Social networks as education strategies for indigenous patients with rheumatoid arthritis during COVID-19 pandemic. Are they useful?

By FYH News Team

Published on July 13, 2022

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Introduction:

The use of online education strategies has been introduced as a tool to support health care in patients with rheumatic disease. However, it is important to consider the patient’s sociocultural environment.

Objective:

To design and assessment of bilingual audiovisual material acceptability, by means of two social networks, for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the qom community in Argentina.

Methods:

A qualitative study was performed in two stages: (1) audiovisual material design, development, and validation implementing a collaborative action research method. (2) Publishing of the material on two social networks at two different times. The selected topic was the coronavirus disease 2019 impact on patients with RA. A qualitative and quantitative data analysis was performed.

Results:

Forty subjects participated into the initial validation stage with a 70% acceptance rate. First, 28 subjects (70%) participated on Facebook and 25 (62.5%) joined the WhatsApp group. Then, the same number of subjects participated on Facebook, while only 45% of subjects participated on WhatsApp. Most of them participated using short phrases such as “I like it.” The 60% of the participants played the videos. However, less than 10% shared them. Videos in Spanish were the once most shared. Participation dramatically fell during the second time, and 40% of the WhatsApp subjects never participated.

Conclusion:

The strategies developed for this indigenous community were of no utility, probably because of socio-cultural, economic, and digital barriers. They should be designed and implemented identifying the target group and its environment. Key Points • Online education strategies should be designed with cultural sensitivity. • Technological barriers make digital inequality visible in vulnerable groups. • Educational interventions should have a collaborative design and they should be created together with the communities. • The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened inequalities in the health care and follow-up of patients with rheumatic diseases, especially between most socially and economically disadvantaged groups.

Keywords:

Audiovisual educational material; Digital inequality; Multidisciplinary approach; Patient health education; Qom population.

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