SSWLHC 2013 Presentation

1. Moving Beyond Facebook:
The Current Impact of Social Media on
Healthcare Social Work
Stephen Collazo, MSSW, LCSW
Administrative Social Work Counselor
sacollazo@mdanderson.org

2. • Update on use of social media in healthcare
• Examine current trends, social media technology, and
the impact on social work
• Discuss best practices and tips for navigating
seemingly unfamiliar ethical territory
Objectives

3. The Use of Social
Media in Healthcare

4. • 4 out of 5 adults are online
• 72% of online adults look for health information on
the internet
– Specific disease or medical problem
– Certain treatments or procedures
– Weight management
– Health insurance
– Recalls
– Advertised drugs
– Medical Test Results
– Caregiving
– Pregnancy/Childbirth
– Reducing Costs
Online Adults and Health

5. • 35% use the internet to self diagnose
Online Adults and Self Diagnosis

6. • 39% seek out information regarding their own health
• 39% seek out information regarding other’s health
– Parents higher than non-parents
• 15% seek out information for both self and other’s
health
Seeking Health Information

7. • 26% read or watch about someone else’s health
experiences online
• 21% seek out others online with similar health
conditions
Peer to Peer Health

8. • Social Media Health Network
• Hospitals
– 12,000 on Facebook
– 1,000 on Twitter
– 200 actively blog
• Apps
– Hospitals, EHRs, Health Trackers
• Health Community Organizations
• Social Media Monitoring
Healthcare Organizations

9. New Trends and the
Impact on Healthcare
Social Workers

10. • Mobile Ownership
– 91% of Americans own a cell phone
– 56% own smart phones
• Mobile Usage
– 34% mostly go online using their phone
– 40% of all cell phone owners and 68% of smart phone
owners use social networking sites on phones
– 34% of all cell phone owners and 58% of smart phone
owners upload photos for other to see
Mobile and Social Content Sharing

11. • Facebook and Twitter
– 350 million uploaded per day to Facebook
– 36% of the 4 billion daily tweets are images
• Instagram
– Started in 2010
– Social Photo Sharing Service
– Mobile focused
– 150 million users and 5 million daily uploads
– Recently expanded to 15 second video posts
Photo and Video Social Networks

12. • Vine
– January 2013
– 6 second video posts as part of Twitter
– 40 million users, 5 vines tweeted per second
• SnapChat
– Released in 2011
– Temporary Quick Picture Sharing
Other Photo and Video Social Networks

13. • Similar concerns as Facebook posts and tweets
• But, photo and video share easier
Privacy, Privacy, Privacy

14. Most “liked” on Facebook
4.4 million likes
Most “retweeted” on Twitter
790,000 retweets

15. Privacy for Providers and Patients
• Healthcare Providers are becoming increasingly more
aware of issues related to sharing PHI on social
media
• Patient sharing gets complicated as images and video
become more popular
• What is the role of social work?

16. • The ethical issues of being friends with patients is
well understood in healthcare
– Avoid it
– Reframing new issues in the context of existing ethical
guidelines
• Awareness of privacy issues on social networks and
exercising restraint with content of posting
Boundaries and Relationships

17. • Patients and clients searching for providers
• 27% of therapists have googled their clients
• The “Google Reflex” and generational issues
– Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
• Client right to privacy
Google Stalking

18. • Seeking others online with similar issues
– Chronic and rare medical conditions
• Caregivers
– 52% use online resources to cope with caregiver stress
– Higher percentage of caregivers seek support from others
caring for someone in a similar condition (30% for
caregivers versus 21% for patients)
Patient to Patient Connection

19. • Patient self advocacy
– Positive and negative impact
• Online community organizing and advocacy
– SSWLHC, NASW, etc.
• Opportunities for education
– 21% of individuals, 30% of caregivers
Advocacy and Education

20. • Common Sense
• Reframe new situations into familiar ethical
dilemmas
• Cross generational collaboration
• Seek education regarding tools and privacy issues
• Demonstrate leadership in healthcare settings
Navigating the Social Media Landscape

21. Questions or
Comments?

22. Resources:
www.tinyurl.com/Collazo-SSWLHC2013
sacollazo@mdanderson.org