Can Existing Social Media Encourage Health and Care Co-production?

The Future of health in EU faces the triple challenges of ageing, fiscal restriction and inclusion. Co-production offers ways to manage informal care resources to help cater for the growing needs of elderly people. We investigate the uses of Social media (SM) as an enabler of co-production in health and care. We conducted a qualitative study using interviews and online observations. We found that particular types of SM are currently used to enable co-production through coordination and communication across boundaries. Particularly, Twitter and Facebook are used to connect carers, disseminate information and invite volunteers. However there are still many other types of SM which are rarely used in this sector due to their limitations. Nevertheless, carers showed interest in using systems which help them to engage people in shaping services, sharing experiences and encouraging care activities.