Atanasova Sara, Kamin Tanja, Petrič Gregor
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Methodology and Informatics, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Social Psychology, Kardeljeva pl. 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Int J Med Inform. 2017 Feb;98:13-21. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2016.11.005. Epub 2016 Nov 24.
Various online applications and service has led to the development of online health communities (OHCs), which in addition to the peer-to-peer communication offer patients and other users also interaction with health professionals. While the benefits and challenges of patients and other users' participation in OHCs have been extensively studied, a thorough examination of how health professionals as moderators (i.e., those who provide clinical expertise to patients and other users in OHCs) experience participation in OHCs is lacking.
The aim of this study is to explore the main benefits and challenges of health professional moderators' participation in the OHCs.
The study undertakes an exploratory qualitative study, with in-depth semi-structured interviews with health professional moderators (n=7) participating in the largest OHC in Slovenia, Med.Over.Net. The data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis approach and principles of grounded theory.
Four themes of health professional moderators' experiences were identified: (a) benefits of addressing OHC users' health-related needs, (b) challenges of addressing OHC users' health-related needs, (c) health professional moderators' benefits, and (d) health professional moderators' challenges.
This small study demonstrates that health professional participating in OHCs as moderators perceive themselves as facilitators of patients and other OHC's users empowering processes and outcomes, in which OHC's users improve their health literacy, develop skills, expand their social support, and gain other important resources necessary when dealing with health-related issues. Health professional moderator's role, however, also involves several duties, responsibilities and limitations that are often experienced as difficulties in providing patients and other users with adequate counselling and online medical service. OHCs also represent an important terrain for personal and professional empowerment of health professional moderators, although the presence of disempowering processes also needs to be noted.
各种在线应用程序和服务推动了在线健康社区（OHC）的发展，除了点对点交流外，还为患者和其他用户提供了与健康专业人员互动的机会。虽然患者和其他用户参与在线健康社区的益处和挑战已得到广泛研究，但对于作为版主（即在在线健康社区中为患者和其他用户提供临床专业知识的人员）的健康专业人员如何体验参与在线健康社区，仍缺乏全面的研究。
本研究旨在探讨健康专业版主参与在线健康社区的主要益处和挑战。
本研究采用探索性定性研究方法，对参与斯洛文尼亚最大的在线健康社区Med.Over.Net的健康专业版主（n = 7）进行深入的半结构化访谈。数据采用归纳主题分析方法和扎根理论原则进行分析。
确定了健康专业版主体验的四个主题：（a）满足在线健康社区用户健康相关需求的益处，（b）满足在线健康社区用户健康相关需求的挑战，（c）健康专业版主的益处，以及（d）健康专业版主的挑战。
这项小型研究表明，作为版主参与在线健康社区的健康专业人员将自己视为患者和其他在线健康社区用户赋权过程及结果的促进者，在这个过程中，在线健康社区用户提高了健康素养、培养了技能、扩大了社会支持，并获得了处理健康相关问题所需的其他重要资源。然而，健康专业版主的角色也涉及多项职责、责任和限制，在为患者和其他用户提供充分的咨询和在线医疗服务时，这些往往会带来困难。在线健康社区也是健康专业版主个人和职业赋权的重要领域，不过也需要注意存在的去权过程。
