Health Policy Researchers Don't Trust Use of Social Media for Disseminating Information

The Digital Age has spurred an unprecedented rise in the use of social media. Some major news outlets and organizations use various platforms to get their information out to the public, but health policy researchers lack the confidence to use them.

According to a new study conducted by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, only 14% of health policy researchers report using Twitter, 20% reported using blogs, and 20% reported using Facebook. A majority of these researchers (65%) reported using traditional media channels, such as press releases or media interviews.

The study, "Translating Research For Health Policy: Researchers' Perceptions And Use Of Social Media," was published in the journal Health Affairs. The Perelman School of Medicine study surveyed 215 health and health-policy researchers in order to gauge their use of social media, as those at medical journals, public health agencies, and health care organizations are increasing their use.

"Most health policy researchers are not using social media to communicate their research results, which could be a significant missed opportunity to expose a larger audience to important health news and findings," said David Grande, the lead author of the study, in a news release.

Many of those surveyed reported lacking the confidence to use social media to communicate their findings to the public because they felt that their academic peers and institutions don't hold social media in high regard as they do with traditional forms of media as well as direct contact with policy makers. However, a majority of the participants believed that social media would be an effective way to disseminate information.

Additionally, junior faculty members are more in favor of social media than their senior colleagues are. It's likely that these senior colleagues are the ones describing social media as "replete with opinion" and "junk," as documented in the study. But Grande found that when the participants were introduced to various social media tools and taught how to properly utilize them, many became more confident about their use.

With the current political discourse focusing heavily on health care, it can only help these health policy researchers to document their studies, findings, and other information via social media in order to reach a larger audience and educate more people more efficiently.