Lawless Michael Thomas, Archibald Mandy, Pinero de Plaza Maria Alejandra, Drioli-Phillips Phoebe, Kitson Alison
Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia.
National Health and Medical Research Council Transdisciplinary Centre of Research Excellence in Frailty Research to Achieve Healthy Ageing, Adelaide, Australia.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Sep 14;9(9):e19834. doi: 10.2196/19834.
Online communities provide an environment in which people with similar health concerns can interact and access content that can support the self-management of long-term conditions (LTCs). Recently, the importance of online social networks as sources of health information and social support has been brought into focus with the emergence and widespread societal impacts of COVID-19. Although online communities exist for older adults, little is known about the specific health and self-care topics that older people discuss in such environments and how these relate to users' support needs and outcomes. A better understanding of users' needs and peer-to-peer communication in these communities is necessary to inform the design of information and communication technology (ICT) interventions that are relevant to older people and their peer supporters.
This study aims to use a two-phase, web-based ethnographic (netnography) and co-design approach to explore specific health care and self-care topics that older adults discuss in a UK-based online community and how peer supporters respond to these queries with informational and/or social support and engage with stakeholders to define the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions capable of reducing social isolation and facilitating LTC self-management support.
The first phase of the research will involve a qualitative netnographic analysis of posts in discussion forums in a publicly accessible online community. The second phase will involve co-design workshops with health care consumers (ie, older adults and carers) and service providers to determine the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions and digital innovations. Constructivist grounded theory will be used in the first phase; in the second phase, the co-design workshops will be audiorecorded and analyzed thematically.
This research project is in progress. Permission was obtained from the website administrator to use materials from the social media forum; data collection for the first phase began in April 2020. The second phase of the study is expected to begin in late 2020. This study is due to be completed by the end of 2021.
This study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to combine qualitative netnography with an iterative co-design framework to specify the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions. The findings from this study will inform the next phase of the multiphase knowledge translation project and will provide insights into the potential of online peer health communities to reduce social isolation and facilitate chronic illness self-management support and self-care.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/19834.
在线社区提供了一个环境，让有相似健康问题的人能够互动，并获取有助于长期病症自我管理的内容。最近，随着新冠疫情的出现及其广泛的社会影响，在线社交网络作为健康信息和社会支持来源的重要性受到了关注。虽然存在针对老年人的在线社区，但对于老年人在这类环境中讨论的具体健康和自我护理话题，以及这些话题与用户支持需求和结果之间的关系，我们知之甚少。为了设计出与老年人及其同伴支持者相关的信息通信技术（ICT）干预措施，有必要更好地了解这些社区中用户的需求和同伴间的交流情况。
本研究旨在采用两阶段的基于网络的人种志（网络民族志）和协同设计方法，探索英国一个在线社区中老年人讨论的具体医疗保健和自我护理话题，以及同伴支持者如何通过信息和/或社会支持来回应这些问题，并与利益相关者合作，确定能够减少社会隔离并促进长期病症自我管理支持的新型ICT干预措施的需求和要求。
研究的第一阶段将对一个可公开访问的在线社区讨论论坛中的帖子进行定性网络民族志分析。第二阶段将与医疗保健消费者（即老年人和护理人员）及服务提供商举办协同设计研讨会，以确定新型ICT干预措施和数字创新的需求和要求。第一阶段将采用建构主义扎根理论；第二阶段，协同设计研讨会将进行录音并进行主题分析。
本研究项目正在进行中。已获得网站管理员的许可，可使用社交媒体论坛的材料；第一阶段的数据收集于2020年4月开始。研究的第二阶段预计于2020年末开始。本研究预计于2021年底完成。
据我们所知，本研究首次将定性网络民族志与迭代协同设计框架相结合，以明确新型ICT干预措施的需求和要求。本研究的结果将为多阶段知识转化项目的下一阶段提供参考，并将深入了解在线同伴健康社区在减少社会隔离、促进慢性病自我管理支持和自我护理方面的潜力。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/19834
