Paediatricians, social media and blogs: Ethical considerations
Open accessAbstract
The use of blogs, Facebook and similar social networking sites is rapidly expanding and, when compared with e-mail, may be having a significantly different impact on the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Characteristics specific to these online platforms have major implications for professional relationships, including the 'Facebook effect' (the relative permanence of postings) and the 'online disinhibition effect'. The present practice point illustrates relevant ethical considerations and provides guidance to paediatricians and others concerning the prudent professional and personal use of social networking media.
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Doctors are uncertain of their ethical and legal obligations when communicating with patients online.
“Doctors are uncertain of their ethical and legal obligations when communicating with patients online.”
From How Doctors View and Use Social Media: A National Survey (2014) · cites this paper as [10]
The “Physician websites” section says physicians have legal and ethical obligations when providing advice online, and “Recommendations” discusses guidelines for online interactions. Neither section says doctors are uncertain about those obligations; that is the unsupported part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Cites
The online disinhibition effect
Suler, J. (2004) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/1094931041291295 · Cited by 4,375 · see citing works
Online Posting of Unprofessional Content by Medical Students
Chretien, K. C. (2009) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1387 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
The Facebook effect: the inside story of the company that is connecting the world
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Online professionalism and the mirror of social media.
Greysen, S. R., Kind, T., & Chretien, K. C. (2010) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-010-1447-1 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
Privacy, professionalism and Facebook: a dilemma for young doctors
MacDonald, J., Sohn, S., & Ellis, P. (2010) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03720.x · Cited by 245 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [16]16. American Medical Association policy: Professionalism in the use of social media (H-140.851), November 8, 2010. <www.ama-assn.org/ ama/pub/meeting/professionalism-social-media.shtml> (Accessed May 16, 2011).
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Sorted by citations
How Doctors View and Use Social Media: A National Survey
Brown, J., Ryan, C., & Harris, A. (2014) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.3589 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
New Professionalism Challenges in Medical Training: An Exploration of Social Networking
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- Authors
- St-Laurent-Gagnon, T., & Coughlin, K. W.
- Affiliations
- Canadian Paediatric Society (CA)
- Corresponding author
- St-Laurent-Gagnon, Thérèse
- Coughlin, Kevin W
- ORCID
- Coughlin, Kevin W
- Venue
- Paediatrics & Child Health
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 267-269
- ISSN
- 1205-7088 (ISSN-L)
- 1918-1485
- PMC
- PMC3381922
- OpenAlex
- W32162113
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Paediatrics & Child Health (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical and Health Sciences Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- social media, blogs, Facebook, pediatricians, medical ethics, physician-patient relationship, online disinhibition effect, professional boundaries, online professional conduct
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