Dr Reem Kayyali and Philip Crilly

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are just three social media platforms that are taking the world by storm.

According to a report by Ofcom, “In the UK, nearly all 16-34s are online (98%) and two-thirds (66%) of them have social networking profiles. Those who have a current online profile (96%) have one on Facebook and 83% of 16-24s visit social networking sites more than once a day.” People aged 55 and older now represent the fastest-growing age segment in global social networking usage, with the penetration of social networks in this age group being around 80%.

Recent research on social media use suggests that there are no significant differences in use by race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. This suggests that health interventions delivered by social networking sites may be an effective way to reach adults from different genders, ethnicities and socioeconomic groups. Such factors have proven to be barriers for some patients accessing services from pharmacies.

Social media offers pharmacist’s innovative opportunities to further enhance their role in educating patients on healthy living initiatives. With the younger generation growing up with this technology, evidence suggests that this has increased their levels of sedentary lifestyle with a massive impact on obesity levels among the young. Pharmacists can harness this by using it to promote healthy behaviours such as weight loss, alcohol awareness and physical activity in a way that ensures they are engaged.

As patient acceptance increases and pharmacists become more familiar with the concept of social media as a health education tool they will find that it is a quick and convenient route to keep track of health outcomes allowing them to not only support individual patients but also the wider public.

In fact, at Kingston University we have tried to investigate this concept as a tool for public health promotion. Students promoted topics ranging from smoking cessation to stress relief and nutrition. The outcome was, not only did the public learn about these health topics through the evidence based posts, the students also learned from creating and posting these meaning a unique learning opportunity which current pharmacists can also benefit from.

Social media can be used to highlight the key role that pharmacy plays in supporting patients with their health needs. It can be used as a health promotion tool and is a good way to build links within the local communities and beyond. It raises the profile of the profession and also offers a unique opportunity for pharmacists to share and showcase good practice.