{"id":95906,"date":"2009-10-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2009\/10\/26\/trends-the-social-life-of-health-information\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:17:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:17:48","slug":"trends-the-social-life-of-health-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2009\/10\/26\/trends-the-social-life-of-health-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Susannah Fox shared the <a href=\"http:\/\/epatient2009.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">e-Patient Connections <\/a>stage with Mark Bard of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.manhattanresearch.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manhattan Research <\/a>to talk about the latest trends in consumer use of health information technology.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is the text of her remarks (slide prompts marked in <strong>bold<\/strong>):\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information 10-26-2009\" src=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/slideshow\/embed_code\/key\/htGezzwzPZUhrP\" width=\"427\" height=\"356\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;\" allowfullscreen> <\/iframe> <div style=\"margin-bottom:5px\"> <strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/PewInternet\/trends-the-social-life-of-health-information-10262009\" title=\"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information 10-26-2009\" target=\"_blank\">Trends: The Social Life of Health Information 10-26-2009<\/a> <\/strong> from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/PewInternet\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center&#39;s Internet &amp; American Life Project<\/a><\/strong> <\/div><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For 10 years the Pew Internet Project has been tracking the social impact of the internet. I focus on the impact of technology on health care. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve seen the internet go from a slow, stationary, information vending machine to a fast, mobile, communications appliance.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a country, we\u2019ve gone from about half of adults being <b>online<\/b> in 2000 to about 80% in 2009. People living with chronic disease lag behind the general population \u2013 only 53% go online \u2013 most likely because they are older than the general population.\u00a0 That\u2019s bound to change. Our data shows that people don\u2019t give up their internet connections as they age.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five percent of U.S. homes had <b>broadband<\/b> in 2000; two-thirds of homes have broadband\u00a0in 2009.\u00a0 Again, people living with chronic conditions are less likely to have home broadband service.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new story is wireless.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Reports\/2009\/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx\">56%<\/a> of American adults go online wirelessly, whether it\u2019s a laptop, PDA, or other device.\u00a0 When we include mobile access in our definition of the internet population, differences between whites and African Americans disappear.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tech adoption is only half the story. Americans have new tools, new capabilities, and new expectations about access to information.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Half of internet users watch <b>videos<\/b> online \u2013 and while quite a bit is for entertainment, there is some evidence that people are also watching videos related to serious issues too.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">37% of internet users share <b>photos<\/b> online.\u00a0 Many more view photos, or in this case, raw footage from a patient\u2019s life, removing the mystery and teaching other patients and caregivers what to expect.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Reports\/2009\/17-Twitter-and-Status-Updating-Fall-2009.aspx\">One in five <\/a>internet users update their status on <b>Twitter<\/b> or another similar service like Yammer. So far there is a low incidence of health tweets. Most e-patients are not yet using Twitter as a health information tool \u2013 search is still primary. This is a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Commentary\/2009\/October\/The-Twitter-Question.aspx\">challenging activity to capture <\/a>in a survey question and we will\u00a0continue evaluating how to track it\u00a0in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly half of internet users use <b>social network sites<\/b>.\u00a0 This is a question we were able to include in the 2008 Pew Internet\/California HealthCare Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Reports\/2009\/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx\">survey<\/a>, in which we also asked people about their health status: One in four internet users living with a chronic condition are on a social network site.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t count out people living with chronic conditions when you see these trends.\u00a0 They are less likely than the general population to be online and less likely to use social network sites, but some are there and they will bring their friends along. The social media wave hasn\u2019t crested yet. You still have time to catch it.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One in three internet users (including those living with chronic conditions) read <b>blogs<\/b>.\u00a0I think the word &#8220;blog&#8221; is losing its meaning and will continue to be a challenge for us to track in surveys.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is broad uptake for social media and user-generated content\u00a0in health:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"disc\">\n<li>59% of e-patients have consulted blog comments, hospital reviews, doctor reviews, and podcasts about health and health care. <\/li>\n<li>20% of e-patients have posted comments, reviews, photos, audio, video or tags related to health care. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, our surveys find that the internet is increasingly helpful to American adults seeking health information. <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"disc\">\n<li>60% of e-patients (or 42% of all adults) say they or someone they know has been helped by following medical advice or health information found on the internet. That\u2019s an increase from 2006 when 31% of e-patients (25% of all adults) said that. <\/li>\n<li>3% of e-patients say they or someone they know has been harmed by following medical advice or health information found on the internet, a number that has remained stable since 2006.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I go on jags and will tweet for days about a new idea, new site, or new book I\u2019m reading.\u00a0 Right now it\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.connectedthebook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connected<\/a>, by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, they found that \u201c<b>obesity is catching<\/b>.\u201d But what\u2019s really amazing is that they found is that it\u2019s not your friends who make you fat, but your friends\u2019 friends. Whole communities can spiral up or spiral down because of the actions of a few individuals.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As they write, \u201cSocial networks magnify whatever they are seeded with.\u201d\u00a0 What are YOU spreading?\u00a0 What are YOU contributing to the connected world?\u00a0 Are you spreading knowledge or are you spreading misinformation? <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <b>U.S.<\/b><b> political blogosphere<\/b> is highly polarized.\u00a0 What would a map of the health blogosphere look like?\u00a0 Would industry be on one side and consumers on the other?\u00a0 Where is the cross-pollination happening? Which companies, government agencies, and conferences are making the most connections between all the knowledge centers?<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s my argument for including consumers in your network: <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connected patients spread new ideas, new treatments, and new ways of approaching a condition. Patient networks can help you anticipate change and innovate in the right direction. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patients and the people who love them are not just your target audience, but your colleagues. They are a resource for innovation and knowledge.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of marketing to your audience, ask them to participate. Ask patients what they think.\u00a0 Put them on the team so they can participate in whatever it is you are doing. They will collaborate with you to make it better. Patient networks are an early warning system for whatever you\u2019re pursuing: a new service, a new device, a new drug, a new platform.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christakis and Fowler argue that humans have evolved to live and thrive within networks.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s the power of social networks. You can be among the first in the health care industry to really, truly take advantage of the social life of health information.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connected patients spread new ideas, new treatments, and new ways of approaching a condition. Put them on your team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[105,278,267,319,307],"tags":[],"bylines":[976],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[465],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[526],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-95906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-policy","category-healthcare-online","category-medicine-health","category-online-search","category-social-media","bylines-susannah-fox","formats-presentation","research-teams-internet"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":996,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2009\/10\/26\/trends-the-social-life-of-health-information\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information","parent_id":95906},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information","description":"Connected patients spread new ideas, new treatments, and new ways of approaching a condition. Put them on your team.","og_title":"Trends: The Social Life of Health Information","og_description":"Connected patients spread new ideas, new treatments, and new ways of approaching a condition. Put them on your team.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 27 paragraphs.","data":{"count":27}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 4 internal links.","data":{"count":4}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"e3f438a9279ef7964e1ddc992db959f5","termId":976}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137018,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95906\/revisions\/137018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=95906"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=95906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}