Social media as a beneficial tool to support preterm infants and parents

Abstract

Home care, continuous follow-up, and endless post discharge support play vital role in preventing the emergence of mental and physical disabilities and death among preterm infants. Providing necessary care and support for such infants requires huge financial and human resources and exposes heavy costs on hygiene and health system. Internet and information sharing applications, particularly Web 2.0, and social media present innovative techniques to provide a convenient channel to exchange necessary information between infants, parents, and caregivers. Despite the increasingly expanding use of social media in health and medicine, such devices have rarely been applied in more specialized fields, such as the hygiene and health of preterm infants. Thus, the present study aims at investigating studies published on the experiences of parent in regard with the integration of social media in the improvement of preterm infant treatment, determining the function of social media in taking better care of preterm infants, and presenting suggestions for further practical researches in this area of knowledge. This review study was conducted in 2016. To conduct the study, published articles in the years 2005 to 2016, in English with an emphasis on Social media and Preterm infants were studied. Search was done in databases including Pubmed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Proquest. The collected data were analyzed. The role of social media in three areas of preterm infants care, sharing the knowledge of clinical professionals, and sharing parenting experiences was clarified. Social media provide the necessary background for the distribution of the knowledge of medical experts; it also creates the opportunities of exchanging ideas, sharing parenting experiences, and expanding the knowledge of experts and educated individuals in addition to providing a stress free environment. The potential of social media in facilitating medical interventions for preterm infants and providing necessary care and follow-up for these infants from Intensive Care unit into the house can be rightly used. However, such objectives are not realized unless followings are observed in the design of social media: parent-centeredness, opportunity of parent education, sharing the knowledge of experts, and counseling; the quality of information, respecting patient privacy, and localizing socio-cultural options of a medium are significant issues to consider.

Authors and Affiliations

Marjan Ghazisaeedi| Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Seiede Sedigheh Seied Farajollah| Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Corresponding Email: Ghazisaeedi@yahoo.com, Fatemeh Nayeri| Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Elham Maserat| Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Leila Keikha| Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Hamid Bouraghi| Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Department of Health information management, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran, Mostafa Sheykhotayefeh| Department of Health information management, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran

Keywords

Related Articles

Investigating the Effect of Peer Education on Self-Efficacy in Patients with Heart Failure in Selected Hospitals of Saveh County

The present study is a quasi-experimental study in which the effect of peer education on self-efficacy in patients with heart failure was investigated in 2016. The research environment of this study included Shahid Cham...

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY ON THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS DISSEMINATED INTRAVASCULAR COAGULATION SCORING SYSTEM: IS IT A GOOD PROGNOSTIC INDICATOR IN DIC

Background: Disseminated intravascular coagulation is an acquired disorder characterized by intravascular activation of coagulation due to variety of causes. There is excessive thrombin formation leading to fibrin depo...

EFFECT OF REPETITIVE MCKENZIE LUMBAR SPINE EXERCISES ON CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

Background& Purpose:McKenzie exercises for the lumbar spine, which are done repeatedly, such as flexion in standing (FIS), extension in standing flexion in lying (FIL) & extension in lying (EIL) have been used in the m...

Speciation and antibiotic resistance pattern of Acinetobacter species in a tertiary care hospital in Uttarakhand

Acinetobacter species are Gram negative nonfermentative bacteria that have now emerged as important nosocomial pathogens involved in outbreaks of hospital infections.They are considered as opportunistic pathogens that r...

Atypical Presentation of Trichophyton tonsurans Mimicking Non-Healing Ulcer: A Case Report

Dermatophytosis is superfcial cutaneous fungal infection of skin, hair, and nails. Trichophyton tonsurans is an anthropophilic cosmopolitan dermatophyte most frequently associated with Tinea capitis. A 58-year-old femal...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP12165
  • DOI -
  • Views 250
  • Downloads 12

How To Cite

Marjan Ghazisaeedi, Seiede Sedigheh Seied Farajollah, Fatemeh Nayeri, Elham Maserat, Leila Keikha, Hamid Bouraghi, Mostafa Sheykhotayefeh (2016). Social media as a beneficial tool to support preterm infants and parents. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences (IJMRHS), 5(11), 356-367. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-12165