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The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication

INTRODUCTION: Online peer-to-peer social support programs are based on the premise that support from others who have been through a similar experience can help reduce the negative impacts of disease. Such support programs are increasingly found online, but how these conversations translate into real...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Burke-Garcia, Amelia, Wright, Kevin B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6205338/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30402209
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2018.10.001
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author Burke-Garcia, Amelia
Wright, Kevin B.
author_facet Burke-Garcia, Amelia
Wright, Kevin B.
author_sort Burke-Garcia, Amelia
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Online peer-to-peer social support programs are based on the premise that support from others who have been through a similar experience can help reduce the negative impacts of disease. Such support programs are increasingly found online, but how these conversations translate into real world interactions about health concerns is currently not well understood. METHODS: Grounded in social network theory, this formative study explored how participants in an online prostate cancer community comprised of patients and their families translate their online conversations into offline ones. A survey was designed and fielded, and received 157 complete responses. RESULTS: Results support prior research findings that these offline conversations are primarily information-oriented (n = 105) and extend them by the finding that members of online prostate cancer social support communities do, in fact, share information obtained online with others offline (n = 103). Family members appear to be primary receivers of this information (n = 121) while health care providers are not, which may impact treatment and care. CONCLUSIONS: The opportunity to tie more concretely online messages with offline conversations is of critical importance and interest. Recommendations are presented for future research.
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spelling pubmed-62053382018-11-06 The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication Burke-Garcia, Amelia Wright, Kevin B. Comput Struct Biotechnol J Research Article INTRODUCTION: Online peer-to-peer social support programs are based on the premise that support from others who have been through a similar experience can help reduce the negative impacts of disease. Such support programs are increasingly found online, but how these conversations translate into real world interactions about health concerns is currently not well understood. METHODS: Grounded in social network theory, this formative study explored how participants in an online prostate cancer community comprised of patients and their families translate their online conversations into offline ones. A survey was designed and fielded, and received 157 complete responses. RESULTS: Results support prior research findings that these offline conversations are primarily information-oriented (n = 105) and extend them by the finding that members of online prostate cancer social support communities do, in fact, share information obtained online with others offline (n = 103). Family members appear to be primary receivers of this information (n = 121) while health care providers are not, which may impact treatment and care. CONCLUSIONS: The opportunity to tie more concretely online messages with offline conversations is of critical importance and interest. Recommendations are presented for future research. Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology 2018-10-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6205338/ /pubmed/30402209 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2018.10.001 Text en © 2018 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research Article
Burke-Garcia, Amelia
Wright, Kevin B.
The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title_full The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title_fullStr The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title_full_unstemmed The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title_short The “Real World”? Effects of Online Communication about Prostate Cancer on Offline Communication
title_sort “real world”? effects of online communication about prostate cancer on offline communication
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6205338/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30402209
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2018.10.001
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