Social Media VS Telehealth

When I hear social media I immediately think Facebook and Twitter. Social media is a way for patients to have readily accessible health related information, connect with others, share thoughts and stories, and the promotion of health related topics. As opposed to social media, telehealth actually delivers health care services to patients meaning face-to-face interaction with a health care professional. There are actually many different social media platforms that include blogs, forums, and podcast. Each platform provides different types of information. It is all about searching smart because there are accurate and inaccurate information everywhere on the internet. Someone who wants to learn more about their high blood pressure or diabetes may look at sites such as Mayo and WedMD. Someone who wants to read reviews to find a good hospital, doctor, clinic, etc. can utilize Facebook and Yelp. There are also forums on specific diseases such as cancer that serve as a support group as well as a place to share stories and information. 

As for current, or as many call it trending news, Twitter! A recent example of twitter use is the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland. Being from California and a frequent flyer at Disneyland it immediately caught my attention. Twitter proved to be a fast way to spread information with a simple #disneymeasles. 

Whether true or not information is easily dispersed on social media which makes increasingly important to think twice about what we read online. With all of this being said, there is also inaccurate information and bad ways that people use social media. With social media we are not speaking to health care professionals. As we all know those who post on twitter, Facebook, yelp, and blogs are often but not always opinions and should be taken at face value. Social media and Telehealth definitely do overlap with some similarities which are goals to make health care easily accessible, promote health education, and keep patients up-to-date on current health topics. 

References

Ventola, C. (n.d.). Social Media and Health Care Professionals: Benefits, Risks, and Best Practices. Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103576/

The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://www.chcf.org/publications/2008/04/the-wisdom-of-patients-health-care-meets-online-social-media