Online support: chronically ill patients report benefits, high levels of satisfaction.
That's what one well-known diabetes care center wanted to find out. So it launched a study to determine the surfing habits and opinions of people who logged on to a series of moderated chat groups. The results are promising, but health care organizations interested in sponsoring online support groups of their own need to carefully consider how they will proceed.
D001900:Boston; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D008192:Deception; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology*; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000592:standards; D012944:Social Support