposes. It addresses one of the key challenges in mobile health: how to link the data from self-tracking devices with data in clinical data systems, such as Personal Health Records and Electronic Health Records systems. This chapter also discusses advances in visualisation and analysis for personally controlled data from self-tracking and PHR systems.

Synopsis for Health Apps

Unfortunately, many users are unaware of the risks and limits that arise from the use of health-related and medical apps in a medical context. Often, problems arise from insufficient, misleading, or false information, but they also arise from errors within the app or inappropriate hardware that is used for running the app. Provided information is often inadequate to enable users to assess whether a medical or health app is reliable and safe. Laws and regulations that are meant to provide consumer safety (for patients and medical professionals alike) only apply to a limited number of apps with a specific medical purpose. For non-regulated apps used in a health context, there are various projects and initiatives, for example relating to app certification, but not all of these provide the information they collect about an app in a comprehensible and verifiable manner. The app synopsis presented in this chapter aims at alleviating the situation. The authors propose that manufacturers and developers use its clear structure for providing users with information about an app, ideally in a place where they commonly look (e.g. the app stores).

Use Cases and Application Purposes of Social Media in Healthcare

This chapter presents the current state and outlines future directions in the possibilities of applying and exploiting social media in supporting healthcare processes. Starting from the abstracts of the Medicine 2.0 conference in 2012, the authors identify categories of application purposes for social media-based healthcare applications. The applications of social media tools and data are categorized into five groups: 1) supporting the treatment process, 2) for information gathering and prevention, 3) for networking and information exchange, 4) for knowledge management, and 5) for research and monitoring. Use of social media for information gathering and disease prevention is most prevalent. Existing applications mainly concentrate on supporting treatment of chronic and mental diseases. Technology is ready for supporting such applications. To go further in that direction, organizational and legal issues need to be addressed, including developing concepts for integrating with clinical information settings, establishing financing models, and ensuring security and trust.

Incorporating Usability Testing into the Development of Healthcare Technologies

The use of mobile devices in healthcare is increasing in prevalence and poses different constraints for use than traditional desktop computing. This chapter introduces several usability testing methods that are appropriate for use when designing and developing mobile technologies. Approaching the development of mobile technologies through a user-centered approach is critical to improve the interaction and use of the hardware and software that is implemented on a mobile platform in healthcare. User-centered design adds value by getting feedback about functionality, design, and constraints that need to be built into the system prior to its completion. Future work in this domain will require further tailoring and use of novel usability methods to evaluate and improve the design of mobile healthcare technologies.

Social Media for Health Communication

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the current issues and the challenging process of the adoption of social media by Italian local health authorities (ASL). After a literature review of the role of social media for health organizations, the authors focus their attention on how social network sites are modifying health communication and relations with citizens in Italy. They conduct an exploratory study articulated in three stages: after mapping the presence of local health authorities on the most popular social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), they carry out a content analysis to describe the prevalent kinds of messages published in the official Facebook timelines; in the third phase, using several interviews with healthcare directors and communications managers, the authors investigate implementation issues, managerial implications, and constraints that influence proper use of these participative platforms by Italian public health organizations. Limitations and further steps of the research are discussed.

An Android Mobile-Based Environmental Health Information Source for Malaysian Context

An anticipated research activity in healthcare is the involvement of populations and social media to identify health problems, including environmental ones. In this chapter, the authors propose an Android mobile-based system for collection and targeted distribution of the latest alerts and real-time environmental factors to the Malaysian population. This mobile system is designed to facilitate and encourage research into environmental health quality issues by providing a comprehensive tracking and monitoring tool correlated to social media networks. This system is embedded with Google Maps and Geocoding services to visualize the location and environmental health reports from the aggregated social media news feeds; the output is also shared across the social media networks.

Creating a Supportive Environment for Self-Management in Healthcare via Patient Electronic Tools

Consumer electronic healthcare applications and tools, both Web-based and mobile apps, are increasingly available and used by citizens around the world. “eTools” denote the full range of electronic applications that consumers may use to assess, track, or treat their disease(s), including communicating with their healthcare provider. Consumer eTool use is prone to plateauing of use because it is one-sided (i.e., consumers use them without the assistance or advice of a healthcare provider). Patient eTools that allow patients to communicate with their healthcare providers, exchange data, and receive support and guidance between visits is a promising approach that could lead to more effective, sustained, and sustainable use of eTools. The key elements of a supportive environment for eTool use include 2-way data integration from patient home monitoring equipment to providers and from provider electronic medical records systems to patient eTools, mechanisms to support provider-patient communication between visits, the ability for providers to easily monitor incoming data from multiple patients, and for provider systems to leverage the team environment and delegate tasks to appropriate providers for education and follow-up. This is explored in this chapter.

Success Dimensions of the Online Healthcare Communities of Practice

The existing studies on online Communities of Practice (CoPs) in healthcare organizations have not adequately focused on the factors affecting KM initiative success and acceptance. Thus, establishing an evaluation framework has become essential for the advancement of research and practice in this area. In online communities of practice, the process of measuring and developing an evaluation framework has become quite complicated and challenging due to the intangible nature of the knowledge. Moreover, the lack of standards and studies, related to online CoPs measurements and evaluation frameworks, respectively, triggers the need for intensive studies in this area. In this context, this chapter reviews online CoPs success factors and identifies the gaps in our understanding. The authors classify the existing studies based on the area of evaluation, such as health and non-health domains. The chapter concludes by proposing a conceptual framework to measure the success of online CoPs in the healthcare sector.

Review of the Consumer Perspective Framework for Healthcare Applications

Cummings, Borycki, and Roehrer (2013) developed a Consumer Perspectives Framework that identified a range of consumer-related issues and concerns that should be considered when downloading and using healthcare applications for mobile phones. The framework identifies data-related issues with mobile applications, such as ownership, location, completeness, corporate use, storage, and privacy. This chapter documents research undertaken in confirming the Consumer Perspectives Framework. Finally, the authors propose a method by which the Consumer Perspectives Framework can be implemented for use by consumers prior to downloading healthcare applications.