http://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87Recent posts in Gonzalo Bacigalupe: "Beginning a conversation about technology, ehealth, and collaborative family health"http://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87#post201pThe specific forms may not be durable but I believe social media are here to stay. In a few short years social media have not simply changed but emtransformed emcommunications. As someone has already noted they are very democratizing and different communities a way to join in various conversations.ppnbspppIf and how providers want patientsclients to participate remains to be seen. From what Ive observed during the past year as an active participant in the hcsm community on Twitter and from the perspective of a sociologist I think these media provide an important and valuable opportunity to create communities among and between stakeholders in the labyrinthine world of healthcare.nbspppnbspppAn organization committed enough to include the term collaborative in its moniker needs to pay close attention to how these communications tools emerge and morph -- and they do so very quickly.nbsp My hope is that the CFHA and healthcare associations with similar commitments not waste a lot of time debating the merits of this current reality. My hope is that practitioners researchers academicians and scholars quickly learn how these social media work and seek counsel from colleagues who are using them effectively and efficiently.phttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87#post200p classMsoNormalThis topic is a double edged sword for me.nbsp Gonzalo Iremember the first conversation we had about this at the CFHA conference overone of the lunch time talks.nbsp I have put a bit of thought into it sincethen.nbsp I have no doubt that there are endless positive attributes to thevast overarching concept of technology with social media just being a part ofthe larger whole.nbsp Matter of fact I feel much more connected due to myinteractions with various social medias twitter especially. nbspThepersistent brain buzz I have wants to refute the positives due to my innatebelief that emmore does not make merrierem when it comes to choices as wellas Irsquom not sure that just bc I am more connected that I am moreinformed.nbsp Said otherwise technology has not made life simpler it hasmade it more complex and it has done so by offering us more choices.nbsp Itis the old conundrum of the child in the candy store who can not make up theirmind bc there are so many choices....so the result is a lack of choosing.nbspBarry Schwartz author of nbspldquoParadox of Choicerdquo boils nbspit down tothis having more choices increases anxiety.nbsp I salute the potential usesof social media regarding its potential abilities but I can not help to thinkthat the overarching concept of increased use of social media and technologylike everything necessitates moderation.nbsp Admittedly deep down inside Ijust wish people would be more interactive face to face and not have to rely onsuch forms of communication.nbsp In doing so we would be allowed the abilityto be emmore presentem with the task at hand what ever lsquoitrsquo may be insteadof being continuously distracted by external stimulus such as texts phonecalls e-mails etc.nbsp Maybe it is just my simple brainrsquos pleas for moreplacidity. nbspI am no dinosaur and I have not delusions that progress is notinevitablenbspbut it my efforts to progress Irsquom trying t keep some of thehuman in the human element.nbsp That being said Dr. Reitzs concept of animplanted brain chip that projects my thoughts into emails and then sends themsounds like a huge time saver for sure.nbspphttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87#post199pOf all the forms of social media Im most familiar with Facebook Youtube text messaging and good old fashioned email.nbsp Email plays the most prominentnbsprole in my professional environment and Facebook the most prominent role in my personal environment.nbsp I have a lovehate relationship with Twitter.nbsp Ive had an account for a few months and try to tweet a few times a week to promote the blog but it is all business.nbsp I also end up follow blocking at least 3-4 porn stars per week.nbsp I cant say Im familiar with the Twitter environment yet.ppnbspppRegarding Facebook it is the social medium thatnbspI enjoy the most but it is also where I run into ethical and personal dilemmas most frequently.nbsp I decided long ago that I wouldnt friend any patients current residents or staff who I supervise.nbsp I have had several ex-patients track me down on Facebook and Ive turned down their friend requests.nbspnbspFor me this is like the classic Seinfeld episode where the spheres of friendship George and relationship George were crashing together in an inseparable enmeshment.nbsp Some things are better kept apart.nbsp Ive made some attempts at using Facebook for CFHA please check out our official site a hrefhttpbit.ly6ytmJrhttpbit.ly6ytmJranbsp but so far I havent caught a vision as to how best to use it.ppnbspppEmail of course controls my personal professional clinical academic and relationship lives.nbsp I would gladly get a computer chip implanted in my brain so I couldnbsphave email projected directly on my cornea and could write and send emails using brain waves.phttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87#post198pI agree that social media is a great way of promoting transparency among practitioners. Scholarly publications conferences and professional organizations grant clinicians a way to model alter and shape their views for a select audience. Social media functions in realtime and allow a forum for collaborative and nearly uneditednbspinput across a wide spectrum of people who many times are a mixture of clients providers and other community stakeholders. This manner of conversation breaks down hierarchy and allows multi-disciplinary and egalitarian input into issues that have far too long been the domain of an educated and sometimes elitist few.phttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=87#post197pAs you walk towards the nearest coffee place what you see are people enthralled with their smartphones. You may have heard or observed teenagers enchantment with texting. You definitely know about Facebook even if you do not have an account or you forgot how to login after having lost the password when your teenage nephew told you how to open an account to check the last Thanksgivings photos.ppnbspppSomeone may have provided with the link to reports of the Pew Internet and American Life Project published by the a hrefhttpwww.pewinternet.orgPewResearchCentera.nbsp You heard of Twitter one of the most popular social media tools which not only helps spread the news but also shape them. In the case of the uprising in Iran in 2009 the images video and reports on mainstream media were for the most part the product of social media tools-regular citizens carrying smartphones and connected to the Internet. It is just impossible not to notice something is happening and it seems at times just a fad. Indeed this blog entry is also an invitation to a conversation with the author and others. Should we care What does this a hrefhttpwww.youtube.comwatchvsIFYPQjYhv8social media revolutiona have to do with collaborative health careppnbspppBriefly what is social media or social technologies Social media is a set of highly accessible tools for anyone with access to an internet connection via phone computer and other digital devices.nbsp These tools allow anyone not only to observe what others have produced TV is a good example but also to engage in the production of media. Through social media we not only consume information but we also create it. In the case of health care information it opens up the possibility for all stakeholders to engage in conversation share information analyze it collaboratively and interact more efficiently. Social media tools are also interoperable live in the cloud and for the most part are not attached to a particular device or software all of which means that we do not need to have one specific device to interact with others.ppnbspppThese tools defy the financial geographical and logistical barriers that exist in creating a context for ongoing interaction collaborative learning fast access to information and transparency. Why do so many professionals engage so often with a social media tool like Twitter Twitter a form of microblogging provides a virtual meeting platform for individuals and groups who share similar interest without a large investment travel time and membership dues among many others. Besides meeting individuals you may know in person you also meet others online. It has the added benefit of helping busy clinicians or scholars to maintain ongoing communication without the overwhelming demand of an email inbox after a brief period of no internet activity-paradoxically often an explanation for not adopting microblogging is accompanied by the statement I have too much email already.ppnbspppSocial media tools facilitate the development of self-help and support groups. These networks of support can bring people with rare diseases together or towards a new tailored treatment modality. In the clinical-research arena the recruitment of patients for a clinical trial would be much easier and effective with these tools than an ad in your local newspaper or an NIH sponsored website. Ease of accessibility is a tremendous and not to be taken for granted potential of these technologies.nbspnbsp Think of twitter as your digital bulletin board outside your office but in the case of a social media outlet your bulletin board is reaching many more offices and at times the world at large. But besides the ability to reach a wider audience and fast social media tools foster innovative ways of interacting with others.ppnbspppSeveral months ago while investigating the impact of social media on health care I run into a threaded conversation about technology and health care or e-health. The contributors used hash tags at the start of an acronym or word in every entry. An intriguing hash tag was a hrefhttpwthashtag.comHcsmhcsma. Soon I discovered that health care and social media is an ongoing discussion occurring every Sunday 8-9 PM Central Time. The discussion participants are interdisciplinary researchers and academics social scientists clinicians marketing and health care business specialists and patients or a hrefhttpwww.acor.orgepatientswikiindex.phpMainPageepatientsa . The weekly discussions provide an informal but powerful forum strangers to engage in dialogue about a specific and emergent subject with questions submitted by participants earlier. The power and tools to set up these virtual meeting places are not necessarily connected to an academic degree or authority geographical location or financial influence but pure acumen.nbsp In my example the convener a titletwitter dana lewis hrefhttpstwitter.comdanamlewisdanamlewisa is an undergraduate senior at the University of Alabama whose a titletwitter health social media hrefhttpstwitter.comHealthSocMedHealthSocMeda avatar serves as the hub for the hcsm community.nbspppnbspppAs a result an open interdisciplinary self-regulated community is born and sustained. This is the kind of reflexive engagement that our overspecialized professional guilds or academic worlds would make very difficult or highly expensive to create. For those of us attempting to construct a collaborative health care movement a reflective practice that values the inclusion of several disciplines patients and their families and the community at large makes a lot of sense.nbspppnbspppWhat do you think is the impact of social media on the collaborative health enterpriseppnbspppWhat are your thoughts and ideas as you think about the power of social media to enhance and shape the collaborative family health enterpriseppnbsppp---ppnbspppemstrongGonzalo Bacigalupe EdD MPHstrong is Associate Professor and Director of the Family Therapy Program at the University of Massachusetts Bostonnbsp Adjunct Research Professor at the Department of Family Medicine amp Community Health UMASS Medical School and is Associate Editor of Family Systems amp Health and member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Marital amp Family Therapy and Qualitative Research in Psychology. He can be found in twitter at a titletwitter bacigalupe hrefhttpstwitter.combacigalupestrongbacigalupestrong aand emstrongema titletwitter healthglobal hrefhttpstwitter.comhealthglobalhealthglobala. emstrongppnbsppp classMsoNormalstrongstrongp