Social Media Research and Practice in the Health Domain

Luis Fernandez-Luque, PhD, Ingmar Weber, PhD,
Qatar Computing Research Institute, Doha, Qatar

Abstract

The use of social media in the health domain started in the late 90s and its use has exploded in recent years. Today, the Internet is being used by millions of people to discuss, share and learn about their health concerns. It has become a major communication channel used by over one third of the mankind, transforming the way professionals and patients embrace the health issues. The health-related data generated by millions of Internet users is being used for public health monitoring. Hospitals, professionals and policy makers are using social media for many different purposes. Furthermore, mobile health apps are being integrated with social media to increase peer support and engagement. Analyzing public discussions on Twitter and other social media on diseases such as flu epidemics or the current Zika outbreak is becoming a common tool for public health researchers. Social media also looks particularly promising for tracking lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, as a population’s activity patterns and interests can often be inferred. Not everything is positive, for example, the anti-vaccination “movement” spreads rumors using social media hampering vaccination campaigns that save lives.

This tutorial is aiming at providing an overview of the research foundations regarding the use social media in the health domain. Participants will get familiarized with the latest trends, methods and best practices in the use of social media in the health domain. The learning will be focused on study cases, we will show examples of where social media can be used to track disease, to learn about medicine and health, and to intervene to improve individual health. We will also explore how social media can be used for knowledge management, research communication among healthcare researchers. The participants will learn i) the evolution of the research in the area, ii) the different types of health social media research, iii) ethical and privacy challenges and iv) how to use social media to advance healthcare education and reputation.

Learning Objectives

After the workshop, the participants will be better able to:

Identify socio-ethical challenges when conducting health social media research.
Analyze technical challenges and limitations for the use of social media in the health domain.
Compare different approaches for the evaluation health interventions using social media.

Structure of the Workshop

The expected duration is three hours. The first part will provide an introduction to the field followed by study cases, mainly from the literature. The second part will be designed to identify the main challenges ahead in this area of research. Finally, for the third part we will divide in groups and discuss in each of them the main challenges. Then we will reconvene to open the room for a common session of discussion and brainstorming. For each of the following topics in the session we have preselected 30 papers to be used as learning material for the different topics and examples, which include lifestyle and behavioral change (1–9), disease and drug surveillance (10–13), patient empowerment and self-management (14–21), ethical issues and harmful health social media (22–24), technical aspects and future trends (25–28).

Workshop Schedule

Time	Topic
9:00am – 9:45am	Introduction (45 minutes – Luis Fernandez-Luque) Two decades of research: the history of health social media research The application of Social Media in the Health Domain
9:45am – 10:20am	Data and Technical Challenges (45 minutes –Ingmar Weber) Data Sources for Health Social Media Research Modeling and Data mining in Health Social Media Health Social Media for Big Data and Precision Medicine
10:20am – 10:35am	Coffee Break
10:35am – 11:15am	Evaluation, Efficacy, and Ethics (45 minutes – Luis Fernandez-Luque) Participatory Health with Social Media Evaluation, evidence and the bias of social media Social Media for Health Researchers and Practitioners Ethical issues
11:15am – 12noon	Short Discussion and Brainstorming (45 mins – All participates, moderated Luis Fernandez-Luque) Discussion and brainstorming about open questions and future challenges

Methods and participant engagement:

Interactivity: Interactivity is essential for learning in this multidisciplinary area. The presenters have extensive experience in arranging lectures, panels and discussions in multidisciplinary environments. Group dynamics during the brainstorming session will be arranged to identify the main challenges for research in this area.