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1. Patient strategies for healthcare management
Overcoming a health issue is a challenging and emotional process. These challenges include lack knowledge about an illness, a specialist not conveying the dangers of the illness in a comprehensible format, and feeling emotionally vulnerable due to loss of control. Oftentimes, an individual may turn to friends or family for information and advice on how to cope. Alternatively, they may now turn toward a variety of Web 2.0 technologies to better understand illnesses, treatment options, and potential healthcare providers ([53] Nambisan, 2011).
Social media and associated Web 2.0 technologies are fundamentally changing the way individuals manage their healthcare and chronic conditions. Increasingly, people look to the internet for information and guidance on conditions, treatment alternatives, and experiences of others suffering from similar conditions ([81] Yang et al. , 2011). In fact, a 2011 Harris Interactive Poll indicates that nearly 74 percent of all adults have searched online for health-related information, with 90 percent indicating this information was reliable and 57 percent incorporated this information into their discussions with medical professionals ([69] Taylor, 2012). Online health communities represent a growing means of connecting individuals with similar conditions, facilitating sharing of information and experiences, and linking patients with healthcare providers.
Online health communities are a specialized subset of online communities. Online communities consist of large, geographically dispersed groups of individuals who may or may not know each other, but share a common interest ([9] Brown and Duguid, 2001; [75] Wasko and Faraj, 2005). Through a shared communication medium, online communities facilitate the formation of relationships between and among community members and the subsequent creation and exchange of knowledge, ideas, and interpretations ([9] Brown and Duguid, 2001; [18] Chiu et al. , 2006; [75] Wasko and Faraj, 2005). For members of a community, their perceived benefits from participation are unique and ultimately lead to a variety of individual-level outcomes ([52] Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). For some, the benefits are realized in the form of increased knowledge relevant to a particular topic ([14] Butler, 2001; [75] Wasko and Faraj, 2005; [76] Wathieu et al. , 2002), while others benefit from feeling emotionally supported ([77] Wellman, 1990).
Within numerous industries, online communities are established with the sole intention of providing a means through which...