Update: This report is now available free of charge to contributing members of our knowledge community Living the Path. Learn about our Contributing Member program here.
Late last month, I published an analysis focusing on whether Baby Boomers are using social technologies. I looked at this issue because some have argued that Boomers are shying away from social media.
It’s no secret that older people are relying on social tools for health and wellness purposes. As a result, marketers are urging (and sometimes begging) health organizations to begin using social media technologies more aggressively.
This is sound advice. However, is it a good idea for health organizations to join the social media party without knowing whether they have been invited? Unfortunately, by not looking closely at this question, some are dampening rather than enhancing the online festivities.
Before communicating via social media technologies, health organizations need to answer two questions:
- How do e-patients feel about us marketing via social media tools?
- What do e-patients want from us – friendship, or something else?
Click to Enlarge this Chart
We know have some answers to these very important questions. Earlier this month, the Path of the Blue Eye project commissioned a nationally representative online survey of 668 e-patients (this group was culled from a larger sample of 1,000 U.S. adults). The margin of error for this study is +/- 3.1%.
It turns out that my post about Boomer health social media users was very popular. Given this, I thought you’d be interested in learning what older e-patients want from health organizations communicating via social media.
The data reveal that this group is more interested in information than interaction or friendship. Tellingly:
- 62% of e-patients 55 and older want news or information about medical conditions or diseases from health organizations using new or social media.
- Only 32% of e-patients 55+ and 38% of e-patients between 45 and 54 want to communicate directly with health organization staff via social media.
- Surprisingly, only 37% of e-patients between 45 – 54 years old want health organizations to use social media to help them share info with people suffering from a medical condition.
The bottom line: If you want to capture older e-patients’ hearts via social media, focus on substance (information) over style (friendship).
If You Want the Rest of the Study, You’ll Have to Get unNiched
The rest of this study will only be available to those who purchase the e-patients focused edition of our premium publication, unNiche. Individuals purchasing this in-depth report titled, “Communicating with the Empowered E-Patient,” will have access to:
- Analysis focusing on whether e-patients think health organizations’ rush to social media is a positive development – we’ll look at hospitals, pharma companies, government agencies and other organizations
- Data on what e-patients of different genders, income types and ethnic backgrounds want from health organizations communicating via social media
Read More from Walking the Path:
[...] Article Fard Johnmar, Walking the Path, 17 November 2009 SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Older E-Patients Crave Information, Not Friendship from Health Organizations Communicating Via Social Media", url: "http://articles.icmcc.org/2009/11/18/older-e-patients-crave-information-not-friendship-from-health-organizations-communicating-via-social-media/" }); [...]
Great information – thank you for conducting this survey.
How is “health organization” defined?
Adam:
Thanks for your kind words about the study. We asked another question in the study, which defined health organizations as health non-profits, government agencies, local hospitals, national hospitals, health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.
Fard
Thank you for this information. This is an incredibly important point to get across and repeat over and over again.
The paternalistic attitudes within health care are a major obstacle to true consumer-centric reform. We need to get past the notion that health care of any kind is too delicate a matter for non-experts. We got past this in finanical services in the last decade (individual investors now dominate the industry), let’s hope health care follows suite in the coming years.
[...] organizations communicating via social media. Some results are outlined in a recent blog post, Older E-Patients Crave Information, Not Friendship from Health Organizations Communicating Via Socia…. The rest of the study goes on sale next week. In short, the study finds: ”If you want to [...]
[...] The good folks over the Path of the Blue Eye Project alerted me to some interesting statistics that highlight the importance of information to e-patients. Keep an eye out for the full report next [...]