{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.014146772767462422, 'fraction_numerical': 0.004420866489832007, 'mean_word_length': 5.738095238095238, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Online health communities: An assessment of the influence of participation on patient empowerment outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how participation in an online health community provides for direct benefits in the form of information utility and social support and an indirect influence on perceptions of patient empowerment.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method approach was conducted involving interviews with moderators of 18 online health communities and a field survey of 153 online health community participants.Findings – Online health community participation leads to direct benefits in the form of information utility and social support and that information utility also helps to shape perceptions of patient empowerment among community participants.Research limitations/implications – This research calls into question the role of online health communities as a support mechanism to empower patients to take ownership over their healthcare treatment. Online health communities support the development of patient empowerment by creating and disseminating information that can be used ...