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Author: Brian S McGowan, PhD

ABSTRACT: Ethical considerations in using Facebook for health care support: a case study using concussion management

Social networking sites (SNS) are now part of everyday life, and SNSs such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are among the most accessed Web sites on the Internet. Although SNSs are primarily used for staying in touch with friends and family, they are increasingly being used for health-related purposes for a variety of conditions, including concussion awareness. As health interventions begin to be more commonly provided through SNSs (particularly Facebook), ethical issues have been raised with regard to confidentiality, privacy, and trust; these issues need to be addressed. This article outlines some of the key considerations when providing a concussion intervention through Facebook and discusses potential solutions to these issues.

via Ethical considerations in using Facebook for health car… [PM R. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

MANUSCRIPT: Identifying Measures Used for Assessing Quality of YouTube Videos with Patient Health Information: A Review of Current Literature.

BACKGROUND:
Recent publications on YouTube have advocated its potential for patient education. However, a reliable description of what could be considered quality information for patient education on YouTube is missing.
OBJECTIVE:
To identify topics associated with the concept of quality information for patient education on YouTube in the scientific literature.
METHODS:
A literature review was performed in MEDLINE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and PsychINFO. Abstract selection was first conducted by two independent reviewers; discrepancies were discussed in a second abstract review with two additional independent reviewers. Full text of selected papers were analyzed looking for concepts, definitions, and topics used by its authors that focused on the quality of information on YouTube for patient education.
RESULTS:
In total, 456 abstracts were extracted and 13 papers meeting eligibility criteria were analyzed. Concepts identified related to quality of information for patient education are categorized as expert-driven, popularity-driven, or heuristic-driven measures. These include (in descending order): (1) quality of content in 10/13 (77%), (2) view count in 9/13 (69%), (3) health professional opinion in 8/13 (62%), (4) adequate length or duration in 6/13 (46%), (5) public ratings in 5/13 (39%), (6) adequate title, tags, and description in 5/13 (39%), (7) good description or a comprehensive narrative in 4/13 (31%), (8) evidence-based practices included in video in 4/13 (31%), (9) suitability as a teaching tool in 4/13 (31%), (10) technical quality in 4/13 (31%), (11) credentials provided in video in 4/13 (31%), (12) enough amount of content to identify its objective in 3/13 (23%), and (13) viewership share in 2/13 (15%).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our review confirms that the current topics linked to quality of information for patient education on YouTube are unclear and not standardized. Although expert-driven, popularity-driven, or heuristic-driven measures are used as proxies to estimate the quality of video information, caution should be applied when using YouTube for health promotion and patient educational material.

via Identifying Measures Used for Assessing Q… [Interact J Med Res. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: YouTube: A good source of information on pediatric tonsillectomy?

OBJECTIVE:
To investigate YouTube as a patient information source on pediatric tonsillectomy.
METHODS:
YouTube was searched on July 31, 2012 for the search terms pediatric tonsillectomy (PT), tonsillectomy (T) and tonsil surgery (TS). Non-English videos were excluded. Two physician reviewers independently assessed the videos for characteristics, usefulness, and information source. Usefulness was assessed according to a checklist developed by the authors. Any discrepancies were resolved by consensuses. Data were analyzed with SPSS software.
RESULTS:
One hundred fifty-six videos were included in the analysis. Forty videos were classified as very or moderately useful (25.6%). Sources of the videos were as follows: patient experience, 103 videos (66%); physician, 30 (19%); surgical technique, 14 (9%); and news report, 9 (6%). Physician sourced information was generally at least moderately useful (58%) and patient experience videos were the predominant source of videos categorized as not useful or misleading (50%). Physician sourced information (coefficient=0.61; 95% CI: .21 to 1.00, p=0.003) and PT search term (coefficient=0.26; 95% CI: 0.05 to .47, p=0.017) were the most useful videos after adjusting for mean duration, days online, number of views and page search.
CONCLUSION:
YouTube has a large number of videos on pediatric tonsillectomy with a variety of content ranging from very useful to not useful, and misleading. Health care professionals must recognize the potential influence that these video Web sites may have on patient attitudes.

via YouTube: A good source of inf… [Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

MANUSCRIPT: Scientists popularizing science: characteristics and impact of TED talk presenters.

The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference and associated website of recorded conference presentations (TED Talks) is a highly successful disseminator of science-related videos, claiming over a billion online views. Although hundreds of scientists have presented at TED, little information is available regarding the presenters, their academic credentials, and the impact of TED Talks on the general population. This article uses bibliometric and webometric techniques to gather data on the characteristics of TED presenters and videos and analyze the relationship between these characteristics and the subsequent impact of the videos. The results show that the presenters were predominately male and non-academics. Male-authored videos were more popular and more liked when viewed on YouTube. Videos by academic presenters were more commented on than videos by others and were more liked on YouTube, although there was little difference in how frequently they were viewed. The majority of academic presenters were senior faculty, males, from United States-based institutions, were visible online, and were cited more frequently than average for their field. However, giving a TED presentation appeared to have no impact on the number of citations subsequently received by an academic, suggesting that although TED popularizes research, it may not promote the work of scientists within the academic community.

via Scientists popularizing science: characteristics an… [PLoS One. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: Social Media and Organ Donor Registration

Despite countless media campaigns, organ donation rates in the United States have remained static while need has risen dramatically. New efforts to increase organ donation through public education are necessary to address the waiting list of over 100,000 patients. On May 1, 2012, the online social network, Facebook, altered its platform to allow members to specify “Organ Donor” as part of their profile. Upon such choice, members were offered a link to their state registry to complete an official designation, and their “friends” in the network were made aware of the new status as a donor. Educational links regarding donation were offered to those considering the new organ donor status. On the first day of the Facebook organ donor initiative, there were 13,054 new online registrations, representing a 21.1-fold increase over the baseline average of 616 registrations. This first-day effect ranged from 6.9× (Michigan) to 108.9× (Georgia). Registration rates remained elevated in the following 12 days. During the same time period, no increase was seen in registrations from the DMV. Novel applications of social media may prove effective in increasing organ donation rates and likewise might be utilized in other refractory public health problems in which communication and education are essential.

via Social Media and Organ Donor Registration: T… [Am J Transplant. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.

MANUSCRIPT: Motivational profiles of medical students: Association with study effort, academic performance and exhaustion

Background

Students enter the medical study with internally generated motives like genuine interest (intrinsic motivation) and/or externally generated motives like parental pressure or desire for status or prestige (controlled motivation). According to Self-determination theory (SDT), students could differ in their study effort, academic performance and adjustment to the study depending on the endorsement of intrinsic motivation versus controlled motivation. The objectives of this study were to generate motivational profiles of medical students using combinations of high or low intrinsic and controlled motivation and test whether different motivational profiles are associated with different study outcomes.

Methods

Participating students (N = 844) from University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, were classified to different subgroups through K-means cluster analysis using intrinsic and controlled motivation scores. Cluster membership was used as an independent variable to assess differences in study strategies, self-study hours, academic performance and exhaustion from study.

Results

Four clusters were obtained: High Intrinsic High Controlled (HIHC), Low Intrinsic High Controlled (LIHC), High Intrinsic Low Controlled (HILC), and Low Intrinsic Low Controlled (LILC). HIHC profile, including the students who are interest + status motivated, constituted 25.2% of the population (N = 213). HILC profile, including interest-motivated students, constituted 26.1% of the population (N = 220). LIHC profile, including status-motivated students, constituted 31.8% of the population (N = 268). LILC profile, including students who have a low-motivation and are neither interest nor status motivated, constituted 16.9% of the population (N = 143). Interest-motivated students (HILC) had significantly more deep study strategy (p < 0.001) and self-study hours (p < 0.05), higher GPAs (p < 0.001) and lower exhaustion (p < 0.001) than status-motivated (LIHC) and low-motivation (LILC) students.

Conclusions

The interest-motivated profile of medical students (HILC) is associated with good study hours, deep study strategy, good academic performance and low exhaustion from study. The interest + status motivated profile (HIHC) was also found to be associated with a good learning profile, except that students with this profile showed higher surface strategy. Low-motivation (LILC) and status-motivated profiles (LIHC) were associated with the least desirable learning behaviours.

via BMC Medical Education | Abstract | Motivational profiles of medical students: Association with study effort, academic performance and exhaustion.

What is the future of technology in education?

A couple of weeks ago I was asked what I thought the future of technology in education was. It is a really interesting question and one that I am required to think about all the time. By its very nature, technology changes at a fast pace and making it accessible to pupils, teachers and other stakeholders is an ongoing challenge.

So what is the future? Is it the iPad?

No, I don’t think it is. For me, the future is not about one specific device. Don’t get me wrong, I love the iPad. In fact, I have just finished a trial to see if using them really does support teaching and learning – and they have proved effective. I’ve written about the trial in more detail on my blog.

via What is the future of technology in education? | Teacher Network | Guardian Professional.

MANUSCRIPT: Nervous system examination on YouTube

BACKGROUND:

Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube have become a useful resource for knowledge and are used by medical students as a learning resource. This study aimed at assessing videos covering the nervous system examination on YouTube.

METHODS:

A research of YouTube was conducted from 2 November to 2 December 2011 using the following key words “nervous system examination”, “nervous system clinical examination”, “cranial nerves examination”, “CNS examination”, “examination of cerebellum”, “balance and coordination examination”. Only relevant videos in the English language were identified and related URL recorded. For each video, the following information was collected: title, author/s, duration, number of viewers, number of posted comments, and total number of days on YouTube. Using criteria comprising content, technical authority and pedagogy parameters, videos were rated independently by three assessors and grouped into educationally useful and non-educationally useful.

RESULTS:

A total of 2240 videos were screened; 129 were found to have relevant information to nervous system examination. Analysis revealed that 61 (47%) of the videos provided useful information on the nervous system examination. These videos scored (mean ± SD, 14.9 ± 0.2) and mainly covered examination of the whole nervous system (8 videos, 13%), cranial nerves (42 videos, 69%), upper limbs (6 videos, 10%), lower limbs (3 videos, 5%), balance and co-ordination (2 videos, 3%). The other 68 (53%) videos were not useful educationally; scoring (mean ± SD, 11.1 ± 3.0). The total viewers of all videos was 2,189,434. Useful videos were viewed by 1,050,445 viewers (48% of total viewers). The total viewership per day for useful videos was 1,794.5 and for non-useful videos 1,132.0. The differences between the three assessors were insignificant (less than 0.5 for the mean and 0.3 for the SD).

CONCLUSIONS:

Currently, YouTube provides an adequate resource for learning nervous system examination, which can be used by medical students. However, there were deficiencies in videos covering examination of the cerebellum and balance system. Useful videos can be used as learning resources to medical students.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23259768

ABSTRACT: Imaging-based observational databases for clinical problem solving: the role of informatics

Imaging has become a prevalent tool in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, providing a unique in vivo, multi-scale view of anatomic and physiologic processes. With the increased use of imaging and its progressive technical advances, the role of imaging informatics is now evolving—from one of managing images, to one of integrating the full scope of clinical information needed to contextualize and link observations across phenotypic and genotypic scales. Several challenges exist for imaging informatics, including the need for methods to transform clinical imaging studies and associated data into structured information that can be organized and analyzed. We examine some of these challenges in establishing imaging-based observational databases that can support the creation of comprehensive disease models. The development of these databases and ensuing models can aid in medical decision making and knowledge discovery and ultimately, transform the use of imaging to support individually-tailored patient care.

via Imaging-based observational databases for clinical problem solving: the role of informatics — Bui et al. — Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

ABSTRACT: E-learning: the essential usability perspective

BACKGROUND:
Usability is the ease with which something can be used, but this essential concept appears to be rarely considered when using technology for teaching and learning in medical education.
CONTEXT:
There is an increasing use of technology in an attempt to enhance teaching and learning in medical education, from the use of websites and virtual learning environments (VLEs) to interactive online tutorials to blogs and podcasts. However, research suggests that the potential use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in medical education is often not fully realised. One aspect is the perceived usefulness of the technology, but another is the usability as perceived by the learner.
INNOVATION:
The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of usability in relation to the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in medical education, the essential factors that should be considered in the design and implementation of using technology, and to describe how the usability can be tested.
IMPLICATIONS:
Careful attention needs to be made to the main factors that determine usability: the learner and context; the technology being used; and the content.

via E-learning: the essential usability perspective. [Clin Teach. 2013] – PubMed – NCBI.