HealthMatters
Scrolling although #birthcontrol on social media is sort of a field of sweets. You by no means know what you’re going to get.
In a single video, a lady turns to disclose a dramatic weight achieve, blaming contraception tablets. In one other, healthcare suppliers (HCPs) carry out a choreographed dance holding vaginal rings. A 3rd submit says, “Contraception makes you date crappy males.”
Social media makes it straightforward to place a message — any message, actually — into the world, however media has lengthy influenced conversations about girls’s well being.
Melissa Jordan, a registered nurse, stated she remembers the extremely publicized Girls’s Well being Initiative examine in 2002 that incorrectly stated taking estrogen causes breast most cancers. The outcomes of the poorly carried out examine dominated the information and scared tens of millions of ladies away from protected and efficient hormone remedy. Jordan stated some girls nonetheless consider these outcomes as a result of there’s a whole lot of misinformation about girls’s well being on the market — particularly on social media.
“There’s little [accurate] data or training concerning menopause. I can solely think about that there’s even much less concerning sexual well being and contraception,” Jordan stated.
On one hand, social media provides extra accessibility to data general. Analysis reveals some girls, particularly youthful girls, look to social media for perception on necessary matters like contraception.
However how have you learnt what you’re listening to is true? And worse, what if it’s not?
Social media influencers and contraception
“Mis- and dis-information round contraception and sexual well being run rampant on social media,” stated Raegan McDonald-Mosley, M.D., MPH, CEO of the nonprofit group Energy to Determine.
It may be even more durable to inform what’s truth vs. fiction when it appears like the knowledge is coming from a trusted buddy. Social media influencers — folks with a whole lot of followers — can play a component in swaying opinions about contraception. And destructive private experiences can lead folks to unfold misinformation.
For instance, one examine discovered that influencers who had a destructive tone about hormonal contraception exaggerated the dangers and unintended effects in comparison with non-hormonal choices.
“Readers ought to be involved as a result of hormonophobia [fear about hormones based on irrational causes] can gas misinformation and forestall girls from making knowledgeable reproductive healthcare choices,” stated Emily Pfender, an creator of the examine and Ph.D. candidate on the College of Delaware.
One other examine co-authored by Pfender discovered that influencers who talked about stopping hormonal contraception didn’t speak about substitute choices. “This sends a message to viewers that utilizing contraception isn’t necessary and will promote dangerous conduct,” Pfender stated. “When influencers did begin a brand new contraception, it was most frequently fertility awareness-based strategies, which have excessive error charges and require particular data to make use of accurately.”
Social media and shared decision-making
On the subject of making well being choices in your sexual and reproductive well being, it’s necessary to know the supply behind the knowledge you’re taking in.
When doubtful, McDonald-Mosley stated to ask your self the next questions:
- Is the knowledge from a reputable medical supply or supplier?
- Can you discover the identical data from one other trusted useful resource?
- When was the knowledge you’re printed?
- Does the individual’s perspective appear overly biased or political?
Robyn Faye, M.D., an OB-GYN and member of HealthyWomen’s Girls’s Well being Advisory Council, stated she turns to her trusted social community — science — when sufferers carry up questionable theories. “I’ll pull up the newest articles from the CDC database and present them the knowledge I’ve,” she stated. “I actually simply must argue the purpose and, usually, it really works.”
Faye famous that almost all healthcare suppliers need to have an open dialog in regards to the unusual stuff you learn on social media. They need to take the time to share data and ask questions. This results in shared decision-making and discovering the most effective contraception choice that works for you, your well being and your reproductive targets.
Nonetheless, it could be onerous to vary somebody’s opinion in the event that they really feel strongly about what they’ve learn on-line. That is completely high quality, Faye stated. However she cautioned in opposition to placing an excessive amount of inventory in folks you don’t know.
Misinformation on social media can have a harmful impact on girls’s well being. Nevertheless it doesn’t must be this fashion. Data is energy, and confirming any data or issues together with your HCP will help you see the entire image — not only a small sq..
McDonald-Mosley stated too many individuals lack general data about reproductive and sexual well being as a result of they by no means discovered about it at school or the neighborhood. That is the place the constructive results of social media channels can shine by bridging the hole in accessible well being data.
“Social media isn’t all dangerous. It’s, actually, a strong software that can be utilized to achieve folks the place they’re with correct data they should take management of their reproductive and sexual well being.”
You’ll be able to’t belief all the things you learn on-line. However for those who do analysis and discuss to your HCP, you’ll be able to defend your self from misinformation.
This useful resource was created with assist from Organon, a HealthyWomen Company Advisory Council member.
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