Patient Empowerment Through Social Media

Abstract

Patient empowerment is a healthcare model centered around patients developing the capacity to take responsibility for their own health. This approach is most usually linked to people living with long-term conditions (LTCs). This chapter discusses development in this approach including the therapeutic affordances of social media in LTC management, how it has been used to support an acute condition-sports concussion, and the emerging peer-to-peer healthcare approach.It concludes by discussing that new social media platforms will bring new functionality. It stresses the importance of both healthcare professionals and healthcare innovators understanding how patients are using these platforms, an..