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P2–301: Use of social media for recruitment in Alzheimer's disease research
Author(s) -
Kurtzke Margo,
Romero Heather,
WelshBohmer Kathleen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2013.05.949
Subject(s) - social media , internet privacy , disease , psychology , population , public relations , medicine , business , computer science , political science , world wide web , pathology , environmental health
Background: Social media is becoming more relevant to Alzheimer’s research. It can be developed easily, changed instantly, and used to reach a wide audience. Numerous medical schools and hospitals use social media to advertise and engage the public. Many Alzheimer centers across the country are already having success using social media to maintain contact with the general population. Methods:We systematically surveyed the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels) among Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADCs), and discuss the benefits and possible risks of using social media as a recruitment platform for Alzheimer’s Disease research. Results: Sixteen of the 32 ADCs across the country use some form of social media. Eleven use Facebook, 9 use Twitter, and 4 have YouTube channels. ADCs have as many as 488 individuals or organizations who receive regular updates via social media sites, though this number can exceed 300,000 when connected to social media sites from an affiliated hospital or medical school. Learning to use the sites efficiently is a main competent to the success of this recruitment tactic. Site users must be aware of their audience and tailor their material to them. It must be presented clearly and in a way that promotes interaction. Risks of using social media include possible threats to validity in research, for example, sharing information about a research protocol that could be instantly visible to other participants. This risk can be minimized by including a warning against this in research consenting. Another consideration is the added initial time needed to launch social media sites. However, once a social media page is launched, there is no need for extensive time spent on maintenance and, with steady up keep, the pagewill help to perpetuate itself through postings by followers and site managers.Conclusions: Social media has the potential to be a new cost effective tool for research recruitment, because it is capable of quickly reaching a much larger and diverse population than traditional recruitment methods alone. Constantly changing, it is a responsive means of engaging a broad audience with up to the minute scientific news of public health interest.