moving beyond facebook

Moving Beyond Facebook:The Current Impact of Social Media on Healthcare Social Work

Stephen Collazo, MSSW, LCSW

Administrative Social Work Counselor

sacollazo@mdanderson.org

• Update on use of social media in healthcare• Examine current trends, social media technology, and

the impact on social work• Discuss best practices and tips for navigating

seemingly unfamiliar ethical territory

Objectives

The Use of Social Media in Healthcare

• 4 out of 5 adults are online• 72% of online adults look for health information on

the internet– Specific disease or medical problem– Certain treatments or procedures– Weight management– Health insurance– Recalls– Advertised drugs– Medical Test Results– Caregiving– Pregnancy/Childbirth– Reducing Costs

Online Adults and Health

• 35% use the internet to self diagnose

Online Adults and Self Diagnosis

• 39% seek out information regarding their own health• 39% seek out information regarding other’s health– Parents higher than non-parents

• 15% seek out information for both self and other’s health

Seeking Health Information

• 26% read or watch about someone else’s health experiences online

• 21% seek out others online with similar health conditions

Peer to Peer Health

• Social Media Health Network• Hospitals– 12,000 on Facebook– 1,000 on Twitter– 200 actively blog

• Apps– Hospitals, EHRs, Health Trackers

• Health Community Organizations• Social Media Monitoring

Healthcare Organizations

New Trends and the Impact on Healthcare Social Workers

• Mobile Ownership– 91% of Americans own a cell phone– 56% own smart phones

• Mobile Usage– 34% mostly go online using their phone– 40% of all cell phone owners and 68% of smart phone

owners use social networking sites on phones– 34% of all cell phone owners and 58% of smart phone

owners upload photos for other to see

Mobile and Social Content Sharing

• Facebook and Twitter– 350 million uploaded per day to Facebook– 36% of the 4 billion daily tweets are images

• Instagram– Started in 2010– Social Photo Sharing Service– Mobile focused– 150 million users and 5 million daily uploads– Recently expanded to 15 second video posts

Photo and Video Social Networks

• Vine– January 2013– 6 second video posts as part of Twitter– 40 million users, 5 vines tweeted per second

• SnapChat– Released in 2011– Temporary Quick Picture Sharing

Other Photo and Video Social Networks

• Similar concerns as Facebook posts and tweets• But, photo and video share easier

Privacy, Privacy, Privacy

Most “liked” on Facebook

4.4 million likes

Most “retweeted” on Twitter

790,000 retweets

Privacy for Providers and Patients

• Healthcare Providers are becoming increasingly more aware of issues related to sharing PHI on social media

• Patient sharing gets complicated as images and video become more popular

• What is the role of social work?

• The ethical issues of being friends with patients is well understood in healthcare– Avoid it– Reframing new issues in the context of existing ethical

guidelines

• Awareness of privacy issues on social networks and exercising restraint with content of posting

Boundaries and Relationships

• Patients and clients searching for providers• 27% of therapists have googled their clients• The “Google Reflex” and generational issues– Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

• Client right to privacy

Google Stalking

• Seeking others online with similar issues– Chronic and rare medical conditions

• Caregivers– 52% use online resources to cope with caregiver stress– Higher percentage of caregivers seek support from others

caring for someone in a similar condition (30% for caregivers versus 21% for patients)

Patient to Patient Connection

• Patient self advocacy– Positive and negative impact

• Online community organizing and advocacy– SSWLHC, NASW, etc.

• Opportunities for education– 21% of individuals, 30% of caregivers

Advocacy and Education

• Common Sense• Reframe new situations into familiar ethical

dilemmas• Cross generational collaboration• Seek education regarding tools and privacy issues• Demonstrate leadership in healthcare settings

Navigating the Social Media Landscape

Questions or Comments?

Resources:www.tinyurl.com/Collazo-SSWLHC2013

sacollazo@mdanderson.org