Daniel R. George

Use of social media in graduate-level medical humanities education: Two pilot studies from Penn State College of Medicine

Background: Social media strategies in education have gained attention for undergraduate students, but there has been relatively little application with graduate populations in medicine. Aims: To use and evaluate the integration of new social media tools into the curricula of two graduate-level medical humanities electives offered to 4th-year students at Penn State College of Medicine. Methods: Instructors selected five social media tools – Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blogging and Skype – to promote student learning. At the conclusion of each course, students provided quantitative and qualitative course evaluation. Results: Students gave high favourability ratings to both courses, and expressed that the integration of social media into coursework augmented learning and collaboration. Others identified challenges including: demands on time, concerns about privacy and lack of facility with technology. Integrating social media tools into class activities appeared to offer manifold benefits over traditional classroom methods, including real-time communication outside of the classroom, connecting with medical experts, collaborative opportunities and enhanced creativity. Conclusions: Social media can augment learning opportunities within humanities curriculum in medical schools, and help students acquire tools and skill-sets for problem solving, networking, and collaboration. Command of technologies will be increasingly important to the practice of medicine in the twenty-first century.

Dangers and opportunities for social media in medicine.

Health professionals have begun using social media to benefit patients, enhance professional networks, and advance understanding of individual and contextual factors influencing public health. However, discussion of the dangers of these technologies in medicine has overwhelmed consideration of positive applications. This article summarizes the hazards of social media in medicine and explores how changes in functionality on sites like Facebook may make these technologies less perilous for health professionals. Finally, it describes the most promising avenues through which professionals can use social media in medicine—improving patient communication, enhancing professional development, and contributing to public health research and service.

Friending Facebook? A Minicourse on the Use of Social Media by Health Professionals

Introduction: Health professionals are working in an era of social technologies that empower users to generate content in real time. This article describes a 3‐part continuing education minicourse called “Friending Facebook?” undertaken at Penn State Hershey Medical Center that aimed to model the functionality of current technologies in health care and encourage discussion about how health professionals might responsibly utilize social media. Methods: Fifteen health professionals participated in the course and provided written evaluation at its conclusion. The course instructor took field notes during each of the 3 classes to document emergent themes. Results: The course received uniformly positive evaluations, and participants identified several current tools perceived as being potentially useful in their professional lives, including news aggregators, Google Alerts, and—if used responsibly—social networking sites such as Facebook. Discussion: Developing innovative and appropriate programming that teaches to emerging social media technologies and ideologies will be crucial to helping the health professions adapt to a new, networked era. Medical institutions would do well to foster interprofessional—and perhaps even intergenerational—conversations to share not only the dangers and risks of social media, but also the opportunities that are emerging out of a rapidly evolving online world.

A Model of Intergenerativity: How the Intergenerational School is Bringing the Generations Together to Foster Collective Wisdom and Community Health

Our world is presently facing formidable challenges requiring intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional solutions that encourage local learning and action. This article articulates the concept of “intergenerativity,” a theoretical and practical framework that can build the collective wisdom and inspire the informed local action that a world addled with complex challenges so desperately needs. Intergenerativity is defined and contextualized within the shared site programs of the Intergenerational School, a charter school in Cleveland, Ohio, that aims to foster creative exchange between the generations. The rationale and design of past, present, and future research initiatives is shared, demonstrating how multiage partnerships are already beginning to play a role in fostering learning around urgently important 21st century challenges such as climate change and population health. Ultimately, it is argued that, by virtue of their intergenerative nature, intergenerational partnerships can be a powerful means of nurturing social, civic, and environmental responsibility and helping current and future generations address social and ecological challenges.

Facebook-based stress management resources for first-year medical students: A multi-method evaluation

Student anxiety and doubt about academic performance in the early years of medical school have been well documented. Stress management programs can be helpful but are challenged by shortages of time, personnel, and resources. Therefore, popular online social networks such as Facebook may offer an innovative strategy for addressing student stress and supporting coping. This pilot study explored whether first-year medical students could benefit from a stress management intervention based exclusively on Facebook. During orientation week at Penn State College of Medicine, participants were randomly assigned to a Facebook stress management group that addressed problematic issues during the first semester. The intervention took place during the first eleven weeks of medical school. A multi-method evaluation of the intervention was completed using descriptive statistics for demographics and frequencies and qualitative procedures for focus group data. The accessibility and ease of use of a Facebook-based stress management program proved valuable for medical students, particularly early in the semester when engagement was greatest. These preliminary results suggest that medical schools might consider adding an online social networking component to existing stress management programming. This online strategy may also be of benefit to other health professionals and students from other health disciplines.

Intergenerational volunteering and quality of life: mixed methods evaluation of a randomized control trial involving persons with mild to moderate dementia

PurposeThis article reports on a mixed methods evaluation of a randomized control trial in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, that assessed whether an intergenerational volunteering intervention could enhance quality of life (QOL) for persons with mild to moderate dementia.MethodsFifteen participants were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in hour-long volunteer sessions with a kindergarten class and an older elementary class in alternating weeks over a 5-month interval. Psychometric data on cognitive functioning, stress, depression, sense of purpose, and sense of usefulness were collected at baseline and at the close of the intervention, and change scores were computed and analyzed for all variables. Ethnography was carried out through the duration of the study, and narrative interviews were held with participants and caregivers. A modified grounded theory approach was used for qualitative analysis.ResultsQuantitative analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in stress for the intervention group. Qualitative analysis identified three main pathways through which intergenerational volunteering affected QOL: perceived health benefits, sense of purpose and sense of usefulness, and relationships.ConclusionsMixed methods evaluation demonstrated that intergenerational volunteering might enhance quality of life through several key pathways, most significantly reduced stress.

An arts-based intervention at a nursing home to improve medical students' attitudes toward persons with dementia.

Purpose Emerging data suggest that students’ attitudes toward older patients may be positively affected by geriatric experiences that are not clinically based, but no known interventions have used creative arts to integrate humanistic experiences into medical student geriatric education. This 2012 study evaluated whether participating in TimeSlips, a creative group-based storytelling program involving persons with dementia, improved medical students’ attitudes toward such patients. Method The authors administered the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) to 22 fourth-year medical students to evaluate the mean change in their self-reported attitudes toward persons with dementia. The authors used paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to analyze pre- and post-program scores on the individual items of the DAS, on the subdomains of “comfort” and “knowledge,” and on the overall scale. They used Cronbach alpha to evaluate the internal consistency and reliability of the “comfort” and “knowledge” subdomains and of the overall scale. Results Medical students’ attitudes, as measured by the significantly higher scores on 12 of the 20 items, on each of the two subdomains, and on the overall scale, showed improvement after the TimeSlips sessions. The DAS showed acceptable to good internal consistency on both subdomains and on the overall scale both pre and post session; however, the internal consistency analysis is preliminary because of small sample size. Conclusions The authors’ findings provide preliminary evidence that participation in a creative storytelling program at a nursing home improves medical students’ attitudes toward persons with dementia and adds to evidence supporting the reliability of the DAS.

Intergenerational Volunteering and Quality of Life for Persons With Mild to Moderate Dementia: Results From a 5-Month Intervention Study in the United States

OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether a structured intergenerational volunteering intervention would enhance quality of life (QOL) for persons with mild to moderate dementia. METHODS Fifteen participants were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in hour-long structured volunteer sessions with a kindergarten class and an older elementary class in alternating weeks during a 5-month interval. Data on cognitive functioning, stress, depression, sense of purpose, and sense of usefulness were collected at baseline and at the close of the intervention. Change scores were computed and analyzed for all variables. RESULTS There was a significant decrease in stress for the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS This study adds preliminary findings that intergenerational volunteering interventions might contribute to QOL for persons with dementia, in part through a reduction in stress.

Impact of Participation in TimeSlips, a Creative Group-Based Storytelling Program, on Medical Student Attitudes Toward Persons With Dementia: A Qualitative Study

PURPOSE To evaluate whether medical student participation in TimeSlips (TS), a creative group-based storytelling program, with persons affected by dementia would improve student attitudes toward this patient population. DESIGN AND METHODS Fifteen fourth-year medical students from Penn State College of Medicine participated in a month-long regimen of TS sessions at a retirement community. Student course evaluations were analyzed at the conclusion of the program to examine perceived qualitative changes in attitude. FINDINGS Qualitative data revealed insights into the manner in which student attitudes toward a geriatric patient population became more positive. IMPLICATIONS This is the first known pilot study to suggest that participation in a creative group-based storytelling program might improve medical student attitudes toward persons with dementia.

Beyond Good and Evil: Exploring Medical Trainee Use of Social Media

Background: Medicine has struggled to integrate a new generation of social media technologies. Rather than focusing on the promise of these emerging tools, the academic literature is replete with admonishments of how social media pose a danger to medical professionals, and guidelines regarding social media are written with expectations of misuse rather than consideration of positive application. Summary: To better learn how new technology might be integrated into professional lives, it is imperative to seek perspectives from younger trainees who have already begun navigating the unique professional and ethical dilemmas posed by social media and might assist in identifying innovative uses of existing tools. Conclusions: The views and practices of current trainees can provide important insight into the proactive role social media can play in the delivery of more effective health care during an era in which social media usage is invariably increasing for medical professionals and patients.