Nickel Stefan, Bremer Katharina, Dierks Marie-Luise, Haack Marius, Wittmar Silke, Borgetto Bernhard, Kofahl Christopher
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Medical University Hanover, Germany.
Digit Health. 2022 Aug 22;8:20552076221120726. doi: 10.1177/20552076221120726. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Nowadays, much hope and expectations are associated with digitization in the health sector. The digital change also affects health-related self-help. A nationwide survey of self-help organizations (SHOs) aimed to show chances and limitations in the use of interactive IT tools like webforums, online meetings or social media as well as digital infrastructures for their organizational management. In this survey, we also determined whether SHO staff themselves have support and qualification needs with regard to this topic.
The online survey was conducted between 14 November and 8 December 2019, i.e., immediately before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The questionnaire consisted of 50 questions consisting of 180 single items which could be answered in 30-40 min. After two reminder letters, 119 questionnaires of the SHOs were gathered and analysed.
SHOs already have a lot of experience with digital media/tools (e.g., own homepage, social media, cloud computing). Some tools are attested a "high" or "very high" benefit by more than 80% of users. Perceived benefits, however, are also facing a number of problems, ranging from lack of resources to data protection issues. Despite, or even because of the limits of digitization, there is great desire and need for support and further training in SHOs (and self-help groups).
At many points in the survey it was shown that digital media can be a useful extension of "traditional" collective self-help. Taking into account the risks and limitations associated with digital tools, SHOs can be central stakeholders in digitization in health-related self-help.
The study was financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Health, Germany. A detailed representation of the results is publicly available at: https://www.uke.de/dish.
如今，卫生领域的数字化承载着诸多希望和期待。数字化变革也影响着与健康相关的自助行为。一项针对自助组织的全国性调查旨在展现使用网络论坛、在线会议或社交媒体等交互式信息技术工具以及用于组织管理的数字基础设施的机遇和局限。在这项调查中，我们还确定了自助组织的工作人员自身在该主题方面是否有支持和资质需求。
在线调查于2019年11月14日至12月8日进行，即恰好在新冠疫情爆发之前。问卷由50个问题组成，包含180个单项，可在30 - 40分钟内作答。在发出两封催复信后，收集并分析了119份自助组织的问卷。
自助组织在数字媒体/工具（如自有主页、社交媒体、云计算）方面已有很多经验。超过80%的用户认为某些工具具有“高”或“非常高”的益处。然而，所感知到的益处也面临诸多问题，从资源匮乏到数据保护问题不等。尽管存在数字化的局限，甚至正因如此，自助组织（以及自助团体）对支持和进一步培训有着强烈的渴望和需求。
调查在很多方面表明，数字媒体可以成为“传统”集体自助的有益延伸。考虑到与数字工具相关的风险和局限，自助组织可以成为健康相关自助领域数字化的核心利益相关者。
该研究由德国联邦卫生部提供资金支持。研究结果的详细报告可在以下网址公开获取：https://www.uke.de/dish 。
