Old Web/New Web Tools for Health Support

How can using the Internet to improve health and well being? Why blogs?

First, the Read Only Web is here to stay and has proven itself by increasing access to information. Unlike walk-in libraries, the 'Net isn't limited by funding for materials, space for storage and retrieval systems, or hours of operation. Or geography: a person in Zambia can access a medical records site in Canada, even though there are several times zones difference. Keeping a library open, let alone up to date, is increasingly difficult; and many public and private institutions are moving from print to electronic media.

One excellent example of an online reference is the mental health site TroubledWith. Soothing page design and easy to use menus and lists of problems make help a click away, even for novices. The printable essays provide concise information that is medically current and also tied to religious thinking (primarily Christian source quotes).

Another good example is the US National Women's Health Center site. Well done, extensive and searchable.

But, neither of these sites allow for interaction and feedback among the readers. Information is only shared one way.

Enter weblogging, or blogging. For the individual, journaling in this fashion is more than just keeping a diary. It allows for finding others who have similar interests or problems (as in a cohort of diabetic women). It provides a forum for sharing information on what has worked and what has not, as well as vital personalized details of specific efforts (as a blog for breast cancer recovery that talks about drug interactions and side effects and what works to counteract them).

Further, a blog allows and invites feedback, resulting in not only emotional and informational support, but also a feeling of community which might be lacking in the blogger's immediate family or neighborhood. Sometimes, one just has something to say and it can be difficult to find anyone at home or work who wants to listen, let alone have a conversation.

A large percentage of blogs fall into the personal catagory, but companies and businesses are beginning to provide customer support in the form of blogs, too. Two examples of the personal type: Lief's blog of his year of service on Saint Kitts in the Caribbean, and Nancy's Garden Spot.

Companies use blogs to track work group progress on a particular project. Schools use blogs for teachers (class notes and homework assignments), students (science projects and thesis papers), parents (significant dates, rules and holiday or snow schedules) and staff (in house training, holiday schedules, and other employee/employer communications).

My husband, a student at Johns Hopkins Bloomfield School of Public Health, set up a blog for his study group to track progress on a group project (which just happens to be on the use of blogging in tracking public health issues). He is, however, finding it challenging to convince the other members of this particular study group that using the blog is easy; so there are obvious still some roadblocks...

In terms of health behaviors, changing habits or treating chronic diseases requires considerable group support, and if finding that support often hampered by distance, work schedules, difficulty in finding sympathetic others, or whatever -- the 'Net can provide an outlet and a cohort.

Listserves have been around for a while, and some lists have become extraordinarily supportive. The Breast Cancer Listserve, for instance. Various other special interest groups' lists can become much more personal than originally intended (Stampin' Up Friends), though most remain on topic and ban personal conversations.

Chat rooms have also been utilized for support, but have the disadvantage of time lag and high cost of online time for many people. Also, you have to be able not only to type very fast, but also to sort through all the conversational threads to figure out what's happening, since multiple conversations will be going on at once. It is sort of like walking into a crowded party and hearing everyone at once, without being able to see anyone's face or to whom they are speaking.

Web logs -- and blogging as using one is called -- are up close and personal, and allow for less time sensitive interaction. They are growing in popularity and use (and, yes, misuse as well) at an incredible rate. There are presently about 30 million blogs out there! And the number of them which are not in English and not in first world countries is higher than one might expect, and growing.

I think the use of blogging tools is a step towards the future, towards one human family connectedness, maybe even decision making at a grassroots and worldwide, one person/one voice level.