Use of social media for health education and corporate communication of hospitals

  1. Carmen Costa-Sánchez 1
  2. María-Isabel Míguez-González 2
  1. 1 Universidade da Coruña
    info

    Universidade da Coruña

    La Coruña, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01qckj285

  2. 2 Universidade de Vigo
    info

    Universidade de Vigo

    Vigo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/05rdf8595

Journal:
El profesional de la información

ISSN: 1386-6710,  1699-2407

Year of publication: 2018

Issue Title: Información política y redes sociales (I)

Volume: 27

Issue: 5

Pages: 1145-1154

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3145/EPI.2018.SEP.18 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: El profesional de la información

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to obtain an in-depth understanding of digital communication strategies employed by hospitals by comparing and contrasting the digital communication of two hospitals of reference in Spain. The main method is content analysis of Facebook and Twitter along with in-depth interviews of hospital communication directors. Results show different communication strategies that depend on organizational goals. The public participated in digital communication within three themes: 1) general, sensitive, and topical health issues; 2) personal and professional projects, as well as initiatives for struggle or sensitization; 3) corporate novelties that encourage public involvement. The use of currently existing platforms of social media from which to manage the online communication should be a priority for hospitals. Multimedia content can help to disclose health information. Online communication strategies are adapted to overall communication strategy and differences in cultural profiles lead to differences in priorities.

Bibliographic References

  • Arencibia-Jiménez, Mercedes; Aibar-Remón, Carlos (2007). “Páginas web de hospitales. Realidad virtual o… ¿son realmente un medio útil para la difusión de información para sus usuarios?”. Revista de calidad asistencial, v. 22, n. 3, pp. 118-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1134-282X(07)71206-X
  • Bermúdez-Tamayo, Clara; Alba-Ruiz, Rubén; Jiménez-Pernett, Jaime; García-Gutiérrez, José-Francisco; Traver-Salcedo, Vicente; Yubraham-Sánchez, David (2013). “Use of social media by Spanish hospitals: Perceptions, difficulties, and success factors”. Telemedicine and e-health, v. 19, n. 2, pp. 137-145. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2012.0066
  • Briones, Rowena; Kuch, Beth; Liu, Brooke-Fisher; Jin, Yan (2011). “Keeping up with the digital age: How the American Red Cross uses social media to build relationships”. Public relations review, v. 37, n. 1, pp. 37-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.12.006
  • Calvo-Calvo, Manuel-Ángel (2014). “Calidad y características de los sitios web de los hospitales españoles de gran tamaño”. Revista española de documentación científica, v. 37, n. 1, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2014.1.1049
  • Costa-Sánchez, Carmen; Túñez-López, Miguel; Videla-Rodríguez, José-Juan (2016). “Hospitales españoles en la web social. Gestión de Facebook y Twitter por el Hospital Sant Joan de Dèu (Barcelona)”. Revista latina de comunicación social, n. 71, pp. 1108-1130. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1137
  • Díaz-Cuenca, Antonia-María (2007). “Análisis de la calidad de las páginas web en los hospitales españoles”. Enfermería global, v. 6, n. 1, pp. 1-13. http://revistas.um.es/eglobal/article/view/224
  • Farabough, Lauren-Alesha (2013). Using Facebook as a public relations tactic: A look at how hospitals are engaging with fans. Doctoral dissertation. University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
  • Gabarrón, Elia; Fernández-Luque, Luis (2012). “eSalud y vídeos online para la promoción de la salud”. Gaceta sanitaria, v. 26, n. 3, pp. 197-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2012.03.004
  • Griffis, Heather; Kilaru, Austin; Werner, Rachel; Asch, David; Hershey, John; Hill, Shawndra; Ha, Yonhee; Sellers, Allison; Mahoney, Kevin; Merchant, Raina (2014). “Use of social media across US hospitals: Descriptive analysis of adoption and utilization”. Journal of medical internet research, v. 16, n. 11, pp. 264. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3758
  • Grunig, James E. (2006). “Furnishing the edifice: Ongoing research on public relations as a strategic management function”. Journal of public relations research, v. 18, n. 2, pp. 151-176. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1802_5
  • Hart, Mark; Stetten, Nichole E.; Islam, Sabrina; Pizarro, Katherine (2017). “Twitter and public health (Part 1): How individual public health professionals use Twitter for professional development”. JMIR Public health and surveillance, v. 3, n. 3, e60. https://doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.6795
  • Hu, Yifeng; Sundar, Shyam (2010). “Effects of online health sources on credibility and behavioral intentions”. Communication research, v. 37, n. 1, pp. 105-132. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209351512
  • Huerta, Timothy; Hefner, Jennifer; Ford, Eric; McAlearney, Anne-Scheck; Menachemi, Nir (2014). “Hospital website rankings in the United States: Expanding benchmarks and standards for effective consumer engagement”. Journal of medical internet research, v. 16, n. 2, e64. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3054
  • IAB Spain (2016). Estudio anual de redes sociales. https://www.slideshare.net/elogia/estudio-redes-sociales-2016
  • King, Melanie (2014). Corporate blogging and microblogging: An analysis of dialogue, interactivity and engagement in organisation-public communication through social media. Doctoral dissertation. Sidney: University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/35948/2/02whole. pdf
  • Kordzadeh, Nima; Young, Diana (2015). “Understanding how hospitals use social media: An exploratory study of Facebook posts”. In: Americas conference on information systems. Virtual communities and collaboration. Association for Information Systems. http://aisel .a isnet.org/amcis2015/VirtualComm/ GeneralPresentations/4
  • Leung, Ricky (2014). “Increasing dynamic capabilities of health organizations with social media”. In: Olivas-Luján, Miguel; Bondarouk, Tanya (eds.). Social media in strategic management, pp. 129-142. ISBN: 978 1 781908983
  • Lim, Weng-Marc (2016). “Social media in medical and health care: Opportunities and challenges”. Marketing intelligence & planning, v. 34, n. 7, pp. 964-976. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-06-2015-0120
  • Martínez-Millana, Antonio; Fernández-Llatas, Carlos; Basagoiti-Bilbao, Ignacio; Traver-Salcedo, Manuel; Traver-Salcedo, Vicente (2017). “Evaluating the social media performance of hospitals in Spain: A longitudinal and comparative study”. Journal of medical internet research, v. 19, n. 5, e181. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.6763
  • McCaughey, Deirdre; Baumgardner, Catherine; Gaudes, Andrew; LaRochelle, Dominique; Wu, Kaila-Jyaxin; Raichura, Tejal (2014). “Best practices in social media: Utilizing a value matrix to assess social media’s impact on health care”. Social science computer review, v. 32, n. 5, pp. 575-589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439314525332
  • Medina-Aguerrebere, Pablo; Buil-Gazol, Pilar; Heath, Robert (2015). “Brand dissemination in Canadian hospitals through Facebook”. The International journal of communication and health, v. 7, pp. 27-39. http://communicationandhealth.ro/upload/number7/ PABLO-MEDINA.pdf
  • Moorhead, Ann; Hazlett, Diane; Harrison, Laura; Carroll, Jennifer; Irwin, Anthea; Hoving, Ciska (2013). “A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication”. Journal of medical internet research, v. 15, n. 4, e85. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1933
  • Rando-Cueto, Dolores; Paniagua-Rojano, Francisco-Javier; De-las-Heras-Pedrosa, Carlos (2016). “Factores influyentes en el éxito de la comunicación hospitalaria vía redes sociales”. Revista latina de comunicación social, v. 71, pp. 11701186. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1140
  • Richter, Jason; Muhlestein, David; Wilks, Chrisanne (2014). “Social media: How hospitals use it, and opportunities for future use”. Journal of healthcare management, v. 59, n. 6, pp. 447-461.
  • Sale, Joanna; Lohfeld, Lynne; Brazil, Kevin (2002). “Revisiting the quantitative-qualitative debate: Implications for mixed-methods research”. Quality and quantity, v. 36, n. 1, pp. 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014301607592
  • Sarasohn-Kahn, Jane (2008). The wisdom of patients: Health care meets online social media. California HealthCare Foundation. http://www.chcf.org/publications/2008/04/the-wisdom-ofpatients-health-care-meets-online-social-media
  • Saxton, Gregory; Waters, Richard (2014). “What do stakeholders like on Facebook? Examining public reactions to nonprofit organizations’ informational, promotional, and community-building messages”. Journal of public relations research, v. 26, n. 3, pp. 280-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2014.908721
  • Thackeray, Rosemary; Neiger, Brad; Smith, Amanda; Van-Wagenen, Sarah (2012). “Adoption and use of social media among public health departments”. BMC public health, v. 12, n. 1, pp. 242. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-242
  • Timian Alex; Rupcic, Sonia; Kachnowski, Stan; Luisi, Paloma (2013). “Do patients ‘like’ good care? Measuring hospital quality via Facebook”. American journal of medical quality, v. 28, n. 5, pp. 374-382. https://doi.org/10.1177/1062860612474839
  • Van-de-Belt, Tom; Berben, Sivera; Samsom, Melvin; Engelen, Lucien; Schoonhoven, Lisette (2012). “Use of social media by Western European hospitals: Longitudinal study”. Journal of medical internet research, v. 14, n. 3, e61. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1992
  • Vanzetta, Marina; Vellone, Ercole; Dal-Molin, Alberto; Rocco, Gennaro; De-Marinis, Maria-Grazia; Rosaria, Alvaro (2014). “Communication with the public in the health-care system: A descriptive study of the use of social media in local health authorities and public hospitals in Italy”. Annali dell’Istituto Superiore di Sanità, v. 50, n. 2, pp. 163-170. https://doi.org/10.4415/ANN_14_02_10
  • Wong, Charlene; Ostapovich, Gabrielle; Kramer-Golinkoff, Emily; Griffis, Heather; Asch, David; Merchant, Raina (2016). “How US children’s hospitals use social media: A mixed methods study”. Healthcare, v. 4, n. 1, pp. 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hjdsi.2015.12.004
  • Xifra, Jordi; Grau, Francesc (2010). “Nanoblogging PR: The discourse on public relations in Twitter”. Public relations review, v. 36, n. 2, pp. 171-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.02.005
Data source: Dialnet