UK policy on social networking sites and online health: From informed patient to informed consumer?

UK policy on social networking sites and online health: From informed patient to informed consumer?

Background: Social networking sites offer new opportunities for communication between and amongst health care professionals, patients and members of the public. In doing so, they have the potential to facilitate public access to health care information, peer-support networks, health policy fora and online consultations. Government policies and guidance from professional organisations have begun...

Patient autonomy in the age of consumer-driven health care: informed consent and informed choice.

Masked Or Informed Citizens? Social Media And Online Health Consultations

The diffusion of social media is having profound impacts on the relationship between government and citizens in many areas of government service provision. In the area of healthcare the emergence of new venues of interaction between patients and between patients and doctors is challenging the government-established digital channels for healthcare service provision. In this paper we present a cl...

Online Social Networking Sites and Mental Health Research

Socializing and networking was transformed in the technological era by the introduction of social networking sites (SNSs). These online sites contain an abundance of information about individual preferences, interests, types, and frequency of social interactions, etc. However, scientific studies that have utilized SNS activity data to aid our understanding of mental health disorders are scarce....

Disclosure and Privacy Settings on Social Networking Sites: Evaluating an Instructional Intervention Designed to Promote Informed Information Sharing

The present study evaluated a video-based intervention designed to permit users of social networking to make informed decisions about the information they disclosed online. The videos provided information regarding potential risks of disclosure and well as step-by-step instructions on privacy setting use. Novice (n=40) and experienced (n=40). FacebookTM users were randomly assigned to either th...