Background

1. Between the newest iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, laptop, WiFi and hotspots, the Internet can be accessed almost anywhere at anytime. The Internet engages people not only in the social realm, but also in the professional and medical world. Web portal’s of information like those accessed on WebMd, allows for the average person to quickly receive medical advice and information at their fingertips. In years past, when a person had a medical or health question, he or she would ask around to their friends, talk to their mom, their physician, maybe even rent a book to find out more information or an answer. Today, most of that has changed. Social networking and Internet usage has drastically become a fundamental part of sourcing health information. Main Line Health Main Line Health (MLH) is a hospital network located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Four hospital’s and one rehab center utilize the system’s intranet for resources to connect them to the community, event’s happening within the hospital and for answers to their, medical and health question’s. Currently, access to this information has been limited to employees only. Creating a portal of health and wellness information available to the community as well as employees will provide patients and community resources and additional helpful information; lessen the time needed with physicians and hopeful encourage healthful behaviors. Summary of Literature Review eMedicine blogs have surfaced to be an integral player in modern medicine,1 with 61% of American adults finding health information online. 2 This number has increased drastically in the past nine years, when in 2000, only 46% of American adults were accessing the Internet for health information. 2Specific characteristics need to be in place for a reader to believe in the credibility of the online information, such as statistical information, testimonials, quotations, references, identification of a message author. 4 References Research Question: Will the implementation of a health and wellness blog for healthcare professionals and for the community enhance the healthcare professional’s and the community’s knowledge and application of current health and nutrition information and influence positive nutritional behaviors? Research Goal: To enhance health care professionals and the community’s knowledge and application of current health and nutrition information and influence positive nutritional behaviors. Objectives Provide 8 blog posts by March 30th for MLH employees and the community that contain current health and nutrition information Present potential lifestyle modification tips within each blog post Acquire at least 8 unique hits for each blog posting, for a total of 64 unique hits Obtain at least 600 unique hits for the MLH Community Page by March 30th Background Project Design Work Delineation Program MLH utilizes Host Kentico for their web services. The MLH Community Page was chosen as the place of operation of the blog due to the pre-existing, newly created site that was looking to benefit from additional content to elaborate and develop the page even further. Data Collection Tools The evaluation method will be the design frame chosen to determine the effectiveness and impact of a program.9 Activity of the blog was assessed prior, during and after the posts were completed. The post survey was sent using SurveyMonkey. Web metric data was collected via Google Analytics. Subject Recruitment Inclusion criteria will include all employees of MLH with access to the intranet and community members with access to the Internet, regardless of age, race, gender, occupation, and knowledge base. No exclusion criteria was established by the research design. The blog will be advertised on the MLH Intranet homepage as well as the MLH Facebook page. Statistical Evaluation Statistical evaluation will be conducted via Google Analytics to determine usage and viewership. The mode, or most frequently occurring score, of hits to the blog pages will be charted. Budget No costs were incurred in the process of implementing and analyzing. The nutrition blog posts were officially launched on January 1st, 2012, posting biweekly. Viewership was trended until March 23rd, 2012. A total of 4,863 total hits were obtained within that time period, with 3,784 unique hits, exceeding the goal of 600 total unique hits. Each blog exceeding the goal of 8 unique hits to each post (as seen below in Table 1) Table 1 Additional Comments Received: “Very well written and informative” “Great blog- posts are a good length, not too long. I loved the post on eggs. I always thought they had too much cholesterol and were bad for me, but now I know I can eat them here and there as part of my healthy diet. I can't wait to try the Mediterranean Strata!” “I liked the recipes along with information about nutrition trends.” Acknowledgements/Contact Information Thanks to MLH Web Content Administrator, Megan Kutulis and the Director of MLH Web Center, Mark Mistysyn, also to Lisa DeHaven and ARAMARK Healthcare. Any questions may be directed to Lauren Martin via email. Thanks! Email: lam5259@gmail.com LaguT, Kaufman EJ, Asch DA, et al. Content of Weblogs Written by Health Professionals. J Gen Intern Med. 2008; 23(10):1642-6. Fox S, Jones S. The Social Life of Health Information. The Pew Internet & American Life Project Web site. http://www.pewinternet.org. Published June, 2009. Accessed November 10, 2011. TuHT, Cohen GR. Striking Jump In Consumers Seeking Health Care Information. Center for Studying health System Change: Tracking Report Website. http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/1006/#ib9. Published August, 2009. Accessed November 10, 2011. Rains SA, Karmikel CD. Health information-seeking and perceptions of website credibility: Examining Web-use orientation, message characteristics, and structural features of websites. Computers in Human Behavior. 2009; 25 (2): 544-553. SillenceE, Briggs P, Harris PR, et al. How do patients evaluate and make use of online health information? Social Science & Medicine. 2007; 64: 1853-1862. Robert, K. Survey: More U.S. Adults Tap into Health Information Online. Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology. 2010; 44(2): 90. Hu Y, Sundar SS. Effects of Online Health Sources on Credibility and Behavioral Intentions. Communication Research. 2010; 37(1): 105-132. Adams, SA. Blog-based application and health information: Two case studies that illustrate important questions for Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) research. International Journal of Medical Informatics. 2010; 79(6): 89-96. Thomas G. How to do Your Research Project. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications; 2009. AbottHess M. Review of Dietetics: Manual for the Registered Dietitian Exam. Hess and Hunt. 2011;163-4. ARAMARK Dietetic Internship Emerging Trends in Dietetics Concentration Project Lauren A. Martin, Dietetic Intern & Lisa DeHaven, MS, RD LDN, Dietetic Internship Director Conclusions Methodology Results Results Continued Discussion The Application and Utilization of Web-based Health and Wellness Information by Communities and Health Professional’s Strengths of the research include the credibility of the blogs, being reviewed by credentialed dietitians and then posted under the highly reputable Main Line Health organization. Weaknesses of the study include the incapability to distinguish between community viewers versus health professionals, as the blog was available both on the intranet and internet. In addition, the low number of participants (thirteen) who returned the research questionnaire is not a true reflection of the thousands of “hits” the page obtained. Although use of the internet to gain health information has drastically increased in the past several years2 , there is much conflicting nutrition advice available that often leaves viewers lost and confused. It is imperative that evidence-based nutrition information is available to enable people to make informed decisions. • Facebook • MLH operates a Facebook page to connected the hospital system personally to patients, employees and the community. Several blog posts were chosen to be linked on the MLH Facebook page. • A total of six “likes” were given • 1 post was reposted • 2 additional comments were made in response to the blog post • Post-Survey Results • The post-survey was created via SurveyMonkey and made available on the Community Page from March 14th – March 23rd. A total of 13 survey’s were collected. Results are shown below. Conclusions In conclusion, the field of nutrition and dietetics has the opportunity to play an integral part in the ever-changing world of social media and technology to increase the publics knowledge of nutrition and create positive behavior changes. More research is needed on a larger scale to determine if online information creates long-term positive behavior changes. Research Question & Objectives