--- abstract: "This short report highlights patients' increasing use of the Internet and online social networking technologies to seek health information, and the consequences of gaining information from sites with biased or inaccurate health information. Reflecting on the utility of online social networking technologies for reaching large audiences, practical advice is listed for how health providers can use these technologies to improve the quality of health information that patients receive over the Internet. We recommend that health providers use online social networking technologies to communicate with patients and health information consumers and direct them to reputable sources with accurate health information. We outline the steps to this approach." altloc: - http://www.ojhas.org/issue38/2011-2-2.htm chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: - sdyoung@mednet.ucla.edu creators_name: - family: Young given: SD honourific: '' lineage: '' date: 2011-07-30 date_type: published datestamp: 2012-11-09 17:37:21 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/79/53 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: 0 edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: - BS Kakkilaya editors_name: - family: Kakkilaya given: Srinivas honourific: Dr lineage: ~ eprint_status: archive eprintid: 7953 fileinfo: application/pdf;http://cogprints.org/7953/1/2011%2D2%2D2.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: ~ item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: Online social networking technologies; Online sources of health information; Practical advice lastmod: 2012-11-09 17:37:21 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 2 pagerange: ~ pubdom: TRUE publication: Online Journal of Health and Allied Sciences publisher: BS Kakkilaya refereed: TRUE referencetext: "1.\tGrandinetti DA. Doctors and the Web. Help your patients surf the Net safely. Med Econ. 2000 Mar 6;77(5):186-8, 194-6, 201.\r\n2.\tCline RJW, Haynes KM. Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art. Health Educ Res 2001;16:671-92.\r\n3.\tHorrigan JB. The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science. Pew Internet & American Life Project. 2006. Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2006/PIP_Exploratorium_Science.pdf.pdf\r\n4.\tThe social life of health information. 2009. (Accessed June 1, 2010, at http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx)\r\n5.\tFacebook. 2010. (Accessed May 20, 2010, at www.facebook.com)\r\n6.\tEysenbach G, Powell J, Kuss O, Sa E-R. Empirical Studies Assessing the Quality of Health Information for Consumers on the World Wide Web: A Systematic Review. JAMA 2002;287:2691-700.\r\n7.\tCoombes R. Vaccine Disputes. BMJ 2009;338:b2435.\r\n8.\tFlanagan-Klygis EA, Sharp L, Frader JE. Dismissing the Family Who Refuses Vaccines: A Study of Pediatrician Attitudes. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005;159:929-934.\r\n9.\tScanfeld D, Scanfeld V, Larson EL. Dissemination of health information through social networks: Twitter and antibiotics. American Journal of Infection Control 2010;38:182-188.\r\n10.\tEysenbach G, Köhler C. How do consumers search for and appraise health information on the world wide web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests, and in-depth interviews. BMJ 2002;324:573-577.\r\n11.\tRobinson T, Patrick K, Eng T, Gustafson D. An evidence-based approach to interactive health communication: A challenge to medicine in the information age. JAMA 1998;280:1264-1269.\r\n12.\tJain SH. Practicing Medicine in the Age of Facebook. N Engl J Med 2009;361:649-651.\r\n13.\tTop 15 Most Popular Health Websites: October 2010. 2010. (Accessed at http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/health-websites)\r\n14.\tFarrell J. Social media for health care professionals. In: Business Bits; 2008. Available at http://blog.business-bits.com/?p=12" relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 8 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2012-01-24 11:34:07 subjects: - OJHAS succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: Recommendations for Using Online Social Networking Technologies to Reduce Inaccurate Online Health Information type: journale userid: 4338 volume: 10