The Future of Research on Online Health Communities: Discussing Membership, Structure, and Support [conference paper]
Three people with connection above they head illustration

Conference

The 24th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW) - October 23, 2021

Authors

Alexandra Papoutsaki, Jina Huh-Yoo, Haley MacLeod, Lena Mamykina, Andrew D Miller, Svetlana Yarosh (associate professor), Daniel A Epstein

Abstract

Online health communities (OHCs) are spaces where people gather for informational and emotional support around specific medical conditions and concerns. Although OHCs are an active and exciting research area that continuously attracts a wide range of approaches and methodologies, the focus has been mostly on a limited selection of OHCs or medical conditions. At the same time, there are novel challenges that OHCs face, including changes to the medical system resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, increased medical misinformation propagating online, and additional focus on personalized medical advice that is less attainable in traditional medical systems. This workshop will bring together researchers to discuss and produce generalizable lessons about membership, structure, and support in OHCs in the context of these novel changes, generating research agendas for future exploration and design of OHCs.

Link to full paper

The Future of Research on Online Health Communities: Discussing Membership, Structure, and Support

Keywords

human computer interaction, social computing, online health communities

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