Social media and Mental Health: Implications for the Future of Mental Health

Social Media and Mental Health Homewood Human Solutions™

Scott Wallace, PhD, RPsychClinical Psychology, Digital Media and Creative Director

[email protected]

Social Media and Mental Health

and Implications for the Future of Mental Health

Benefits Canada

mailto:[email protected]?subject=

© Homewood Human Solutions, 2013 www.homewoodhumansolutions.com

I. What is social media?

II. mHealth vs eHealth

III. How consumers derive value from social media

IV. Consumers are helping themselves

V. Professionals helping other professionals

VI. Top 10 predictions for mental health and social media

VII. Where to start?

Index

http://www.homewoodhumansolutions.com/

I. What is social media?


What is social media?

The set of online and mobile tools enabling people to connecton a global scale by reading, authoring and reacting to content developed by others.



Advent of InternetListServ & Usenet groups broadcast messaging.

Consumer is listening to a message. Not conversing.



Advent of Commercial Service ProvidersConsumer is responding to the message. Not true conversation.



Advent of Peer to Peer NetworksConsumer begins sharing the message. Consumer is now conversational.



Advent of Social MediaConsumer is creating “reach” with their conversation.


II. mHealth versus eHealth

“Let mediagnose

you”“Let me assistyou”

mHealtheHealth


mHealth (Mobile Healthcare) applicationsare subset of eHealth

Enable mobile medical device features

II. mHealth vs eHealth



Coming under scrutiny of FDA

Long history of scrutiny in UK

(National Health Authority)



Witness the explosion of

mobile growth!

own tablets1/3

last year

(2012)2x






III. How consumers derive value from social media










In the mHealth/eHealth space

the trends are excitingand sometimes stunning...











Likelihood of information found affecting health decisions (e.g. diet,

exercise)



The most active user searching for health

information?



88% of caregivers look online for health information ... outpacing every other user on every health topic







"I really love being in the Tribe. I joined when it first started up and have

made a ton of good friends from being on here. We are a people who share

a common bond and it helps me to feel connected.

I just moved out of state for the first time, on my own, and the first person I

really hung-out with in my new town, I met on the tribe." - DevinD, LA













Crowdsourcing for action

Share your ideas...vote for the ideas you like

best.


VI. Top 10 predictions for mental health and social media


VI. Top 10 predictions for EFAP and social media

Social media “the new normal” 10

9 More engaging mental health online tools will evolve

8 Explosion of wellness programming (# vendors) online

7 Due diligence will be more commonplace

6 More social media industry guidelines

5 More partnerships (providers, practitioners)

4 Internal social media platforms will be more common



Messages will be targeted, tailored based on analytics3



Addition of human media (group video chat in Google +)

2





The kind of social network effective for supporting behaviour change is the opposite for that effective

for spreading health information.

Mental health-driven peer networks will be more theory-driven (e.g. theory of “weak ties”)



If your objective is to achieve behaviour change...

It is more valuable to hear the same message over and over againfrom close friends than it is for many people to hear it at once.



If your objective is to spread health/wellness information...

It is more valuable to hear a unique voice, someone you don’t knowbut is within your “reach”...this is exposure to new information.


VII. Where to start?


VI. Where to start?





Visual presentation of data/concepts; mobile users







“What’s happening now!”, increasing presence









Sharing information, making connections





Networking, establishing presence





SEO optimization, sharing informationin like-minded groups (“circles”)



Your customers, clients, employees, family members, vendors, unions, professional groups are tweeting, posting, liking, sharing...

When will you be part of this conversation?


Social Media: Transforming Mental Health and Addictions Services Programs Homewood Human Solutions™

SourcesPew Internet and American Life Project:

•Smartphone Ownership, 2013•Teens and Technology, 2013•The Best (and Worst) of Mobile Connectivity, 2012•A Majority of all American adults own a smartphone poll says, 2013•The Demographics of social media users, 2012•Civil engagement in the digital age, 2012•Health, 2013•Health in the Digital Age, 2013•Mobile Health, 2012•Health Online, 2013 •Health in the Digital Age, 2013•Family Caregivers Online, 2012•Peer to Peer Health, 2011•The Social life of health information, 2011•Peer to Peer Healthcare, 2012

Social Media: Transforming Mental Health and Addictions Services Programs Homewood Human Solutions™

Sources continued

Are Smartphones spreading faster than any technology in human history,

MIT, 2012.

Innovation Mental Health and Wealth, National Health System, 2011.

A Future vision for mental health, Future Vision Coalition, 2009.

The Future of connected health devices, IBM Institute for Business Value,

2011.

Social media “likes” healthcare, PWC, 2012.

Strengths and weaknesses of health behaviour change programs on the

internet, Journal of Health Psychology, 2003, 8-63.

Joining in the conversation - Social media and mental health services, NHS,

2011.

Social media and the science of health behaviour, MIT & American Heart

Association, 2013.


To establish ourselves as a valuable online eHealth

community member...

through expert and meaningful contributions...

that advance knowledge and behaviour change...

in the areas of mental health, addictions,

organizational and employee health, wellness, and

productivity.


Health & Medicine

Social media and Mental Health: Implications for the Future of Mental Health