Though the U.S. health care system is among the best in the developed world, access to chronic care remains a problem for many, in part, because the system is not ideally suited to treat long-term conditions. Consequently, economic and societal costs associated with chronic disease are rising rapidly. To complement traditional pathogenic chronic…

Background: The Internet is an important tool for empowering patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to learn about and self-manage their condition. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand which aspects of the online experience facilitates or hinders the perceived ability of patients with COPD to achieve their…

"The Belmont Report" was written in 1979 to address the abuse of human participants in biomedical research. In the report, three ethical principles were described: (1) "beneficence," which describes an act of charity or kindness that maximizes possible benefits while minimizing possible harms; (2) "justice," described…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how Pinterest group pinboards are used to communicate health information on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method A nonprobability census sampling method retrieved 399 pins from the 10 most followed COPD group pinboards. Pins were coded according to COPD information categories,…

Background: College students actively seek online health information and use Instagram, an image- and video-based social networking website, to build social networks grounded in trust and behavioral norms (social capital), which have the potential to prevent chronic disease. Purpose: This study aimed to (1) examine how intensity of Instagram use…