Abstract
Peer-led online communities have shown a strong potential to foster resourceful environments for people living with depression without restrictions of time, space, and stigma. However, due to the scarcity of research, many aspects of depression online support groups remain inconclusive. To contribute to filing some of the knowledge gap, an exploratory study was conducted to explore how online communities designed for people with depression contribute to the everyday lives of depression patients. A sample of 980 posts was selected systematically from a selected online community and demographic and clinical information of the users who made those posts were recorded. The results of the quantitative and qualitative content analyses of those data indicate that the online community can service as a place to exchange various types of informational, emotional, and coaching support with users of diverse backgrounds.
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Acknowledgments
This research was conducted as a part of my doctoral studies at the University of Toronto. I would like to thank the Evolution Health (Trevor van Mierlo and Rachel Fournier) for providing me with the data necessary to conduct the research and the University of Toronto (Professors Juris Dilevko, Alex Jadad, and Aviv Schachak) for providing me with necessary training and supervision.
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Sugimoto, S. (2016). Depression as a Global Challenge and Online Communities as an Alternative Venue to Develop Patients-Led Supportive Network. In: Zylka, M., Fuehres, H., Fronzetti Colladon, A., Gloor, P. (eds) Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42697-6_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42697-6_17
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