Results
Title

Social Networks as a Tool for Evidence-Based Health Education: Umbrella Review.

Authors

Sufrate-Sorzano, Teresa; Corton-Carrasco, Olatz; Garrote-Cámara, María-Elena; Navas-Echazarreta, Noelia; Pozo-Herce, Pablo del; Di Nitto, Marco; Juárez-Vela, Raúl; Santolalla-Arnedo, Iván

Abstract

Background: The number of people who access social networking sites continues to increase at an exponential rate. The use of technology is an essential skill for nursing professionals and its development represents a challenge in improving health education, promotion and care. The objective of this systematic review is to analyse the use of social networking sites by healthcare professionals as an intervention tool for evidence-based public health education. Methods: The protocol of this umbrella review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023407249). Searches were carried out in MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), and Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, in February 2023. A narrative synthesis of the results was conducted. Results: 1896 articles were found, of which 15 reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Social networks broadened the profession; they were YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram. The target population was mainly young professionals, and they came across different topic areas that addressed health education. Conclusions: It is important to have information backed by scientific evidence to make health decisions. Health professionals active on social networking sites have a unique opportunity to educate the public about health by sharing scientific evidence in an accessible and clear way, which helps to combat misinformation.

Subjects

SOCIAL media; EVIDENCE-based nursing; PUBLIC health nurses; HEALTH literacy; HABIT; HEALTH self-care; SELF-efficacy; CINAHL database; ONLINE social networks; FACEBOOK (Web resource); MISINFORMATION; NURSING interventions; SYSTEMATIC reviews; MEDLINE; MEDICAL databases; HEALTH education; ONLINE information services; TWITTER (Web resource); HEALTH promotion; DATA analysis software; PSYCHOLOGY information storage & retrieval systems; BLOGS

Publication

Nursing Reports, 2024, Vol 14, Issue 3, p2266

ISSN

2039-439X

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.3390/nursrep14030168