Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Biocitizens and Medical Research
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal article on the "Informed Patient" echoes some of the themes discussed at our recent conference. Grant Wedner (DailyStrength), Erin Edgerton (the CDC's Interactive and New Media Group), and Jay Silverstein (Revolution Health) participated in a panel discussion on "Social Networking and New Information Authorities." You can find an encapsulation of their discussion in the wall charts available in the left-hand column. Also check out our Forecast: Health 2.0 and the video scenario, "Patientology."
The WSJ article examines how social networking websites are affecting the direction of medical research.
Online patient groups have become an increasingly powerful force for health-care consumers over the past decade, raising funds for research and offering patient information and support. Now, as the cumulative power of their memberships grows, these groups are becoming invaluable partners to researchers and physicians searching for cures.
Patient groups are stepping up their participation in medical and public-health research and entering far-reaching collaborative efforts with researchers, scientists and drug developers. They are raising funds and taking part in studies to evaluate the impact of online patient sites. They are even conducting their own studies on side effects of medications, and working with researchers to recruit clinical-trial participants, provide DNA samples and start tissue banks.
Biocitizenship in action!
A relatively new example of this type of online social network is Medshelf.org, which is trying to help online medical support groups create community repositories of knowledge using wiki software. It is part of a research study being done by the University of Michigan's School of Information.