Social Media as a Tool for Adolescent Asthma Management : Attending Physicians' and Residents' Perception and Attitude

Background- Self- management education is a proven method for controlling asthma, reducing exacerbation and emergency room visits, and improving the overall quality of life among asthma patients. The growing popularity of social media use among adolescents suggests the potential use of social network sites as an educational tool for teens' asthma management. Methods – Qualitative research methods were used to understand attending physicians' and residents' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about the use of social media as a channel for delivering asthma management support and education. Two focus groups, one dyad and one individual interview with pediatric attending physicians and seventeen interviews with pediatric residents were conducted. Results - Attending physicians and residents valued social network websites as a platform for adolescent asthma patients to share their experiences, receive and provide support, and connect with asthmatic peers and healthcare providers. The two groups perceived monitoring of social network sites as an important role in educating and providing reliable and up-to-date information on asthma. Although pediatric residents' attitude towards monitoring a social network site was more positive than that of attending physicians, these groups reported similar barriers to use of social network sites including time constraints, reimbursement, and added responsibilities. Conclusions –Asthma self-management education is an important component in disease care and, if delivered through social media websites, must acknowledge and address the elaborated barriers to effectiveness and integration as stipulated by attending and resident physicians, among others.