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Barriers to Applying Social Media to Healthcare Issues and Activities

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Barriers to Applying Social Media to Healthcare Issues and Activities

Social media has significantly influenced several aspects of our society, including

healthcare. Different social networking platforms have been applied in various domains of

healthcare. Some of the healthcare issues and activities impacted by social media include

medical education, collaboration among health professionals, patient education, and health

campaigns among others (Zhou et al., 2018). Additionally, social media facilitates dialogs among

healthcare providers and patients resulting in improved quality care. In spite of the benefits, there

are several challenges encountered in the use of social media to healthcare issues and related

activities.

Lack of reliability of health information on online platforms is a major barrier that affects

the use of social media in healthcare (Zhou et al., 2018). Social media platforms provide users

with a wide range of health information from anonymous authors, which the majority of persons

search via online sources to help in disease diagnosis. Also, the information shared on social

media platforms is often incomplete and unreferenced. Such kinds of inaccurate information may

mislead or cause potential harm to users' health. As a result, the issue of lack of information

reliability acts as an obstacle to the application of social media to healthcare issues by most

healthcare organizations.

Patient data privacy is the greatest barrier to the use of social media in the healthcare

setting (Zhou et al., 2018). Healthcare organizations must adhere to the data privacy and

confidentiality regulations when handling patients’ health information. Violation of data privacy

and confidentiality, which might be intentional or inadvertent, hinders the application of social

media to healthcare issues. Health professionals may breach patients’ privacy by mishandling the

information posted on social media platforms. Violation of patient data privacy may also include
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exposure of patients’ details, thus, exposing them on social media platforms. Once the data

privacy and confidentiality are violated, the reputation of the healthcare setting as well as the

dignity of patients and healthcare providers are damaged. Thus, the issue of data privacy inhibits

most healthcare providers from applying social media in the healthcare environment.

Another barrier to the adoption of social media in healthcare settings involves

interruptions and distractions during working time (Kemboi et al., 2018, 118). Health service

providers work in a vulnerable and complicated atmosphere, which requires high concentration

levels to enhance their productivity. However, modern technology, including social media may

act as distractors while healthcare professionals are providing care to patients. Nurses who

encounter distractions at the place of work may introduce errors in the administration of

medication and provision of health services (Zhou et al., 2018). Therefore, the distractions

caused by the use of social media prevent the adoption of the technology in the healthcare

setting.

Social media management is among the factors that may inhibit the application of social

media to healthcare issues and activities (Arigo et al., 2018). In order to reap the benefits of

social media, healthcare providers need to constantly engage their followers, disseminate

relevant information, and respond to queries. For these reasons, using social media in the

healthcare setting can result in information overload. Thus, managing social media is not an easy

task for healthcare providers.

Moreover, misuse of social media is a common challenge that prevents its use in the

healthcare setting. A major risk that occurs due to social media misuse concerns the
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professionalism of healthcare providers (Arigo et al., 2018). The possibility of posting

information that damages the reputations of providers and the healthcare institution can arise.

Most healthcare providers are worried about applying social media to healthcare issues since

users might disrespect them if they share inaccurate information or personal opinions.
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References

Arigo, D., Pagoto, S., Carter-Harris, L., Lillie, S. E., & Nebeker, C. (2018). Using social media

for health research: Methodological and ethical considerations for recruitment and

intervention delivery. Digital Health, 4(1), 1-10.

Gleason, B., & Von Gillern, S. (2018). Digital citizenship with social media: Participatory

practices of teaching and learning in secondary education. Journal of Educational

Technology & Society, 21(1), 200-212.

Zhou, L., Zhang, D., Yang, C. C., & Wang, Y. (2018). Harnessing social media for health

information management. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 27(3), 139-

151.