Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in partnership with the California HealthCare Foundation recently released a new report, “The Social Life of Health Information,” which surveyed adults in the U.S. about the social impact of the internet on health care.
Alright, so what’s new? Well, more adults in the U.S. (61%) are looking online for health information – not particularly groundbreaking, but significant nonetheless. What I found striking, though, was that one-third of adults in the U.S. have participated or engaged in one of eleven types of social media activities in relation to health, including:
- Reading someone else’s commentary or experience about a health or medical issue (41%);
- Consulting rankings or reviews online of physicians (24%) and hospitals (24%);
- Signing up for updates about health or medical issues (19%);
- Listening to podcasts (13%);
- Tagging and categorizing online content about health or medical issues (6%);
- Posting comments, questions, or info about health or medical matters in an online discussion, listserv, or other online group forum (6%);
- Posting comments about health on a blog (5%);
- Posting reviews online of a doctor (5%);
- Posting reviews online of a hospital (4%); and
- Sharing photos, videos and audio files online about health or medical issues (4%)
Also interesting was the finding that “e-patients” – what the authors called people who look online for health info – are more likely to engage in social media in general, compared with other Internet users. For instance, e-patients are more likely than non-health seekers to have created or worked on their own blog, read someone else’s blog, used a social networking site, used a micro-blogging site, and other activities.
Two-thirds of e-patients also reported that they talk with someone else about what they find online. In addition, one in ten health inquiries were reported to have had a “major impact” on someone’s health care or the way they care for someone else. Clearly, the information e-patients are finding online carry significant weight. However, the authors, Susannah Fox and Sydney Jones, noted that the survey also indicated that although technology was being used extensively, it was not an end, but a “means to accelerate the pace of discovery, widen social networks, and sharpen the questions someone might ask when they do get to talk to a health professional.”
As use of the Internet and social media increases, it’s not surprising that more people are searching for health information and participating and engaging in health-related communities. These statistics are fascinating, but the important takeaway here, at least for physicians and health-related organizations, is to ask if you are making the best use of the medium. Because if you’re not, well, you’re missing out – simply put.
Chris Rottler, Digital Strategist & Account Executive
Tags: California HealthCare Foundation, Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, Social Life of Health Information, Susannah Fox, Sydney Jones
