Resumen

AMANKWAH, Adwoa Sikayena; OPARE, De-Love Anobah; ABUDULAI, Justice Issah  y  DEMUYAKOR, John. Social Media for COVID-19 Era Information Collection, and Dissemination: A Case Study of Three Tertiary Hospitals in Ghana. JDMI [online]. 2024, vol.7, n.16, pp.73-94.  Epub 30-Nov-2024. ISSN 2184-3120.  https://doi.org/10.34624/jdmi.v7i16.35953.

The emergence of digital media platforms like social media has considerably influenced health information collection and dissemination. Through in-depth interviews and purposive sampling, data was solicited from (N=27) frontline health professionals, and public relations officers from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (Greater Accra Region); Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (Ashanti Region) and Tamale Teaching Hospital (Northern Region) to evaluate the effectiveness of social media for COVID-19 information collection and dissemination in Ghana. The participants sampled for the study include; regional public relations officers(n=2); district public relations officers(n=10); COVID-19 contact tracers (n=10) and regional public health officers (n=5). The responses from the participants were analyzed using the qualitative condensed thematic approach. The findings of the study show that social media for public health information facilitates the retrieval of official information, disease detection, timely estimation, and prediction of disease incidence and severity. The predominant social media platforms for COVID-19 information collection and dissemination were, WhatsApp, Facebook, and X (Twitter). On the types of digital content mostly used for dissemination of COVID-19-related information, the findings identified text (such as news releases & blog posts), videos, photos, digital flyers, and podcasts. Regarding the constraints facing health professionals' use of social media for COVID-19 public health information collection, this study identified the high cost of internet data and smartphones, and low budgetary allocation as the three critical limitations. Other challenges are fake news in the form of misinformation, and disinformation on social media platforms. The study recommends an increase in budgetary allocation and required infrastructural development, to enhance the application of social media in public health information collection and dissemination for public health management.

Palabras clave : digital media; social media; health information; COVID-19; Ghana.

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