Lecture on "Virtual Communities and Online Support Groups in eHealth"

On March 6, 2013, Peter Meylakhs spoke at LINIS on "Virtual Communities and Online Support Groups in eHealth". The lecture was devoted to one of the many promising aspects of the development of eHealth, which is the availability of "equal to equal" virtual communities.

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On March 6, 2013, Peter Meylakhs spoke at LINIS on "Virtual Communities and Online Support Groups in eHealth". The lecture was devoted to one of the many promising aspects of the development of eHealth, which is the availability of "equal to equal" virtual communities. These are communities where people of mutual interests regarding health and sicknesses communicate online to exchange experiences, ask questions, and get emotional support and advice on self-help. Such virtual groups are also known as online support groups.

The presentation covered the six most important areas of online communities’ potential influence on health-related behaviour.

1. The search for information. Other people’s experience with illness can help decrease fears, increase self-confidence, and suggest or confirm a self-diagnosis or a doctor’s diagnosis by comparing one’s own symptoms with other people’s experience and knowledge.

2. Feeling supported. Sickness often comes with feelings of isolation and loneliness. A sickness can destroy or harm self-identity, and, in addition, some people feel embarrassed and ashamed because they are sick. Knowing that other people experience the same difficulties and learning how to deal with these problems can decrease the feeling of isolation and impart a feeling of belonging to a group, as well as help one believe that one’s own feelings, reactions, and experiences are ‘normal’.

3. Staying in touch with other people. Online support groups are not limited to relationships with people on the internet. Knowing that other people face similar problems can help an individual to feel ‘normal’ and deal with difficulties in other contexts, such as family, job, relationships, and travel. So, online support can lead to support and improved relationships offline.

4. Experience with health care services. Knowledge about the experience of other people who deal with health care services can influence the way people behave in this field. Such information can influence decisions on what clinic to go to, what doctors to consult, or the choice of what treatment to require, or, on the contrary, to decline.

5. Telling your own story. Construction and reconstruction of narratives can help people make sense of what has happened to them and, thus, support their emotional rehabilitation.

6. Influencing behaviour. People’s experiences and stories can be an important factor influencing behaviour, since real examples and live stories have a powerful impact that is sometimes stronger than hard facts and depersonalized medical information. The ‘equal to equal’ programmes work according to this principle, and that’s why this effect is visible in online communities.