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Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes

CONTEXT: The use of the internet for health information by those with long‐term conditions is growing. It has been argued that this represents a form of empowerment by patients, as it enables them to control the content and flow of the information available to them. To explore this, the use of onlin...

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Autores principales: Brady, Ellen, Segar, Julia, Sanders, Caroline
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5600220/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28718928
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hex.12552
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author Brady, Ellen
Segar, Julia
Sanders, Caroline
author_facet Brady, Ellen
Segar, Julia
Sanders, Caroline
author_sort Brady, Ellen
collection PubMed
description CONTEXT: The use of the internet for health information by those with long‐term conditions is growing. It has been argued that this represents a form of empowerment by patients, as it enables them to control the content and flow of the information available to them. To explore this, the use of online discussion groups by those with diabetes was examined. METHOD: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants with type 1 and 2 diabetes and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants were recruited via online and offline routes, namely discussion boards, newsletters, and research networks related to diabetes. RESULTS: By drawing on the advice, information, and support shared online, participants were empowered to position themselves as active participants in their own health care and to further engage with health‐care professionals. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that forums can play a valuable role in aiding and motivating individuals in the daily management diabetes and highlight how this support is used to complement formal health services. However, more work needs to be carried out to determine to explore when and under what circumstances online support may be particularly beneficial to those with long‐term conditions.
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spelling pubmed-56002202017-10-01 Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes Brady, Ellen Segar, Julia Sanders, Caroline Health Expect Original Research Papers CONTEXT: The use of the internet for health information by those with long‐term conditions is growing. It has been argued that this represents a form of empowerment by patients, as it enables them to control the content and flow of the information available to them. To explore this, the use of online discussion groups by those with diabetes was examined. METHOD: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants with type 1 and 2 diabetes and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants were recruited via online and offline routes, namely discussion boards, newsletters, and research networks related to diabetes. RESULTS: By drawing on the advice, information, and support shared online, participants were empowered to position themselves as active participants in their own health care and to further engage with health‐care professionals. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that forums can play a valuable role in aiding and motivating individuals in the daily management diabetes and highlight how this support is used to complement formal health services. However, more work needs to be carried out to determine to explore when and under what circumstances online support may be particularly beneficial to those with long‐term conditions. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017-07-18 2017-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5600220/ /pubmed/28718928 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hex.12552 Text en © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research Papers
Brady, Ellen
Segar, Julia
Sanders, Caroline
Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title_full Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title_fullStr Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title_full_unstemmed Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title_short Accessing support and empowerment online: The experiences of individuals with diabetes
title_sort accessing support and empowerment online: the experiences of individuals with diabetes
topic Original Research Papers
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5600220/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28718928
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hex.12552
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