EVALUATION OF ACCEPTANCE AND ADOPTION OF HEALTH-CARE INFORMATION ON TWITTER BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

EVALUATION OF ACCEPTANCE AND ADOPTION OF HEALTH-CARE INFORMATION ON TWITTER BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the study

Due to improvements in technology, the internet, or more specifically the websites on the World Wide Web, are always changing. This has changed how health information is disseminated on social media. One of these information changes is social media usage. A growing percentage of internet users now spend a significant amount of time on social networking platforms (Pew Internet, 2012). Social media, which is defined as an internet-based technology that enables individuals to exchange ideas, opinions, and information through networks and communities, has seen a sharp increase in usage in recent years. Internet platforms such as social media enable individuals to upload their own content. Users can read and publish a variety of content on Facebook and Twitter, two well-known and commonly used participatory platforms. These developments make the internet a more dynamic medium than static webpages or other types of mass communication. Also, it fosters a sense of community among users (Chou, Hunt, Beckjord, Moser, & Hesse, 2009).

Social media use for health-related reasons has a variety of implications on the healthcare system, according to prior studies on the subject. Social media can be used for information and support by healthy people as well as by patients. It encourages their autonomy, for instance, by enhancing the understanding of healthcare professionals and providing emotional support (Bennett, G., & Glasgow, R. 2009).

Social media use by healthy individuals and patients may also be advantageous to healthcare professionals by enhancing the organization’s standing in the market and igniting discussion about brand marketing and improved service delivery.

Due to this, social media may actually have an effect on patients as well as the healthcare system as a whole. In particular, it enables patients to get support and complement offline content, potentially improving patient empowerment. The use of social media by individuals has both beneficial and bad effects on the healthcare system, according to Schein, R., Wilson, and Keelan (2011), offering a challenge to both patients and healthcare professionals. It’s crucial to create trustworthy online communication channels because anyone with access to social media may offer “advice” on how to handle a particular health condition, which could lead to health issues getting worse. One false idea that circulated on Twitter, for instance, suggested that Nigerians consume a lot of salt water to treat Ebola. On the other hand, this might have led to two fatalities and over a dozen hospitalizations. Several medical professionals are worried that patient misinformation is commonly spread through personal usage of social media for health-related purposes.

1.2    Statement of the problem

With the increasing use of social media, the conventional vertical method of information sharing from authoritative sources in science has been supplanted with quick horizontal information sharing from many sources, whether or not they are credible. Using social media permits the public sharing of information between any s user having an account. According to Melvin L. and Chan (2014), appeals to change the incomprehensible and alienating language used in healthcare over time are not unusual and continue to afflict medicine. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the information’s transparency and accessibility in medicine. Since social media facilitates information sharing, medical applications of social media have recently attracted a lot of attention, particularly when it comes to the Twitter platform. This is because, according to Kuehn B.M. (2015), Twitter is presently the most widely utilized social media platform for communicating about healthcare.

The question of whether and how medical practitioners should use social media platforms in their job has generated conflicting perspectives. Social media skeptics argue that it is inappropriate to publish healthcare information on it due to the possibility of disinformation, contradicting advice, and unprofessional behavior (Pemmaraju N., Thompson M., Qazilbash M.2017). While some contend that social media has no place in the healthcare industry, others assert that the open information sharing made possible by social media would revolutionize patient access to healthcare. However, given some restrictions, such as the unreliability, confidentiality, and privacy of healthcare information on social media, false information shared through these platforms can cause society to adopt inaccurate views of health, with varying effects on views that are related to and unrelated to healthcare. In light of this, this study aims to assess how well university students are utilizing health-related information on Twitter.

1.3       Objective of the study

This investigation’s main goal is to assess how university students perceive and use health-related information on Twitter. In particular, the study aims to:
1. Ascertain how much Twitter is utilized to disseminate medical information.
2. Determine the advantages of Twitter for the dissemination of medical information.
3. Look into the possible risks related to using Twitter in the medical field.
4. Examine if undergraduates’ acceptance and adoption of health-care information would be influenced by using the Twitter platform.

1.4       Research Hypothesis

HO1: Using the Twitter platform as a channel for the dissemination of medical information carries no potential risks.
HO2: Utilizing the Twitter platform won’t have an impact on how students absorb and use health-care information.

1.5       Significance of the study

The study’s conclusions would be significant from both an empirical and practical standpoint. Empirically, it will help describe how social media is used to spread healthcare information and mold university students’ views on health. Practically, the study will work as a reference for governmental and non-governmental organizations, decision-makers in the public and private sectors, and medical experts regarding the necessity to control the validity of health information published on Twitter. Also, the result of the stud will serve as a data base to mass communication academics who may be interested in studying the global healthcare infodemic and future researchers, who may embarking on similar research in future.

1.6       Scope of the study

This study’s focus is on how university students’ adoption and acceptance of health care information on Twitter. The study will ascertain how much Twitter is used to disseminate medical information. It will determine the advantages of using Twitter to spread information about healthcare. Also, it will look into any risks connected to using Twitter in healthcare. Nevertheless, the study is restricted to Rivers State’s University of Port Harcourt.

1.7       Limitation of the study

In conducting the study, the researchers ran into some minor obstacles, just as in every human endeavor. The researcher had to choose from a small number of sample sizes due to the significant constraint of the paucity of literature on the subject because there had not been any recent research on it. As a result, the researcher had to incur additional costs and spend a lot of time looking for the pertinent materials, literature, or information. Also, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic activity. The researcher ensured that the best was provided while downplaying each despite the restriction.

1.8       Definition of terms

The term “social media” refers to a group of websites and web-based applications that enable widespread communication, engagement, and sharing among users within a network. Its strength comes from the real-time images captured on video when events are being shown live. Social media platforms include, for instance, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and others.

Health behaviors are actions people conduct that have an impact on their health. These include behaviors that promote better health, like eating healthily and exercising, as well as behaviors that raise one’s risk of disease, like smoking, binge drinking, and dangerous sexual conduct. In public health campaigns, health education, and interactions between a doctor and a patient, health communication refers to the study and practice of disseminating information about favorable health. Through enhancing health literacy, health information dissemination aims to affect individual health decisions.

REFERENCE

E.Ranney Choo, M. Chan, T. Trueger McNamara, Tegtmeyer, and Walsh, N. Carroll, C. Choi, R. (2015). A primer for newcomers and doubters on Twitter as a communication and knowledge-sharing tool in academic medicine. Medical Education 2015;37:411-416. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2014.993371.

Disease-specific hashtags and the development of Twitter medical communities in cancer and hematology, Pemmaraju N., Thompson M., and Qazilbash M. 2017. 10.1053/j.seminhematol.2017.08.004, Semin. Hematol.

Utilizing Twitter in Clinical Teaching and Practice, Melvin L., Chan T. (2014). : 10.4300/JGME-D-14-00342.1 J. Grad. Med. Educ., 6:581-582

Twitter Streams Boost Big Data Approaches to Health Forecasting, according to Kuehn B.M., JAMA 314:2010–2012 (2015), doi: 10.1001/jama.2015.12836

R. Schein, K. Wilson, and J. Keelan (2011). effectiveness of social media use. Public Health Peel. Peel Public Health, Toronto.

Glasgow, R., Bennett, G. (2009). Realizing the Potential of Public Health Treatments Delivered Via the Internet. Public health annual review, 273.