title: Facing the times: A young onset dementia support group: Facebook™ style.
abstract: Young onset dementia accounts for up to 1 in 10 dementia diagnoses. Those diagnosed face premature transition into the realm of aged care services and adjustment to an illness of ageing prior to age 65. To help elicit communication of the perceived psychosocial needs of this group, provide a platform to gain peer support and advocate for increased awareness, the Young Onset Dementia Support Group was established on the social networking site, Facebook™ . Followers post comments, read educational or otherwise interesting news feeds, share inspirational quotes and access others living with dementia worldwide. Facebook provides a means of rapid global reach in a way that allows people with dementia to increase their communications and potentially reduce isolation. This paper was authored by the page administrators. We aim to highlight the promising utility of a social network platform just entering its stride amongst health communication initiatives.
authors.affiliation: FNQ ACAT and Memory Service, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Older Persons and Subacute Services, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, Cairns.|James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Strivens
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003142:Communication; D003196:Computer Graphics; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D058015:Health Communication; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D011788:Quality of Life; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D061108:Social Media; D060756:Social Networking
keywords: Alzheimer disease; Dementia; Facebook; Self-help groups; Social media