Technology on Health Communication: Digital Tools on Health Campaigns

HEALTH DISCUSSION
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Health Discussion
Several general themes have been pulled from the readings and the topic this week. First, it has been highlighted that technology has greatly influenced health communication. This has been enhanced by social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook. These social media sites have enabled people to retrieve information and contribute to online content in a more synergistic networked environment. Also, social media has patients with the same illness to connect and share experiences and assist each other with treatment options. An example of a platform that has helped individuals suffering from the same disease come together is the PatientsLikeMe, a type of online community (Chou et al., 2013).

In the second reading, it is evident that most people using social media websites have benefited a lot from consulting the doctor review sites. Research shows that 15% of the internet users have ever consulted the reviews of hospitals or some medical amenities. Also, 4% of internet users have ever posted reviews on social media websites of certain doctors (Fox, 2011). The leading edge of health care has been catapulted by the fact that many people want to share their knowledge. This has been eased and facilitated by the accessibility of mobile phones within the population; hence they can retrieve information on social media websites (Fox, 2011)....