An analysis and critique of advocacy efforts
Facebook is Australia’s most popular social media platform, second is YouTube, with Twitter coming in at seventh. (17) Neiger at al (18) state that social media can be used in public health to achieve the following: communicate with consumers, promote a brand, spread information, expand reach of public health efforts to broader and more diverse groups and foster public engagement and partnerships. Social media is being employed to accomplish a mix of these stated uses. However, some methods have been more successfully achieved than others.
The #rethinksugarydrink campaign has been heavily focused on disseminating information regarding SSB’s and their negative health effects. Using a hashtag has been a simple and effective tool in linking advocacy efforts together and creating a brand-like image for the public to identify. The use of a hashtag is something online users are familiar with and therefore, this fosters engagement and participation. (8, 18) Users have engaged in different levels; low engagement is common with users liking, retweeting or sharing content using #rethinksugarydrink. Additionally, medium engagement has occurred with people have creating and sharing there own content, as seen with Parents’ Voice. (18) The level of engagement, exposure and reach of these efforts can be seen through YouTube videos posted by Cancer Council Victoria for the campaign, with one “man drinking fat” gaining 251, 105 views and 223
Independent advocacy is a way that allows people to make informed choices and to remain in control of their own care and needs. It supports people to access the information they need about all options available to them and allows them to make their wishes and views known. It helps to protect the rights of people that are unable to speak up for themselves. Independent advocacy may be a long term thing or only during a difficult time.
Social media has been widely used in the United States and the rest of the world. These sites influenced the way we communicate, but, what about our health? According to the National Center for Biotechnology, researchers have found that the use of social media has increased the number of psychiatric disorders
Being so contemporary, social media’s effects are only recently being discovered. Research conducted by Shirley Cramer and Dr. Becky Inkster indicates
Communication has been permanently changed by social media. A wide conceptual definition of social media, as cited in Ressler & Glazer (2010), is “The online and mobile accessible services that enable individuals to connect, collaborate, and share with others in real time.” Social media has an obvious influence on informal communication style and represents both possibility and liability for healthcare institutions. As cited in Bernhardt, Alber, & Gold (2014), “Social media provide healthcare professionals with tools to share information, to debate health care policy and practice issues, to promote health behaviors, to engage with the public, and to educate and interact with patients, caregivers, students, and colleagues.” It also presents challenges, including risks to information accuracy, organizational reputation, and individual privacy. Social media can be a very helpful in communicating among nurses and other healthcare providers while creating professional connections, and sharing experiences, but guidelines for appropriate use by healthcare providers are essential. Whether or not certain healthcare organization decides to use social media as a communications tool - social media policy still need to be implemented. Policies help establish an organization 's rules and expectations around social media.
We Can But Dare We: A Look into the Use of Social Media in Healthcare
The UK levels of obesity, 26% in men and 23.8% in women, are the highest among all Western Europe and growing rapidly, which is mainly due to a combination of sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. 5 The launch of some Government initiatives, such as ‘5 a Day’ campaign and Change4Life, are increasingly promoting healthier habits and consciousness on these topics. Furthermore, the exposure to this topics has been magnified with higher exposure to social media, ensuring a constant flow of information, especially among the younger generations.9
There are many public service announcements, advertisements, or paid social marketing that target the health field. Methods that are used in other industries that can be use in hospitals is the emergence of new technology. Technology that offer easier communication to health providers and their patient. It will also enable them to learn skills that are needed in their daily lives or future jobs. Social media has also taken a huge toll on hospitals and health systems. Generally, social media is used to communicate things outside of the work field. Today, it is use to communicate messages about current and new issues. Overall, the methods of media is one of the innovation that helps to improve communication in the health care field. It allows easy understanding through the healthcare providers and its
Social media is a fast growing platform, which can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the way in which a large public service such as the NHS communicates with the population (Bashar, Ahmad and Wasiq, 2012). In line with the growing rise of social media, social media practices are considered to have a growing influence on society. This report positions social media as a platform which offers opportunities for organisations and individuals alike to listen and to have opportunities to
Social media (digital technology) platforms are defined as any form of digital communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Over the last several years, the use of social media platforms such as blogs, text messaging, games, and Twitter, have had significant growth. Social media tools have become an effective way to expand reach, foster engagement and increase access to credible, evidence-based health information.
According to researchers, it has been observed that there has been little to no effort in educating minorities on the health issues within that their racial/ethnic group, due to the use of media. There are many programs that come to mind, that are affiliated with well-known organizations dedicated to African- Americans that does not include any form of social media to spread knowledge in areas that is lacking the proper education on health.
I support this legislation because it will have positive impact on the clients receiving services at JSD. According to the American Bar Association, if this legislation is passed it may reduce racial and ethnic disparities, give more funding to the Juvenile Justice System, and identify the effect of exposure to violence and trauma on adolescent behavior and development. It promotes fairness, by require states to implement plans to ensure fairness and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the detention of juveniles and will include some requirements to ensure effective use of resources, to provide greater oversight of grant programs, and to ensure state compliance with federal
While using social media can be valuable to doctors and nurses, inappropriate use of these tools can be devastating to a health professional career. Here are some examples
Social Media can reduce the cost of the healthcare marketing. Facebook; YouTube; and Twitter can help the Board members of the PMH to promote the new clinic and to get new patients from the contacts obtained through the social media.
Using this viewpoint, health care leaders can see the importance of using social media to stay in tuned with what patients are saying. For a health care organization to succeed they must provide quality care and quality service. If the patient population is not satisfied they are likely to vocalize their opinions to friends and families through social media. Health care leaders can create blogs or chats where consumers can express their concerns as a means to fix issues the organization may be experiencing. The information generated from social media can then be used by health care leaders to improve the organization, with the hopes of making their organization a leader in their community.
Social media plays a very large part in todays society. It influences most aspects of our lives. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest are all forms of social media that impact people’s daily lives. As we all live busy lives eating healthy has become extremely important. A healthy nutritious diet is a part of most peoples lives. Social media allows people to have access to the latest health food trends, recipes, blogs and information about cafes that offer these types of healthy foods. Dining out is also very popular in todays society. Healthy cafes are frequently seen on social media through people tagging themselves via Facebook and Instagram. Social media allows people to follow their favourite cafes which then gives them the opportunity to get a hold of the different food and recipes that that specific café offers. Savvy business owners use video and photography to improve their business and encourage healthy eating. Café dining has become extremely popular with the general public. Trendy hip organic cafes are very much the rave with brunch becoming the to go meal, smashed avocado has become very popular through this. The rise in this popularity can be linked to social media. People via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have shared photos of café meals which has made a big impact on the cafes influence on our lives. I personally have accounts on many different social media sites that promote and share