The use of social media by arthritis health professionals to disseminate a self-management program to patients: A feasibility study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of Facebook as a dissemination strategy for the People Getting a Grip on Arthritis self-management program by arthritis health professionals to their patients. METHODS: The feasibility study comprised a single arm, pre-post design that included a convenience sample of 78 arthritis health professionals across Canada. Assessments were performed at baseline, two-weeks post-intervention, and at three-months follow-up using online questionnaires. The primary outcome measure was change in perceived usability of Facebook as a dissemination strategy for the People Getting a Grip on Arthritis program with patients at two-weeks post-intervention using an instrument based on an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model 2. Comparisons with baseline were assessed using t-test analyses. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements from baseline were seen for all items of the Technology Acceptance Model 2 domains: perceived ease of use (four items), intention to use (two items) and output quality (two items) domains. Variable results were seen for the job relevance, perceived usefulness, voluntariness, and result demonstrability domains of the Technology Acceptance Model 2. There were no statistically significant improvements for the subjective norm and image domains. CONCLUSIONS: Facebook may provide arthritis health professionals with an additional option of how to best share evidence-based information to allow their patients to successfully self-manage their arthritis.