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ICT for an Inclusive World pp 209–227Cite as

Social Media Patient Engagement in Healthcare: An Italian Case Study

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation ((LNISO,volume 35))

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how health organizations use social media to engaging patients in the process of their health, care, and treatment and how this platform can facilitate the value co-creation processes in healthcare context. In order to understand how healthcare organizations are adopting social media technologies to address the challenges they face, the paper presents the results of a content analysis of comments, information and videos posted on the Facebook pages of an Italian healthcare organization. Although there are high expectations that the use of social media will provide more patient centred care, there is currently little evidence within the academic literature showing the health benefits of the use of social media by patients and healthcare institutions. The findings of this study have important implications for public healthcare organizations in order to understand how implement social media engagement and establish procedures to facilitate the process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Since the end of the 2000s, the practice of searching for information on the Internet has become increasingly widespread, and in this context social media has played an increasing role, including online forums and bulletin boards, used as sources of information on health and well-being. In this regard consider that according to a Pew Research Center survey, the “60% of US adults used the Internet to find health care information, and 10% used social media to follow their friends’ health care experiences”. Fox S. The social life of health information 2011. Pew Research Center. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2011/PIP_Social_Life_of_Health_Info.pdf. Accessed May 13, 2017. Another study useful to take awareness of the phenomena is Elkin N. How America searches: health and wellness. iCrossing. Available at: http://www.rx-edge.com/research%20pdfs/How_America_Searches_ Health_and_Wellness.pdf. Accessed May 13, 2017.

  2. 2.

    30 facts & statistics on social media and healthcare. referralMD. Available at: https://getreferralmd.com/2017/01/30-facts-statistics-onsocial-media-and-healthcare/. Accessed May 14, 2017.

  3. 3.

    The AOU is leader in Sardinian region in health communication, thanks to the number of online communication platforms it uses which the AOU has been able to integrate. AOU of Cagliari is the first in Sardinia and one of the first in Italy to use of all the devices (pcs, tablets and smartphones) for patient services: from the withdrawal report, going for online booking, and dialogue with the administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Business, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Marta Musso, Roberta Pinna, Pierpaolo Carrus & Giuseppe Melis

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  1. Marta Musso
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  4. Giuseppe Melis
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Correspondence to Marta Musso .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Youcef Baghdadi

  2. Business Department, University Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France

    Antoine Harfouche

  3. Department of Economics and Business Science, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Marta Musso

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Musso, M., Pinna, R., Carrus, P., Melis, G. (2020). Social Media Patient Engagement in Healthcare: An Italian Case Study. In: Baghdadi, Y., Harfouche, A., Musso, M. (eds) ICT for an Inclusive World. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 35. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34269-2_16

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