How Health Care Professionals Use Social Media to Create Virtual Communities: An Integrative Review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prevailing health care structures and cultures restrict intraprofessional communication, inhibiting knowledge dissemination and impacting the translation of research into practice. Virtual communities may facilitate professional networking and knowledge sharing in and between health care disciplines.

Objectives

This study aimed to review the literature on the use of social media by health care professionals in developing virtual communities that facilitate professional networking, knowledge sharing, and evidence-informed practice.

Methods

An integrative literature review was conducted to identify research published between 1990 and 2015. Search strategies sourced electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL), snowball references, and tables of contents of 3 journal

SUBMITTER: Rolls K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4933801 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature