Patients’ Information use in an Online Health Community

Abstract

Patients gravitate toward Online Health Communities when their healthcare professionals areunable to meet their needs. I conduct a discourse analysis using grounded theory to explore the information uses in a Facebook group with over 36,600 COVID-19 patients, survivors, and family members. To understand these information uses, I describe a Facebook Group as an information context, present the four types of contributors in the context, and unpack how the context influences information behaviours. I codify the posts into four themes, explain the information framing of these themes, and collect the respective conversations from the comments. To supplement my analysis, I engage with two moderators and integrate their insights into my analysis. There are few mechanisms for patients, as primary information sources, to relay their insights to medical professionals. My research explores how patients are capturing and sharing the unique knowledge they have about their conditions and the medical system.