
Effective Use of Social Media in Public Health
- 1st Edition - May 24, 2023
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Editors: Kavita Batra, Manoj Sharma
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 5 6 3 0 - 7
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 5 6 3 1 - 4
Effective use of Social Media in Public Health offers a well-organized and comprehensive review of social media and its impact on people’s lives and the public health sector… Read more

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Request a sales quoteEffective use of Social Media in Public Health offers a well-organized and comprehensive review of social media and its impact on people’s lives and the public health sector. Divided into sections, the book addresses the growing use (and importance) of social media in conducting and disseminating research findings and covers an array of issues from cyberbullying to diversity and inclusion. Written by health educators and practitioners for health educators and practitioners, this book is a timely resource on the topics discussed.
- Provides complete and comprehensive landscape of social media-based applications and their uses among diverse population groups
- Covers current uses and applications of social media, including coverage of issues such as cyberbullying, infodemiology, and program diversity and inclusion
- Includes content from authors from public health and interdisciplinary areas who deliver a holistic view of the subject matter
Researchers, Scientists, Practitioners, Undergraduate and Graduate Students in the areas of Public Health
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- List of contributors
- About the contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Section I. Introduction
- Chapter 1. Social media and types with their current applications in public health and healthcare
- Social media
- Role of social media in public health
- COVID-19 and social media publications
- Social media and the dangers of misinformation
- Types of social media
- Social media and public health interventions
- Social media and social ecological model
- Social media and youth
- Ethical issues in social media
- Challenges and opportunities of social media
- Chapter summary
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore
- Key terms—definitions
- Chapter 2. Gender and age-specific use of social media
- Introduction
- Age-specific use of social media
- The impact of gender on social media use
- Chapter summary
- Discussion questions
- Definition of key terms
- Websites to explore
- Section II. Social media use and mental health outcomes in diverse populations
- Chapter 3. Social media and young adults
- Social media and young adults
- Key terms defined
- Mental health and counseling trends and issues
- Summary
- Questions for discussion
- Website to explore
- Activity for the reader
- Key terms used in the chapter
- Chapter 4. Social media: utility versus addiction
- Introduction
- Prevalence of social media use
- Social media during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The epigenetic effect is a future concern
- Addiction to social media
- The theoretical basis of social media addiction
- Summary
- Conclusion
- Questions
- Definition of key terms
- Website to explore
- Popular social networking websites/applications
- Chapter 5. Social media use among older adults and their challenges
- Introduction
- Growing older population and its consequences
- Role of social support and social connectedness
- Social media
- Research-based evidence of benefits of social media usage among older adults
- Policy approaches to increase social connectedness
- Challenges associated with social media for older adults
- Summary
- Conclusion
- Questions
- Definition of key terms
- Websites to explore
- Chapter 6. Social media, diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Identifying diversity, equity, and inclusion
- How does health equity, diversity, and inclusion affect mental health?
- Barriers to mental health service utilization
- Linking social media, mental health, and diversity equity and inclusion
- Implications for public health practice
- Chapter summary
- Definition of key terms
- Review or discussion questions
- Websites to explore
- Section III. Social media and global exposure to research
- Chapter 7. Ethical, privacy, and confidentiality issues in the use and application of social media
- Social media and its varied applications
- Role of ethics in social media usage
- Role of privacy in social media usage
- Case study questions
- Case study questions
- Role of confidentiality in social media usage
- Review of literature
- Confidentiality
- Can ethics and confidentiality Coexist?
- Application of privacy and confidentiality in public health studies using social media
- Chapter summary
- Questions for discussion
- Important terms defined
- Websites to explore
- Chapter 8. Applications of social media research in quantitative and mixed methods research
- Introduction
- Applications of social media research
- Engagement (likes, comments, and reposting)
- Reach (followers, friends of friends, viral, and influencers)
- Motivations for posting
- Change over time
- Experimental
- Real-time
- Self-report vs. actual content
- Social media use measures
- Challenges for quantitative and mixed methods research
- Future directions for quantitative and mixed methods social media research
- Conclusion
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore
- Definition of key terms
- Chapter 9. Applications of social media in qualitative research in diverse public health areas
- Introduction
- Social media and qualitative research
- Methods/tools
- Applications of social media in diverse public health areas
- Application of social media by health care professionals
- Social media and public
- Social media and public health organizations
- Pitfalls of social media
- Guidelines for ethical use of social media in public health
- Conclusions and future directions
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore
- Key terms
- Chapter 10. Role of social media in research publicity and visibility
- Introduction
- Novel publication metric trends
- Using social media for health information
- Social media as dissemination avenues
- Visual abstracts
- Challenges and advantages of disseminating research on social media
- Effect of social media on health outcomes in spite of research findings
- Linking health literacy and media literacy
- Engaging policy makers through social media
- Disseminating research on social media and the rise of enterprise social media
- Implications for public health practice
- Conclusions
- Chapter summary
- Definition of key terms
- Review or discussion questions
- Websites to explore
- Section IV. Social media, public health communication, and pedagogy
- Chapter 11. Social media and policy campaigns
- Introduction
- Overview of social media in advocacy and policy change
- Examples of use
- Public opinion
- Future directions
- Conclusions
- Questions
- Websites to explore
- Definitions of key terms
- Chapter 12. Social media and Infodemiology—use of social media monitoring in emergency preparedness
- Introduction
- Information Epidemiology or Infodemiology
- Uses of Infodemiology on historical context
- Research landscape of Infodemiology
- The expanded framework of Infodemiology
- Social media and the COVID-19 pandemic
- Infodemic: A new front of challenge in the COVID-19 battle (mis vs. dis vs. mal)
- Fake news triangle and meta-framework of fake news impact
- COVID-19: A pandemic of publications
- “Infodemic knowledge” and public health at risk
- Social media: A double-edged sword
- Efforts to combat “infodemic”
- Strategies to flatten the “Infodemic curve”
- Conclusions and future directions
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore and a list of credible sources
- Key terms with definitions
- Chapter 13. Social media, online learning, and its application in public health
- Social media
- Health communication
- Health equity guiding principles for inclusive communication
- Skill building discussion questions activity
- Social marketing and public health
- Health promotion, prevention, and psychosocial health
- Chapter summary
- Chapter key terms
- Chapter review questions
- Websites to explore to learn more
- American public health association
- Texthelp
- Section V. Social media in healthcare
- Chapter 14. Application of social media in designing and implementing effective healthcare programs
- Introduction
- Role of social media in healthcare
- Role of social media in health promotion
- Role of social media in circulating health facts and ceasing the wrong information
- Role of social media in research
- Role of social media in professional development
- Role of social media in improving doctor–patient communication and health services
- Popular social media platforms for doctors
- Benefits of using social media by healthcare professionals
- Professional recommendations for using social media
- Limitations and challenges
- Conclusions
- Chapter summary
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore and a list of credible sources
- Definition of key terms
- Chapter 15. Role of social media in telemedicine
- Telemedicine
- Social media
- Social media in healthcare
- Role of smartphones in using social media in health
- Use of social media in telemedicine
- Guidelines for social media use in telemedicine
- Use of social media by different specialties/branches in healthcare
- Different uses of social media in healthcare
- mHealth and telemedicine
- Telemedicine, social media, and curriculum
- Telepharmacy
- Positive and negative points of using social media in telemedicine
- Recommendations for using social media in telemedicine
- Summary
- Questions for discussion
- Websites to explore
- Section VI. Epilogue
- Chapter 16. Innovative uses of social media in public health and future applications
- The growing use of social media among public health and healthcare professionals
- The upward trend of the use of social media in public health research
- Social media and crowdsourcing
- Artificial intelligence and social media
- Rise in the use of social media in teaching, training, and workforce development of public health and healthcare professionals
- Increasing use of social media in disease surveillance
- Rising use of social media in public health campaigns and messaging
- Greater use of social media by local health departments
- Social media surveillance in K-12 settings
- Counteracting threats from the use of social media
- Expanding the use of social media for health education and health promotion interventions
- Use of social media for equity and social justice
- Use of social media for quality assessment and safety of healthcare services
- Use of social media in policy change interventions
- Conclusion
- Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: May 24, 2023
- Imprint: Academic Press
- No. of pages: 392
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780323956307
- eBook ISBN: 9780323956314
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Kavita Batra
Dr. Kavita Batra, PhD, MPH, BDS, FRSPH, serves as an Assistant Professor and Senior Biostatistician with the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. Dr. Batra began her career as a dental surgeon in India and received her master’s and doctorate degrees in public health from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. As the co-vice chair of the research seminar planning committee for the office of research and director of internal medicine resident research within the school of medicine, Dr. Batra provides statistical and research mentoring to faculty, residents, fellows, and medical students. Her research interests include, but are not limited to, maternal and child health, COVID-19, social determinants of health, vaccine hesitancy, clinical research, and evidence synthesis. Dr. Batra has published multiple peer-reviewed articles and presented her work at several state, national, and international public health conferences. She has an extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research. Dr. Batra serves on the topical advisory panel and editorial boards of several journals, including Annals of Epidemiology, Psychiatric Case Reports, Dentistry Journal, Vaccines, and Healthcare. Dr. Batra is a President-elect to the Delta Omega-Delta Theta Chapter at UNLV, a Grad Alumni Ambassador, a key member to the Sexual Misconduct Taskforce, Nevada System of Higher Education, and a statewide secretory to the Nevada Public Health Association.
Affiliations and expertise
Assistant Professor and Senior Biostatistician, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, Las Vegas, Nevada, USAMS
Manoj Sharma
Manoj Sharma, MBBS, Ph.D., MCHES® is a public health physician and educator with a medical degree from the University of Delhi and a doctorate in Preventive Medicine from The Ohio State University. He is also a Master Certified Health Education Specialist certified by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing. He is currently a tenured Full Professor of Public Health and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He served as the past Founding Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at UNLV. In his career, spanning over 40 years, he has trained/taught over 6,000 health professionals. He has designed and taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in health behavior, health education, and health promotion at 13 national and international universities working full-time or part-time. He has worked and provided leadership for local health departments, state health departments/agencies, federal government agencies, non-profit agencies, professional organizations, and international agencies including governments of other nations. He has been invited as a keynote presenter at several universities. He is a prolific researcher and as of March 2025 has published 17 books, over 425 peer-reviewed research articles, and over 500 other publications (h-index 60, i-10 index over 250, and over 20,000 citations) and secured funding for over $10 million. He has been awarded several prestigious honors including the American Public Health Association’s Lyndon Haviland Mentoring Award, PHEHP Distinguished Career Award, ICTHP Impact Award, J. Mayhew Derryberry Award, ATOD Lifetime Achievement Award, Cancer Forum’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award and William R. Gemma Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Public Health Alumni Society and Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Medicine at the Ohio State University among others. His research interests are in developing and evaluating theory-based (evidence-based) health behavior change interventions, obesity prevention, mental health, stress-coping, community-based participatory research/evaluation, and integrative mind-body-spirit interventions.
Affiliations and expertise
Social & Behavioral Health, & Internal Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, United StatesRead Effective Use of Social Media in Public Health on ScienceDirect