Introduction

This is an opportunity for you to experience the Internet as a tool for patient-centered care. While many of you have probably used the Internet to either look up a symptom you may be having or a condition that was diagnosed, increasingly people are also using the Internet to share their personal experiences and to learn from others. This is the kind of information that one's practitioner cannot provide. The purpose of this activity is to evaluate whether information gathered is helpful in understanding the illness, to learn the benefits and challenges of an online support group, and to determine the effectiveness of the group to those who participate in the group.

Discussion Questions:

Prepare for the discussions by reading and viewing the assigned materials. The Module Notes can be used as a guide to understand some of the content of the materials. This activity aligns with module outcomes 1 and 2.

• Choose a disease or health condition that interests you and find an online support group for that disease or condition. Explore the site and find the discussion forum. Report back whether the discussion was helpful or not for you in understanding the disease or condition. Please also report on whether or not it seemed helpful to the participants based on their comments in a forum discussion thread. What are the benefits and challenges of using the Internet from a patient-centered point of view?
• In your initial post, please identify the disease or illness you investigated. Include the name of the site and the specific URL. When you respond to two of your peers, please visit their site and compare it with your own.