Benchmark Social Media Resources

Grand Canyon University MHW 649

The world has become a global village with the help of technology. The advancement in modern technology has paved the way for social media which has taken over society. Because of social media, many people can easily connect with their loved ones in different geographical locations. Communication has also become very easy and effective because information communicated through social media goes through fact checked and must come from a reliable source before being published on social media. Information and advertisement can reach consumers faster and have a larger audience in a shorter possible time .

Today, health professionals use social media as a means to connect clients with community resources because it is easy to reach many consumers . Furthermore it can be a medium for healthcare institutions to advertise their product and services to their clients and the general public. Most people rely on the information on the internet to gain more knowledge about their conditions and also connect with other patients with similar conditions. Some also use the information gathered online to choose a right and competent provider, and healthcare facility (Ventola, 2014). Again, many will use social media to write reviews and evaluations that will help others who are also seeking for providers. Therefore it is important for health providers to provide accurate information on their products and services , use good marketing strategies so as to reach the right customers and consumers.

The benefits and risks for referring clients to a natural support/community resource are many for instance , the resources in the community help the population in the community to meet their needs.The resource in the community helps the people to develop skills that will help them to cope with their problems before and after treatment (Grajales & Eysenbach, 2014). However, these resources are sometimes very difficult and expensive to access. Therefore, most people will not have access to some resources because of cost and in the long run they might be denied access to the resources in the community. In addition, due to shame and stigmatization, some may not seek help or talk to others about their issues however, they may feel comfortable seeking help on social media because they can access the information they need privately and conveniently at their homes.

There are many risk factors involved in my decision making relating to community resources referral. Before making any decisions I must factor in the patient’s socioeconomic status, age, race , gender , values and goals. After all this information is gathered, I will look for a physician that will best suit the patient’s needs and concerns. The factors I will consider would be the physician relationship with clients and staff, age, race and gender and the type of services and client served. Later, I will consider the cost of the services , and whether the patient can afford it or if the physician accepts the patient’s insurance and the location of the facility from the patient’s primary residence . The decisions that I will make would be very important because it will affect both the client and the physician as well as the patient’s outcomes. However, the risk involved in this would be communication between the physician and the patient because the physician may focus more on treating the patient. Because of many evidence-based treatment for a given disorder, with different side effects and cost, the physician must communicate well with the patient to find what treatment would best work for the patient in terms of cost and preference. Again moving from one physician or facility to the other might negatively affect the patient’s well-being if all information is not communicated well to the next provider (Smith , 2013) .

References

Grajales. F . J., & Eysenbach, G. (2014) . Social media : A review and tutorial of application in

Medicine and health care. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(2).

Smith, M. (2013) Engaging Patients, Families , and Communities. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2072334/

Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social Media and Health Care Professionals: benefits, risks and best

Practices. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(7), 491.