Dr. Google

The use of social media is extremely prevalent among the general public. A public that includes everyone. Individuals are now counselling social media platforms to curb their anxieties as it relates to healthcare treatment and experienced symptoms. As a healthcare professional I see benefits and challenges to the use of social media. Benefits include a well informed patient/family that has scope for the topic at hand. The challenge however, is persistence and using social media related information to challenge healthcare professionals and their experience. Healthcare delivery has been prioritized towards patient and family centred, however greater trust and reassurance appears to come from social media platforms of support and allegiance.

Coleman et al. (2018) investigated the 'Dr. Google' phenomenon with a group of 51 Orthognathic surgery patients. 53% of the group said they consulted social media prior to medical expertise and 89% thereafter trusted information from medical professionals on social media platform. Ultimately, they responded that information from social media made them less anxious.

Source:

Coleman, Walker, Kerai, van der Valk & Thomas. (2018). #JAW surgery: Analysis of social media use in orthognathic surgery patient. The British Dental Journal. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2018.266