Social Health Care

Connecting Toward a Healthier Future Social technologies are affecting the way our world operates as they become more and more established and interconnected. Individuals are using Faceable, Twitter, Linked, and a wide variety of other forms of social media to communicate, connect, and share. The way many communicate with their family, friends, employers, and strangers has changed as social media has as well. Individuals can have closer contacts with those who live far away and stay up to date with those who they many not see everyday.As well as individuals ability to communicate more than they ever have before, the way they do things is changed due to social media and mobile technologies. More specifically, social technologies are affecting health care, connecting and collaborating to a healthier future. People worldwide are sharing information that can be accessed from any place, at any time. Not only is social media changing the nature of the way we access information, but it's a lso changing the speed of which we retrieve the information.Patients, doctors, and health care organizations can connect quicker and easier then they once could, roving important information to mass amounts of people at one time when needed, and sharing information creating a interconnected approach to health services. Individuals no longer have to wait in a doctors office for hours to find out the answer to a question they have as they can rely on social media; they can check their symptoms or type their question in on a website, such as www. WebMD. Com, and get instant answers from doctors without leaving their home.At the same time, individuals can post a question on a social media site and get answers and opinions from a large group of people including family, friends, doctors, and any one else who may stumble across the post. Social media has changed the way our world, and more specifically health care, connects to create a healthier future. Health care has gone through tremend ous amounts of changes since social media has emerged. At one time, patients were passive recipients of knowledge, relying solely on the information that one doctor has given them at any specific time.Results were not discusses and people would not go to others for advice or answers to medical questions or concerns they had. Today, however, through the use of social media, individuals are sharing more than they ever have, relying on the information from others, connecting and communicating for knowledge. After visiting a new doctor, having a procedure, or going for surgery, individuals can easily tell others about the experiences they had, sharing reviews of the doctor, and updates but posting and commenting on social media sites.Medications and treatments can also receive reviews by consumers, informing others of potential risks, benefits, and other concerns they may have. Patients can share health-related images ND videos and providers post quizzes to provide users with important information in an engaging way. PWS shares snapshots of recent activity, demonstrating how through social media users are asking questions such as, â€Å"when do you deliver your baby? – early, late, or on time? † receiving 61 likes and 766 comments (Anally, 2012. . This is a perfect example of how individuals today are using social media to get answers to the questions they have. Support groups for medical issues and health-related causes are being created, with awareness being spread through social media. As awareness is extending, so is the support received: information and input is shared and obtained through a mass number of people, called scrounging (courseware, n. D. ). When many people come together, great success is achieved.Websites such as The Foundation for Parade-Will Research is an example of a non-profit organization that has created a Faceable page made to bring individuals with Parade-Will, family members, and friends together to learn and share knowle dge (Howard, J. , Strong, T. , Johnson, S. , Viral, A, & porter, J. , 2014). This page delivers information, advice, suggestions, and arsenal stories about Parade-Will and how individuals are dealing with this medical disability. Different medications and treatment options along with the outcomes are shared, as well as school adaptations and success stories are shared among the group.The Faceable page creates awareness worldwide and receives support and pledges from many for research development. When someone joins a group where others experience similar issues a sense of community is built, sharing supporting, and helping others creating a healthier and happier population. Not only is there a Faceable page for Parade-Will, but there are also a wide variety of pages and sites through all forms of social media that offer support for those with medical exceptionalness and loved ones.There are also other ways to retrieve medical health care information through social media and mobile d evices, such as Telepathy Ontario. Telepathy is ministry of health and long-term care program, that is a free telephone service where you have access to a registered nurse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With mobile devices we have today, this means you can talk to a registered nurse at any time of any day, no matter where you are as Eng as you have a mobile device. The health professional will help you determine your first step in what to do when medical issues arise.After asking a series of questions, the nurse can help individuals determine whether self care is advised or if it's recommended you make a doctors appointment, visit a clinic, or go to a hospital emergency room. One will also be given numbers of community resources nearest to them, and answers to questions they may have. Telepathy is just one example Of a service provided due to the emergence of social media and mobile devices. Due to the rapid expansion of social media and mobile devices, there are many services emerg ing that connect us to create a healthier future. As application software has become very popular, so has the term â€Å"app. APS have appeared on smart phones, pods, pads, tablets, and computers. â€Å"App† was even coined the 201 0 word of the year by the American Dialect Society (Metcalf, A. 201 1). This comes no surprise as you can see the emergence of technology has even shaped the way society talks. If we look back to 1990, society begins talking about technology, with the â€Å"most likely word to succeed† being notebook PC, followed by the 1993 ‘ rod of the year† being information superhighway. The 1994 word of the year was cyber and 1 995 â€Å"word of the year,† as well as â€Å"most likely to succeed and most useful word's was World Wide Web.In 1998 the ‘rod of the yea' and â€Å"most useful word† was the prefix e- as in e-mail and e-commerce, with 1 ass's â€Å"most useful word† being dot-com. In 2002 the â€Å"most likely to succeed† word was blob and the most useful word was Google, as a verb, as it to Google someone. By 2009 the â€Å"word of the year† was tweet and 201 g's word of the year, app (Metcalf, A. 201 1). APS are available in nearly every subject, with the saying ‘there's an app to that,† applying to nearly anything today. This includes health, with a wide variety of health APS to help individuals get and stay healthy.For those with a child, loved one, or oneself who has a food allergy or restrictive diet, there are APS such as Foddering which allows them to check the ingredients and additives in each product (Hobbles, 2012). For keeping your body at a healthy weight there are a wide variety of diet APS, as well as fitness APS. Many diet APS allow you to input the food you eat and based off your body it ill tell you how much you should be having of each thing and how it is going to affect you. There are also a variety of fitness APS, with fitness plans, c alorie counters, and exercises for you to do.Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by â€Å"My Fitness Pal† is an example of a combination of the TVÐ’Â »'0, as they affect each other. A healthy mind is also important when it comes to an individuals overall health, and for that there are APS such as Stress Check which tells you how you rate on the stress chart, and what to do to help reduce anxiety so you can have a healthier mind. Summary is an example of n app that can be used to help individuals of all ages, by letting you know when you do and do not need sun protection, such as sunscreen, hats, and light clothing, before going outside to help prevent skin cancer.To help prevent and detect another common form of cancer, birdwatchers and other similar APS have been created to help reduce the risk and provide early detection of breast cancer. This app provides a video on how to do a breast check, as well as sets up reminders in a calendar as to when to do it. For men there are similar APS for prostate exams and symptoms of when to visit the doctor. On top of all the more specific health APS, there is also an app called WebMD Mobile where individuals can check symptoms, get first-aid advice, or some medical advice all right from their phone (Hobbles, 2012).As we can see, there are APS for virtually anything, including health, that you have access to nearly every moment of everyday, creating a healthier, more connected population. On top of that, not only are all these APS helpful in keeping us healthy, but you can often find many of them (or similar APS with the same function) for free. This leaves us to see that individuals enjoy accessing information from home as well as connecting with others around the globe for answers. From here, a wide range of APS have been emerging, and continue to emerge based off the demands of society.We can see that individuals are using social media and mobile technologies to become a healthier, potentially happier populatio n, but who specifically is using these new technologies? Is it everyone, or just one group? Well, we can see that the longer technologies have been out and the more they advance, the more people are pursuing the use of them. However, the problem remains that not all of the population is. Seeing as the younger population has grown up with the advances in technology they are much more inclined to use and stay up to date with the technology we have today.As we look at the older population though, it seems as the older the individual is, the less likely they are to use technology as much as they could, however, it really depends on the lifestyle of which someone has had. An example of this is an 80 year old who has worked in a profession that relied on the advances of technology might be much more up to date and involved than a 55 year old who has never needed to use a computer or cell phone for their job, even Hough on average most 55 year olds are more engaged and aware than 80 year o lds.This poses a problem when not all parties are involved in social media when trying to communicate, as some individuals may miss out on important information and don't have the opportunity to put their input in, which becomes a large challenge when trying to follow an inclusive model. Not only are individuals using social media though; patients, doctors, hospitals, health insurance companies, drug companies, pharmacies, and work places are all using social media. We can see how this affects them by joking at PWS Global Network Chairman, Anally explains how â€Å"an insurer gained new member by hosting a contest to 5,10th-page like.The contest posted 321 likes, 5 shares, 16 comments,† and how a â€Å"pharmacy manufacturer alerted members about a product recall which resulted in 12 likes, 47 shares, 12 comments. † (2012) Everyone not on the bandwagon for social media is not the main disadvantage, however. The main problems have to do with the users who are engaged in these technologies. One problem is that not all information found on the internet, and more specifically through social media, is accurate. With everyone having the ability to post, we have a large portion of inaccurate information, that users have to watch out for.It can be nearly impossible at times to determine whether or not you are accessing information from a trustworthy source. At the same time, many post information about themselves on social media sites without realizing how dangerous it could be, and how virtually anyone can find out tremendous amount of information without ever meeting them. Once information has been put online, it no longer is your property, it becomes the social media site's property. For health care specifically, there is a struggle for patient confidentiality.Keeping confidential information private can be hard when on social media sites. At the same time, there is a struggle between relationships health care practitioners build with patients, to make patients feel more secure, but also have the confidentiality for these professionals to maintain their professionalism and not mix their work and their home life. The main problem with social media site is that individuals now share personal information with many across the world, which can make others feel purported, but it comes with risks of individuals using that personal information in dangerous ways.The emergence and growth of social technologies and mobile devices has changed health care worldwide, connecting and collaborating for a healthier future. The quality of medical care has been improved as there is more communication between patients and medical professionals, as well as communication and support between individuals. Important messages can be delivered quicker and easier than they once were, and information is much more accessible than it once was as well. There a a wide range of APS to help individuals get and stay healthy, as well as share their progress with othe rs.However, as with anything, there are disadvantages to social health care. Privacy and confidentiality is very hard to be kept when using social media, as is professionalism while still providing patients with friendly, secure relationships. Also, it can be hard to determine what information is accurate and what sources are trustworthy. Overall, social media is changing health care, creating many opportunities to build off of and engage all to create a healthier population connecting and collaborating to a healthier future.