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Rare Diseases in the Age of Health 2.0 pp 115–122Cite as

Social Media and Engaging with Health Providers

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Part of the book series: Communications in Medical and Care Compunetics ((CMCC,volume 4))

Abstract

Social media offers considerable opportunities for patients and clinicians to engage and collaborate across geographic borders for clinical care, research and patient support. While social media use in healthcare is currently in its infancy, there is enormous potential for applications dedicated to accessing health information, specialist clinical knowledge and participating in the latest research initiatives. These benefits are amplified for patients and clinicians who are geographically dispersed, such as those working in the field of rare and orphan diseases. Different applications of these tools emerge frequently and technological developments will provide increasingly better platforms for patients and clinicians to collaborate and engage to improve health outcomes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, 7 David Lane, Windsor, Melbourne, VIC, 3181, Australia

    Hugh Stephens

  2. Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, Minnesota, USA

    Hugh Stephens

Authors
  1. Hugh Stephens
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Correspondence to Hugh Stephens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Health Design and Technology Institute, Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom

    Rajeev K. Bali

  2. International Council on Medical & Care Compunetics (ICMCC), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Lodewijk Bos

  3. Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Michael Christopher Gibbons

  4. iBellieve Foundation, Toronto, Canada

    Simon Ibell

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Stephens, H. (2014). Social Media and Engaging with Health Providers. In: Bali, R., Bos, L., Gibbons, M., Ibell, S. (eds) Rare Diseases in the Age of Health 2.0. Communications in Medical and Care Compunetics, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38643-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38643-5_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38642-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-38643-5

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