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People who are affected by cancer can benefit greatly from social support and digital social networks, though our understanding of online support is primarily founded in dominant platforms like Facebook. In addition, while previous scholarship indicates that social support is available online, little research has examined predictors of support prov...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... additional models were constructed to identify the relationship between narrative elements and reassuring support, which emerged more commonly than empathic support in this dataset-in approximately 53% of comments (see Table 1). The control model (Model 3 in Table 4) reported several significant findings, with identifiability (χ 2 (2) = 9.68; p < .01), preexisting support (χ 2 (3) = 8.73; p < .04), ...Citations
... Since social media has a big impact on the treatment process, especially when it comes to improving quality of life, one way to achieve the goal of enhancing support for cancer patients is to improve social support through social media platforms. (Hale et al., 2020). Specifically, mindfulness meditation enhances cancer patients quality of life . ...
Background
The efficacy of spiritual support for cancer patients is crucial in the course of treatment. As a result, it is crucial to consider the mentoring techniques employed. The purpose of this review of the literature is to methodically look at worldwide research from the previous ten years that has been published in English-language journals from different nations that relates to the usefulness of spiritual support for cancer patients to improve quality of life
Method
The method used in this literature review is by database search strategy: data search using a systematic and comprehensive electronic database from several indexing and hand searching. The following indexes were searched for research data: Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed, and Proquest. By utilizing the search terms "OR" spirituality accompanying "AND" quality of life, spirituality support. The eligibility requirements established by the PICO model (Population, Intervention, Comparison/controls, Outcome) were taken into consideration when conducting the article search. Population: cancer patients, Intervention: Spiritual support, Comparison: Intervention provided, Outcome: Improved quality of life.
The process of selecting and extracting data involves stating the problem to be studied, pertinent groups, intervention to be provided, and results to be measured. The author then goes on to clarify the selection and analysis process by outlining the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria as follows: The inclusion criteria for the articles reviewed were: the article had to be a full paper, the research subjects were cancer patients, the intervention carried out was spiritual assistance with a comparison of cancer patients without usual care spiritual assistance. An improvement in cancer patients' quality of life is the search's result. The exclusion criteria for articles reviewed are: articles other than English, research articles before 2017 and articles that are not free access
Result
11 articles were examined. Focuses on providing spiritual support to cancer sufferers, including how to do it and the results. Spiritual support provided through a variety of techniques, including mindfulness, meditation, music therapy, and telephone counseling, encourages patients to be more passionate about their treatments and enhances their quality of life. The patient is religious preferences should be taken into consideration when providing care.
Conclusion
Spiritual support has a positive impact on a cancer patient is quality of life by giving them a sense of calm and desire to keep going through the treatment and their daily lives. Through improving coping mechanisms, bringing patients closer to something transcendent (God), and providing a sense of comfort for cancer patients going through chemotherapy, spiritual assistance techniques like mindfulness, listening to music, and counseling can help patients improve their quality of life.
Keyword: cancer patients, spiritual support, and quality of life.
... Following this conceptualization, we examined the aforementioned three dimensions of social media engagement in the context of cancer narratives. First, because cancer narratives often provide support and build connections (Hale et al., 2018(Hale et al., , 2020, users' emotional responses, such as care and love, represent an affective dimension of engagement. Additionally, individuals can be motivated by different levels of message involvement and demonstrate varying levels of activeness in cognitive processing, representing a cognitive dimension of social media engagement. ...
... In a study of women's breast cancer blogs, Gray et al. (2020) identified that the most frequent events were about broad support and treatment; the medium frequent events were around sisterhood support, pink ribbon awareness, identity expression, and advocacy; and the least frequent events were about prevention and detection. Further, Hale et al. (2020) found that a small percentage of cancer narratives (6%) on Imgur included references to prevention (i.e., pleas for audience checkups), and more than a third of them (39.3%) revealed a cancer diagnosis. ...
... On the other hand, narratives that countered femininity norms may have encouraged and empowered other breast cancer survivors by modeling how gender identity can be renegotiated with the loss of stereotypical feminine signifiers, thus helping survivors regain self-worth and support each other. Moreover, consistent with previous research (e.g., Gray et al., 2020;Hale et al., 2020), breast cancer narratives frequently referenced detection, diagnosis, treatment process, survivorship, and social support, but less to prevention. This finding is likely caused by the organizations' focus on people affected by breast cancer. ...
Narratives play a critical role in health communication and promotion on social media. This study aimed to identify the features of popular social media narratives that generate emotional support and engage users in cancer communication. We conducted a content analysis of popular breast cancer narratives (N = 410) by five influential breast cancer non-profit organizations on Facebook. Based on a theoretical framework grounded in narrative communication research, we analyzed these narratives in the following dimensions: narrative content (e.g., character attributes, events, and mood), narrative form (e.g., perspective and length), literary techniques (e.g., imperatives, metaphors, and celebrity appeals), and visual elements (e.g., the color pink, events, and vividness). Negative binomial and linear regressions were conducted to examine the relationships between narrative characteristics and three types of social media engagement: affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement. Results showed that cancer stories that were longer, less emotionally intensive, told from the cancer survivor’s perspective, with gender identity–related information, describing the act of providing social support, explicitly requesting engagement and/or donation, and using more vivid forms of visuals such as linked images tended to be more engaging. However, different narrative features were associated with the three engagement outcomes differently. This study provides a framework for understanding how health communicators can leverage social media to share cancer narratives to reach and engage the intended audience.
... A growing amount of literature on digital empathy shows the measurable impact of virtual empathy on individuals and communities. A Web of Science keyword search for "digital empathy" and "virtual empathy" indicates a growing body of literature over the last twenty years, particularly in educational research (Chen, 2018;Redden and Way, 2017;Wambsganss et al., 2021;Friesem, 2016); the medical literature (Terry and Cain, 2016;Sperandeo et al., 2021), and communications studies (Deri et al., 2018;Hale et al., 2020;Ravishankar, 2021;Lovell et al., 2022;Zhou and Jurgens, 2020;Sharma et al., 2021). ...
... In the study fields that intersect with communications literature, the predictability potential of digital empathy arises as an essential question (Deri et al., 2018;Hale et al., 2020;Ravishankar, 2021;Lovell et al., 2022;Zhou and Jurgens, 2020;Sharma et al., 2020Sharma et al., , 2021. For example, the factors influencing digital empathy have been investigated for individuals with limited mobility (e.g., cancer patients) and groups with weak offline support (e.g., marginalized farmers in remote regions and anorexia patients). ...
... For example, the factors influencing digital empathy have been investigated for individuals with limited mobility (e.g., cancer patients) and groups with weak offline support (e.g., marginalized farmers in remote regions and anorexia patients). Hale et al. (2020) explored the predictors of digital empathic support for social media posts created by cancer patients, reporting how the construction of online narratives influences the reception of digital empathic support. Ravishankar (2021) investigated digital platforms' potential to generate empathy and collect small loans for marginalized farmers to fight poverty in India, while a study by Lovell et al. (2022) examined the role of empathy-based communication in public organization communications during COVID-19. ...
... Users publish messages and images to support patients, share experiences of treatment, or participate in fund-raising campaigns for cancer research. During these months, thousands of images mention breast cancer, a site that achieves high levels of engagement on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (Vraga et al., 2018), as well as on Imgur (Hale et al., 2020). Other cancer sites, such as skin cancer, also receive attention (Banerjee et al., 2018). ...
... From the perspective of patients, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter enhance the relationship with health practitioners (Gentile et al., 2018). They also facilitate the understanding and management of symptoms (Bender et al., 2013), provide clarity and support through the different phases of treatment (Attai et al., 2015;Banerjee et al., 2018), support the building of communities of exchange (Zade et al., 2017), and alleviate the feeling of loneliness during and after treatment (Hale et al., 2020;Skrabal Ross et al., 2020). ...
... The finding comes with a warning, however: social media is useful when research goes beyond commonly studied platforms, when it includes the perspectives of underprivileged groups, and when it expands the reach of study to cancer sites that are less present in public communications (Grant & Hundley, 2008;Hale et al., 2020;Macdonald et al., 2018). ...
This paper presents a systematic review of the discourses that emerge from the study of cancer images posted by patients and caregivers on Instagram, Imgur, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. It presents the types of images that posters use to visualise cancer and how they are perceived by viewers. Results indicate that three factors affect visibility and engagement: (a) the framing, (b) the purpose, and (c) the emotions portrayed. They also show that viewers prefer images that (a) show the patient improving their condition through treatment, (b) tell a personal story and (c) take on an optimistic tone. This type of image reflects the common idea of the cancer patient as a survivor, which is particularly visible in breast cancer posts. For patients faced with uncertainty, fear or frustration, the standardisation of survivorship images may challenge identity-formation and create a sense of isolation. However, we also find that patients who use photographs to express negative emotions (such as sadness or frustration) are met with emotional support from viewers. Our findings show that, beyond virality and standardised discourses, visual social media and photography can provide a positive venue for the communication of more diverse cancer experiences from patients and caregivers. Highlights • Social media-cancer is a rich field, but little attention has been given to the specific role of images. • Current studies are divided between the biomedical and social approaches, making it challenging to establish a conversation. • Few of the published papers use images to communicate their results, despite studying visual communications. • Images that show cancer as a journey are met with positive reactions in most social media. • Images that provide general information about cancer perform best on Twitter and Pinterest. • Social media favours positive emotions, but negative emotions also find home and support. • Mixed methods can help predict the (algorithmic) performance of images while also accounting for their individual perception. • Situating social media images of cancer in three discursive lines may help predict their impact.
... Y es que, como explica Rebeca Pardo, las auto-patografías visuales ofrecen "un tipo de fotografía más doméstica y familiar que […] ofrece una vía de réplica a cierta imaginería que hasta [entonces] parecía incontestable" (Pardo, 2019, p. 30). Así, la fotografía da a los pacientes la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre su propia enfermedad y de presentar un discurso sobre su cuerpo, su vida y su identidad (De Noronha, 2019;Hale et al., 2020;Henriksen et al., 2011;Plage, 2020Plage, , 2022Tembeck, 2016). Mientras que los discursos dominantes a menudo niegan emociones como la apatía o la incertidumbre, la fotografía autorreferencial permite expresarlas con libertad (Gómez-Arrieta y Silva-Salazar, 2017). ...
... Los resultados de Stage tienen reflejo en trabajos realizados en torno a otros tipos de cáncer, como el análisis del perfil de la modelo Elly Mayday, fallecida a causa de un cáncer de ovario (Tetteh, 2021). Desde un plano cuantitativo, otros trabajos destacan cómo las imágenes en Instagram o Pinterest pueden motivar los comportamientos preventivos contra el cáncer de piel (De La Garza et al., 2021;Noar et al., 2018); cómo las emociones y los contenidos de las imágenes relacionadas con el cáncer pueden afectar a la percepción de quienes las ven (Cho et al., 2018); o cómo las características visuales de un post en la red Imgur pueden predecir el tipo de respuesta que recibirán (Hale et al., 2020). ...
Este artículo presenta un estudio de métodos mixtos del perfil de Instagram de Olatz Vázquez, fotógrafa y periodista que falleció a los 27 años a causa de un cáncer de estómago y que ayudó a visibilizar uno de los tipos de cáncer más letales y menos presentes en redes sociales digitales. Sus imágenes, en blanco y negro, retratan las secuelas físicas y emocionales del cáncer y contrastan con los discursos habituales del cáncer, generalmente apoyados en imágenes positivas. El análisis de contenidos revela discursos visuales en torno a (1) la representación del cáncer como amenaza y aislamiento; (2) la distorsión de la identidad que supone para la paciente; (3) las respuestas agentivas de la paciente ante la enfermedad; y (4) la importancia del entorno social. Se espera que los resultados contribuyan a visibilizar el cáncer gástrico y a motivar una discusión sobre los discursos visuales dominantes en su comunicación social.
... Moreover, telling personal illness narratives helps patients to better cope with the illness (Carlick and Biley, 2004) and for health care professionals to better understand the illness (Kalitzkus and Matthiessen, 2009). Given that social media has become a widely used platform for cancer patients and their caregivers to share stories and connect with others (Gage-Bouchard et al., 2017;Hale et al., 2020), it is critical to understand what cancer narratives are told on social media and how they engage social media users. ...
Narratives have been shown to be an effective way to communicate health risks and promote health behavior change, and given the growing amount of health information being shared on social media, it is crucial to study health- related narratives in social media. However, expert identification of a large number of narrative texts is a time consuming process, and larger scale studies on the use of narratives may be enabled through automatic text classification approaches. Prior work has demonstrated that automatic narrative detection is possible, but modern deep learning approaches have not been used for this task in the domain of online health communities. Therefore, in this paper, we explore the use of deep learning methods to automatically classify the presence of narratives in social media posts, finding that they outperform previously proposed approaches. We also find that in many cases, these models generalize well across posts from different health organizations. Finally, in order to better understand the increase in performance achieved by deep learning models, we use feature analysis techniques to explore the features that most contribute to narrative detection for posts in online health communities.
Communication is increasingly taking place in Facebook Groups around the world. Yet, we have little scientific knowledge of Facebook Groups at scale, especially the extent to which general systemic gendering is a pattern in participation in such groups. This knowledge deficit is problematic for digitalized and data-driven democratic societies. Therefore, this article aims to investigate gender differences in open, closed, and secret Facebook Groups. The study relies on a unique large-scale Facebook Group dataset from a sample that reflects the gender of Facebook users and the Facebook Groups they belong to in both Denmark and South Korea. By applying Bayesian models and developing a notion of participation that consists of both structural and actual participation, the study finds that the relation between country, gender, and participation is strongly modulated by gender differences. Females are more engaged than males in Denmark, while the opposite is true for South Korea. In both countries, privacy affects females’ participation more than males’. This article contributes to the field by presenting new large-scale findings that explore gender differences on three levels of Facebook Group privacy settings (open, closed, and secret) in a hitherto understudied communication space and, by doing so, it highlights the importance of privacy and country in predicting systemic gendering.
