Methodological Theory Qualitative and Qualitative Research Methods Paper Example

Introduction

The healthcare sector has become dynamic over the past few decades; it has become an ever-changing environment. The vast changes that take place in the information communication technology have created the driving force in how the health care is supposed to be provided and consumed. The social media technology, which is one of the greatest communication technologies has been shaping the landscape of healthcare delivery as it helps to create efficiency and opportunities for the consumer health benefits since it helps to support decision making between the providers and the patients (Srof & Velsor-Friedrich, 2006). As a result providing personalized consumer self-management resources and tools, thus creating reliable social support networks for the consumers as well as the providers and enable the delivery of accessible health information that is tailored or targeted by the consumers.

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These technological advances are very promising. However, the effects of electronic communication modalities in healthcare and support delivery are not fully understood. Maybe it might be a misfortune in disguise, nobody knows. The mediums are efficient in representing a technological transformation of professional and social relationships and communications environments, whose impacts are yet to be fully understood in the health care industry (Speedie and Davies, 2006).

Healthcare efforts and reforms for the cost-containment and mitigation of the financial burden of some chronic health conditions have triggered the government to seek more information into the usage of the socio media technology as well as the mobile health technology as a possible alternative and modality in the delivery of healthcare. Development initiatives in the healthcare industry are underway with the intentions of creating uniform standards of use, with a common framework and a technology that can support them. The e-health tools are of great interest to the health policy makers in their quest to the participation of the patients in personal health outcomes, reduce the cost of healthcare, improve care experience and quality, and provide the consumers with the necessary resources which can help to manage health on their own (Speedie and Davies, 2006). Initiatives are underway for the development of a regulatory and legal infrastructure which can support integration, a lot of work is being done in the in policy development surrounding which concerns with the consumer liability and confidentiality protection for the providers.

The increase in the number of the healthcare consumers has engaged in accessing health information by the use of the socio media technology, which has also given them an opportunity to participate in the evolution taking place in the field of communication technologies.

Significance and background

The changing health care landscape

Significant changes are taking place in the interaction between the health care consumers and the health care providers concerning health care utilization and access of the health information technology, and the shift of paradigm from the traditional disease management to health-promotion, prevention and patient-centered innovation in the landscape of healthcare. The 2001 Institute of medicine dabbed had care inclusions for the patients as one of its six dimensions that underlie the provision of quality care.

The federal government has taken the issue upon themselves to sign on the initiatives that will lead to an increase in mass usage of the of the health information technology by the consumers and the healthcare providers. With the creation of the Office of the Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), the e-human service and the department health in the United States, the strategic platform for the federal government enabled it to exercise leadership in health policies that are associated with the human information technology. The 2010 ACT of patient protection and affordable care together with the 2009 ACT of American recovery and reinvestment create a provision for measurement, direction, and finance in support of these endeavors with the allocation of funds on the upgrading of health information technology.

The topic of health and socio media is a form of two intersecting fast evolving ecosystems which are technology and health. The acceptance of socio media to facilitate activities such as data collecting in the healthcare sector has seen remarkable growth in a country that was adamant and slow in the adoption of health information technology (Srof & Velsor-Friedrich, 2006). The exploration of using socio media in healthcare delivery to populations has been gaining significant national momentum and strategies that are relative to utilization are in use by the health providers with the aims of achieving their objectives.

Literature review

The primary objective of the literature review is to establish the significance of giving responses to the questions that follow.

From the perspective that the health care providers have, what are the significant benefits of socio media in delivering healthcare?

The additional significance is to relate the research is to link the study to the ongoing discussions in the literature on the issue of the utilization of socio media technology in delivering health care. Besides the questions to be addressed, research was used in the development and refining the concepts of the topic that in extension have not received the attention needed to be thoroughly examined and understood regarding the current literature and knowledge in the identification of gaps in current understanding of these concepts.

Literature Search methodology

The literature review for the study should be conducted by the use of the database of Montana State University Library Cumulative Index to Allied and Nursing Health Literature (CINAHL). The key searches in the study are as follows: socio media, the healthcare consumer, healthcare providers, and healthcare delivery. The study will also make use of the aggregated research surveys that were conducted from 2009 to 2013 by some of the leading research foundations which were based on socio media and internet utilization to describe some of the key terms such as e-healthcare consumers.

Searches and key terms

The CINAHL makes one to undertsand the term socio media and its new relationship with healthcare provision, and the publication is dated 2012 which indicated that the source could be reliable for this research proposal. In addition to that, the same source also contained valuable information on the usability of socio media by the healthcare providers to collect data as well as getting feedback from the patients.

Summary of the articles

Social media

Schoonhoven, Engelen, Berben, and Van De Belt (2010) gave a systematic review of the definition of medicine and health that was identified in the various interpretation of socio media in more than 45 articles of medicine and health publications. Nonetheless, there were variations in the literature in the meaning of the term socio media. According to McGowan et al., (2012) he referred to the applications and socio media websites as the online environments which enable its users to explore, contribute as well as retrieve primary information that has been generated by the followers. However, Eckler et al., (2011), described the socio media as being a tool for socializing and interacting with diverse people from all corners of the world through the use of the internet.

Eckler et al., (2010), on his take on socio media and healthcare consumers, indicated that socio media is comprised of the largest share of the time of the internet users and its utilization trends has been on the rise with an estimate of 74% of the internet users. In the United States alone, blogging sites and socio network is the better part of their time. A large number of the consumers of socio media give room for impetus exploration on the need and extent on which the socio media can influence health care delivery and data collection by the medical practitioners for record keeping and statistics.

A large group of the consumers of the online health information stand a better chance of accessing the user-generated health information since socio media helps to provide real-time or tailored information which is an excellent challenge to the health professionals which will force them to think differently in regard to how they pass and communicate with their patients (Fox & Jones, 2009). Further, Thackeray & Neiger, (2009), indicated that there had been a shift in communication from unidirectional to multidirectional since the consumers of healthcare products have been using socio media a lot in seeking, creating and sharing health information.

The unidirectional way of communication refers to the up and down communication process which now has become absolute, where the senders mostly the professional would use the print media to convey information and the consumer of the report had no chance of giving their viewers back to the sender.

Kahn, (2010) in his works indicates that the increasing trends in the usage of the smartphones which is an innovation of the digital mobile technology among the healthcare providers and consumers have brought with it a significant transformation in the healthcare sector. The healthcare providers can send videos, documents, and images to pass the intended information and can go viral in a matter of minutes reaching to thousands of the targeted group. Socio media has made it easy and efficient in passing warning of possible health risks and giving information on what the health care consumers should do in case they are in certain conditions.

Cybercitizen Health U.S is an annual research study that is conducted in Manhattan with the objective of syndicating advisory services while benchmarking on how the health care consumers benefit on using the internet, social media and other technologies for health. According to the study, there was an increase in e-health consumers over the years. This has been due to the awareness of the benefits that are associated with socio media which can be beneficial to their health and wellbeing (Srof & Velsor-Friedrich, 2006). Health videos on Facebook have tremendously increased view age and subscription indicating that more people across the globe have become more receptive of the benefits that socio media brings. Medical practitioners also form a good percentage of those watching and looking for health information and sources in their quest to increase their technology and make them better skills while delivering health services to the patients. The media has dramatically changed the health care depeartment, and a lot is yet to come since the benefits are countless.

Gaps and opportunities

The rise in adoption of the social networking in various sectors of the society is a suggestion that a significant number of the health consumers have better access to the socio media tools which serves their needs in health care (Sidorov, 2010). The literature review in this paper has indicated that the prevalence of social media technology usage among health care consumers has been on the rise. However, there is a minimal study done on the utilization of the socio media technology by the healthcare providers.

Martinasek et al., (2011) indicates that using social media in the United States has been prolific. This suggests that there are great opportunities that exist to take advantage of health education opportunities through media's technology. The primary objective of the literature review in this pap...