2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

325854
How do Social Health Networks affect Patient Involvement among those with Chronic Illness?


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 10:50 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.

Racheli Magnezi, PhD, MBA, Department of Public Health and Health Systems Management Program, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Yoav Bergman, PhD, Interdisciplinary Department for Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Dafna Grosberg, RN, MHA, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
background: The use of online health-related social networks (HRSN) for support, peer-to-peer connections, and health information has increased dramatically. Participation in a HRSN can enhance self-efficacy and empowerment, as patients gain knowledge and tools to manage their chronic health condition better. Thus, we can deduce that patient activation — the extent to which individuals are able to manage their own health care — increases. However, little is known about the effects of participation in HRSN and patient activation on the perceived usefulness of a website across illnesses.

objective: This study evaluated the effects and benefits of participation in an HRSN and determined predictors of perceived site usefulness, while examining patient activation.

methods: Data were collected from “Camoni”, the first HRSN in the Hebrew language. It offers medical advice, blogs, forums, support groups, internal mail, chats, and consultation with experts. Questionnaires used were: 1) a measure of perceived usefulness to estimate the extent to which an individual found the website helpful and informative, 2) a measure of active involvement in the website, and 3) The Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13), to assess participation in one’s healthcare.

results: Among 296 participants, 161 (54.4%) were women. Men 30-39 years-of-age scored higher in active involvement than those 40-65+. Those 20-29 years-of-age scored higher in perceived usefulness and lower on the PAM-13 scale than older respondents. Men and women had similar PAM-13 scores. Younger age and active involvement predicted perceived usefulness. A less active role in one’s own medical care predicted higher perceived website usefulness. A trend toward more website activity was associated with increased perception of usefulness.

conclusions: Online HRSN can be particularly helpful to individuals with lower patient activation. These findings add information regarding the social and medical importance of such websites, which are becoming an inseparable part of day-to-day chronic disease management.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe that online health-related social networks can provide patients with chronic illness knowledge of their disease and contact with other patients who have the same disease. Explain that social health networks can provide patients with a chronic illness a solution for loneliness; therefore they are important for the elderly. Describe that patient requests for and referral to a social health network can be important to newly diagnosed patients and can provide them with focused, professional resources to address the early stages of their illness.

Keyword(s): Chronic Disease Management and Care, Self-sufficiency and Empowerment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I serve as the Head of the Public Health and Health Systems Management at Bar Ilan University. In recent years I have published several studies on the social health networks, their impact on the chronically ill, and the reasons patients turn to social networks. This study was published as part of a research grant from the National Institute of Health Policy Research.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3155.0: Health IT Applications and Registries Part I: Tools for Managing Chronic Conditions and Infectious Disease