Social Media in Health

Additionally, social media platforms can provide patient education and health monitoring or encourage behavioral changes and drug adherence. The purpose of this is to promote better education, “increased compliance and better outcomes (Ventola, 2014, p. 495).”

Further, such platforms could be used to obtain feedback from their patients/clients or link their patients with support groups. The patient can also benefit from social media in health because social media can improve patients access to health care information. Physicians can use social media to promote patient education by making health-related posts, videos or participating in specific forums.

Forums allow providers an opportunity to distribute evidence-based information or to counter inaccurate material on the Internet (Ventola, 2014). Similarly, the patient participating in these forums have the opportunity to interact with individuals who may have similar health conditions to them. On these platforms, individuals can exchange health information or tips. Over the years, social media has been widely used to offer health resources and reach and direct campaigns audiences and intervention participants, especially populations that otherwise would have no access to health information.

Moreover, social media is extremely useful in bridging the communication between health professionals and institutions and the people at large (Junhan & Wang, 2021). Social media is a valuable tool in helping people document and share their progress of different health behaviors and engage in competitions or other challenges related to their health with their peers (Junhan & Wang, 2021).