[Download] "Consumer Language, Patient Language, And Thesauri: A Review of the Literature (Report)" by Journal of the Medical Library Association * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Consumer Language, Patient Language, And Thesauri: A Review of the Literature (Report)
- Author : Journal of the Medical Library Association
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 241 KB
Description
INTRODUCTION Online social networks, or social networking sites (SNS), have been a feature of the web since 1997, with the founding of SixDegrees.com. SNS are websites that allow users to "(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" [1]. More and more SNS target people who define themselves by communities according to geographic location, sexual orientation, belief systems, ethnicity, education, and countless other social attributes [2]. Online information, advocacy, and support organizations oriented to specific medical diagnoses were among the first communities of Internet users [3], and SNS for patients are now also a part of the web landscape--making "community" the "killer app in health care" [4]. In fact, the Pew Internet and American Life Project identifies 39% of US "e-patients" as users of social networks, particularly users aged 18-29 [5], which implies a long potential lifespan for this trend. For example, PatientsLikeMe [6] hosts patient communities in 16 varied diagnostic categories, including approximately 5% of all amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and primary lateral sclerosis patients in the United States [7, 8]. This SNS incorporates not only a bulletin board, but also clinical tools. Community members report symptoms to find other "patients like them"; "tagging" of symptoms becomes useful data "emergent from shared information" [9].