"People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy

Objective: Venoplasty has been proposed, alongside the theory of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), as a treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite concerns about its efficacy and safety, thousands of patients have undergone the procedure. This paper analyses YouTube videos wher...

Description complète

Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Mazanderani, F, O'Neill, B, Powell, J
Format: Journal article
Langue:English
Publié: 2013
_version_ 1826303453032349696
author Mazanderani, F
O'Neill, B
Powell, J
author_facet Mazanderani, F
O'Neill, B
Powell, J
author_sort Mazanderani, F
collection OXFORD
description Objective: Venoplasty has been proposed, alongside the theory of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), as a treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite concerns about its efficacy and safety, thousands of patients have undergone the procedure. This paper analyses YouTube videos where patients have shared their treatment experiences. Methods: Content analysis on the 100 most viewed videos from over 4000 identified in a search for 'CCSVI', and qualitative thematic analysis on popular 'channels' demonstrating patients' experiences. Results: Videos adopt an overwhelmingly positive stance towards CCSVI; many were uploaded by patients and present pre- and/or post-treatment experiences. Patients demonstrate rather than merely describe their symptoms, performing tests on themselves before and after treatment to quantify improvement. Videos combine medical terminology and tests with personal experiences of living with MS. Conclusion: Social media technologies provide patients with novel opportunities for advocating for particular treatments; generating alternative forms of 'evidence' built on a hybrid of personal experience and medical knowledge. Practice implications: Healthcare practitioners need to engage with new digital forms of content, including online social media. Instead of disregarding sources not considered 'evidence-based', practitioners should enhance their understanding of what 'experiential-evidence' is deemed significant to patients, particularly in contested areas of healthcare. © 2013 The Authors.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T06:02:55Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ecd5c778-75a4-4dd2-9a44-b47079ad28c3
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T06:02:55Z
publishDate 2013
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ecd5c778-75a4-4dd2-9a44-b47079ad28c32022-03-27T11:20:26Z"People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ecd5c778-75a4-4dd2-9a44-b47079ad28c3EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Mazanderani, FO'Neill, BPowell, JObjective: Venoplasty has been proposed, alongside the theory of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), as a treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite concerns about its efficacy and safety, thousands of patients have undergone the procedure. This paper analyses YouTube videos where patients have shared their treatment experiences. Methods: Content analysis on the 100 most viewed videos from over 4000 identified in a search for 'CCSVI', and qualitative thematic analysis on popular 'channels' demonstrating patients' experiences. Results: Videos adopt an overwhelmingly positive stance towards CCSVI; many were uploaded by patients and present pre- and/or post-treatment experiences. Patients demonstrate rather than merely describe their symptoms, performing tests on themselves before and after treatment to quantify improvement. Videos combine medical terminology and tests with personal experiences of living with MS. Conclusion: Social media technologies provide patients with novel opportunities for advocating for particular treatments; generating alternative forms of 'evidence' built on a hybrid of personal experience and medical knowledge. Practice implications: Healthcare practitioners need to engage with new digital forms of content, including online social media. Instead of disregarding sources not considered 'evidence-based', practitioners should enhance their understanding of what 'experiential-evidence' is deemed significant to patients, particularly in contested areas of healthcare. © 2013 The Authors.
spellingShingle Mazanderani, F
O'Neill, B
Powell, J
"People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title "People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title_full "People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title_fullStr "People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title_full_unstemmed "People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title_short "People power" or "pester power"? YouTube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
title_sort people power or pester power youtube as a forum for the generation of evidence and patient advocacy
work_keys_str_mv AT mazanderanif peoplepowerorpesterpoweryoutubeasaforumforthegenerationofevidenceandpatientadvocacy
AT oneillb peoplepowerorpesterpoweryoutubeasaforumforthegenerationofevidenceandpatientadvocacy
AT powellj peoplepowerorpesterpoweryoutubeasaforumforthegenerationofevidenceandpatientadvocacy