How social media is an ally in fight against cancer
Back to my favourite topic today – the power of social media to connect, educate and support. On a personal level, I could talk about this topic ad infinitum, but I was delighted to recently come across an article which backs up my opinions.
Earlier this year, Karen Paterson writing in Cure Today magazine went so far as to say that in the “realm of cancer support, social media websites…are no less revolutionary than, say, X-rays were for medical imaging: The new technology has changed everything.”
A pretty powerful statement wouldn’t you say? Would you agree with this? I certainly would and there are many others who do too, like Heidi Adams, founder of Planet Cancer, a social and informational site for young adults with cancer.
“The Internet in general and, more recently, social media are really what led to the whole young adult movement,” says Adams “Prior to 2000 there really wasn’t any way for this fragmented patient population to find each other and connect. Planet Cancer was created as an online home to connect patients…The opportunity to share resources, advice, and encouragement is something that can be incredibly empowering for a cancer patient.”
And it is not just patients themselves who are accessing information online. A great many are using the web to gather information on behalf of family and friends. One key attraction is that any person, anywhere—whether they are a patient, survivor, caregiver, family member, or friend—can find someone else in similar circumstances. They appreciate the convenience of being able to seek information at any hour, the fact that they can get a wealth of information online, and the fact that they can do research anonymously.
Similarly, social media can be an important outreach tool for individual health care providers. “Everybody agrees that social media and the Internet are becoming very important in terms of public health issues,” says John Mack, executive editor and publisher of Pharma Marketing News and Pharma Marketing Blog. “It’s where people now go to first when they’re trying to find out about medical conditions, even before they talk to their doctor.”
Anas Younes, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, uses Facebook and Twitter, along with the video site YouTube, to communicate with anyone interested in receiving information about lymphoma or other cancers. For instance, his first YouTube piece for M.D. Anderson, on novel therapies for Hodgkin lymphoma, has had more than 12,000 views and led to an increase in referrals to the cancer center, Younes says. “You can reach people whom you don’t reach using standard communications tools,” he says.
Well I don’t need any more convincing of the power and influence of social media to inspire, inform, empower and build a very unique community among cancer survivors. People are sharing and critiquing what they find. If they don’t find what they need, they are creating it. I am witness to it on a daily basis, but I did enjoy reading this article as further proof. How about you? What are your thoughts on how health is becoming social? Has it helped you as a cancer survivor or carer? Share your thoughts here.
Related Posts
The importance of social media to non-profits
Another great post Marie! I absolutely agree with what you have said about the power of social media to connect, etc.
Sharing our experiences takes the stigma out of having cancer. Saying it out loud and knowing others understand exactly what you are talking about help take away so much of the fear. Thanks for providing a space here for us to do this.
LikeLike
On another point, I am happy to see you reporting that some doctors are now going online. I find it deeply disturbing that in an age when more people are going online to access medical information first doctors are losing control of the online message. As you pointed out in a previous post doctors “need to serve.. as interpreters of data, and be willing to separate the tangible information from the increasing amount of noise patients find online.”
LikeLike
Well said Adele. I absolutely agree with you – doctors should go online if that is is where their patients are seeking out information. We need the benefit of their professional experience.
LikeLike
The knowledge that women are not alone in their fight can be a great source of strength and courage and I have found that to be true in my own use of social media.
LikeLike
Blogs like yours are terrific too in providing information and helping us feel less isolated and more connected in our survivorship.
LikeLike
Absolutely true. I was lucky to have been able to connect with a great bunch of online friends when I was going through my treatment and it made all the difference to me.
LikeLike
Absolutely I agree 100%. While helping my father with his battle I looked to my twitter account more than once for answers about his cancer and I am happy to say many came to my rescue and offered their help with answers to my questions. I am a big believer in the power of social media. It was been a wealth of not only information to me but also a wealth of friendships to me.
Another great post!
LikeLike
I find blogs like yours a wonderful resource in the post treatment phase.There is very little out there about what it’s like to go through this, compared to the mountains of information and blogs on the treatment phase. I am so grateful that I’ve found it. Thanks for all you do.
LikeLike
I joined your community on Facebook and I am so impressed by the wonderful people I am meeting there! it is a great extension of the blog -thanks for all that you do for us cancer survivors
LikeLike
I am really enjoying your blog and your facebook page – i am learning so much and feel a great sense of sisterhood and support there. Keep up the good work!
LikeLike
Really enjoyed reading this post today.
LikeLike
Great post!
Social media allows patient speaking, reaching each other, sharing specific knowledge: inside real life. It allows also speaking truth which is sometimes different from the healthcare professionals’ or offical communications’. Because we became active patients, we became also a little activists.
LikeLike
I love what Cathie has said here – Because we became active patients, we became also a little activists. Marvellous comment!
LikeLike
The Internet is where most of us turn for information after we or a loved one’s been diagnosed. Social media is literally life-saving! When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, most of the info on the Internet was either technical journals or diary type blogs women used to keep friends and family posted about their progress. Their was no good source for how to get through treatment, alive, or how to find your new normal when it was over. That is exactly why I started BreastCancerSisterhood.com. To give women and their families Survivorship skills.
Marie, your site and mine, are what I wish I’d found when I was diagnosed. Social media is a life line to these families. Knowledge is power and we have more power and the ability to make good decisions about our health care when we have the right information.
Hooray for social media!
Brenda
LikeLike
Social media is also one of my favorite topics Marie. When I first started out on my BC journey I didn’t know what social media was. I was desperate for some friendship with people who could relate to what I was going through I found your site and the rest is history. I have connected with your friendship encouragement and support is a way that has made all the difference for me.
Through you I have also made several good friends via blogs and FB. I am not sure how much I would value blogging with a doctor in that I don’t have much trust in the medical profession. (I know that sounds like a personal issue and that it is) I have learned that we must as patients check and double check what is being told to us.
Anyway..great post lil blog sis 🙂
LikeLike
I loved this post and all the comments!
LikeLike
Oh I’d be lost without my blogging sisters – they are the only ones who really “get” me!
LikeLike
I too would be lost without the online support I am lucky enough to be able to access – thank God for broadband!
LikeLike
Blogs like yours have been a fantastic way to connect with like-minded people and make the cancer journey that be easier and less lonely
LikeLike
I like leaving comments on people’s blogs. I was amazed when I started commenting that it really did start to drive traffic back to my site and, more importantly, started to establish relationships with people. It’s a lot of fun and there are amazing people out there to meet.
LikeLike
I think you know I am totally on board with the power of social media to change lives. Finding you and the twisters on twitter made being a cancer survivor more survivable. You are my support group, something I never could find close to home. And the tendrils continue to reach out to many through facebook and blogging. It is such an important part of my life I have to remind myself that not everyone feels that way, or is familiar with the power and useful nature of social media to bring people together.
Love, Deb xxx
LikeLike
Pingback: Michael Douglas amazed by support « Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer
Pingback: Using social networking to promote social good « Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer
Pingback: How social health networks will change medicine in 2012 «
Pingback: Interview with founder of “I have breast cancer” project « Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer
What a great post–and one I find perfectly fascinating. I just did research on the importance of connections in healing (see http://wp.me/p22afJ-Ep if you’re interested) but in all my findings–on the importance of connections to plants, to pets, to friends–I never thought out virtual connections. Thank you for bringing this interesting aspect to my attenion.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for dropping by Candida and sharing this link – I will be really interested to read about your research.
LikeLike