Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Feb 26, 2019
Date Accepted: Jul 7, 2019
r/Nipah: rapid creation of an online discussion space during a serious disease outbreak
ABSTRACT
Background:
In previous health emergencies the people within the affected communities asked many questions at a time when professional medics and health agencies were overstretched and struggling to cope. Our previous research has shown that, during the 2014-15 West Africa Ebola Crisis, volunteer-moderated online discussion forums were able to provide peer-to-peer reliable, trustworthy and well-managed information. We speculated that with the right mix of epistemic and experiential knowledge, such a discussion forum could be set up rapidly during a future serious disease outbreak.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to set up a peer-to-peer health information exchange forum during a real outbreak of serious infectious disease in the shortest time possible. An outbreak of Nipah Virus in Kerala, India in May 2018 provided the opportunity to test our theories.
Methods:
We initiated a nipah virus discussion forum on the platform reddit.com, recruiting volunteer moderators from within the existing reddit community, thus facilitating posts and comments to the forum from genuine reddit users. We gathered and analyzed data on the number of posts (n=36) and comments (n=21) submitted, page views (n=840) during the period May 24 to June 23 2018 and subscribers (n=33) by utilising the data analysis tools embedded in the reddit platform.
Results:
We were able to set up a functioning health information exchange platform by May 24 2018 – within two weeks of the index case and one week of the official WHO verification of a nipah virus outbreak. Over the following five weeks, the forum received 36 posts, 840 page views (including 368 on the forum’s busiest day) and provided information in local languages spoken in the outbreak region as well as English. Information on government helpline numbers and FAQs was also provided to the community at risk.
Conclusions:
The delivery of a fully functional discussion forum within a short space of time during an actual health emergency demonstrates that our theory that this is possible. Our theory that reddit could provide a suitable platform to host such a forum was upheld. This offers great potential for public health communication during future serious disease outbreaks. Clinical Trial: n/a
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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