Journal of medical Internet research
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2014
In the words of the medical tourist: an analysis of Internet narratives by health travelers to Turkey.
Patients regularly travel to the West for advanced medical care, but now the trend is also shifting in the opposite direction. Many people from Western countries now seek care outside of their country. This phenomenon has been labeled medical tourism or health travel. Information regarding health travelers' actual outcomes, experiences, and perceptions is lacking or insufficient. However, advanced Internet technology and apps provide information on medical tourism and are a vehicle for patients to share their experiences. Turkey has a large number of internationally accredited hospitals, is a top tourism destination, and is positioning itself to attract international patients. ⋯ This analysis provides an understanding of the insights of medical tourists through the words of actual health travelers. This nonintrusive methodology provides candid insights of common themes of health travelers and may be applied to study other patient experiences. The findings of this research expands the body of knowledge in medical tourism and serves as a platform for further qualitative and quantitative research on health travelers' experiences.
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In 2014, the vast majority of published biomedical research is still hidden behind paywalls rather than open access. For more than a decade, similar restrictions over other digitally available content have engendered illegal activity. Music file sharing became rampant in the late 1990s as communities formed around new ways to share. ⋯ Yet we have not seen significant growth in the illegal sharing of peer-reviewed academic articles. Should we truly expect that biomedical publishing is somehow at less risk than other content-generating industries? What of the larger threat--a "Biblioleaks" event--a database breach and public leak of the substantial archives of biomedical literature? As the expectation that all research should be available to everyone becomes the norm for a younger generation of researchers and the broader community, the motivations for such a leak are likely to grow. We explore the feasibility and consequences of a Biblioleaks event for researchers, journals, publishers, and the broader communities of doctors and the patients they serve.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2014
Online social networks that connect users to physical activity partners: a review and descriptive analysis.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified a lack of encouragement, support, or companionship from family and friends as a major barrier to physical activity. To overcome this barrier, online social networks are now actively leveraging principles of companion social support in novel ways. ⋯ Several major online social networks that connect users to physical activity partners currently exist and use standardized features to achieve their goals. Future research is needed to better understand how users utilize these features and how helpful they truly are.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2014
EditorialHarnessing the social web for health and wellness: issues for research and knowledge translation.
Social media is a powerful, rapid, and popular way of communication amongst people around the world. How can health professionals and patients use this strategy to achieve optimal disease management and prevention and attainment of wellness? An interdisciplinary group at University of British Columbia, supported by a grant from UBC Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies, conducted a research workshop in February 2013 to explore what is known and yet to be researched in using social media for nurturing the growth of virtual communities of people for health and wellness. ⋯ In addition, a public forum for the general public, which attracted over 195 live participants, over 100 participants via Web casting, 1004 tweets, and 1,124,886 impressions following the #HCSMForum hash tag on Twitter, demonstrated the keen interest of the general public in this topic. Key concepts were captured in JMIR publications in this issue, and future directions, including research, knowledge translation approaches, and strategic partnerships of interdisciplinary researchers with policy makers and industries emerged from the workshop proceedings.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2014
Health domains for sale: the need for global health Internet governance.
A debate on Internet governance for health, or "eHealth governance", is emerging with the impending award of a new dot-health (.health) generic top-level domain name (gTLD) along with a host of other health-related domains. This development is critical as it will shape the future of the health Internet, allowing largely unrestricted use of .health second-level domain names by future registrants, raising concerns about the potential for privacy, use and marketing of health-related information, credibility of online health content, and potential for Internet fraud and abuse. Yet, prospective .health gTLD applicants do not provide adequate safeguards for use of .health or related domains and have few or no ties to the global health community. ⋯ We argue that there is an immediate need for action to postpone awarding of the .health gTLD and other health-related gTLDs to address these concerns and ensure the appropriate development of sound eHealth governance rules, principles, and use. This would support the crucial need of ensuring access to quality and evidence-based sources of health information online, as well as establishing a safe and reliable space on the Internet for health. We believe, if properly governed, .health and other domains could represent such a promise in the future.