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Web Chats Help the Chronically Ill

Posted by Zonk on from the now-we-need-interactive-sites-that-do-real-customer-service dept.

Stephen Samuel writes "Both the CBC and the BBC are reporting on the results of a survey which found that along with an informative, up-to-date, and non-commercialized site, chat-rooms are crucial to the health and well-being of chronically ill patients being provided with 'interactive health communication applications'. Read the original summary of the report (PDF), or google's HTML translation of same" From the BBC article: "The researchers found such sites have largely positive effects on users, making them feel better informed and more socially supported. Overall, people who used such sites appeared to see improvements in the way they looked after their health and in their clinical condition. They also had improved self-efficacy - a person's belief in their ability to carry out potentially-beneficial actions. "

3 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This just in... by goliard · · Score: 3, Informative

    You are being flip, but I'm a graduate student in Mental Health Counseling (as well as a web developer :), and a number of my professors -- including the quite wonderful one I had for my class in Group Therapy, the class text for which extensively documented the benefits of support groups -- are openly skeptical that computer-mediated communication (CMC) even counts as socializing!

    In a strange way, this research supports the controversial contention that CMC actually is socializing, because it shows that some of the results of in-person support groups may also be found in virtual support groups. That certainly suggests the same psychological processes and interpersonal dynamics are going on in both cases, and that is most definitely not a foregone conclusion!

    --
    -*- Any technology indistinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced -*-
  2. Betcher rump it helps! by MsWillow · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've got secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Can't take beta seron, can't find a doctor for novantrone, the only other drug for SPMS. I found out about a different drug therapy, antibiotics and statins, that I can get, and is helping me, from a BBS linked to multiplesclerosissucks.com. It's been a life- and sanity-saver for me.

    --

    Lemon curry?
  3. Re:Paranoid Schizophrenia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Schizophrenia.com has a chat room and message board... Nice site, really. Been going there for years.