JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Analysing Twitter posts allows rapid access to how issues and experiences are socially shared and constructed amongst communities of health service users and providers, in ways that traditional qualitative methods may not.

Objective:

In order to enrich understandings of mental health crisis care in the UK, the present study explored views on Crisis Resolution Teams (CRTs) expressed on Twitter. We aimed to identify similarities and differences between views expressed on Twitter compared to interviews and focus groups.

Methods:

Twitter’s advanced search function was used to retrieve public Tweets on CRTs. A form of thematic analysis was conducted on 500 randomly selected Tweets. Principles of refutational synthesis were applied to compare themes with those identified in a multicentre qualitative interview study.

Results:

The most popular hashtag identified was “#CrisisTeamFail”, where posts were principally related to poor quality of care and access, particularly for people given a “personality disorder” diagnosis. Posts about CRTs giving unhelpful self-management advice were common, as were Tweets about resource strains on mental health services. This was not identified in the research interviews. Whilst each source yielded unique themes, there were some overlaps with themes identified via interviews and focus groups, including the importance of rapid access to care. Views expressed on Twitter were generally more critical than those obtained via face-to-face methods.

Conclusions:

By collecting data from participants accessed via mental health services, traditional qualitative studies may under-represent the views of more critical stakeholders. Research on social media content can complement traditional or face-to-face methods and ensure that a broad spectrum of viewpoints can inform service development and policy.