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ABSTRACT
Social media is prevalent and increasing in usage in healthcare. Whilst guidelines have been developed to cover the issues concerning this topic, few have been based on an ethical framework. The purpose of this work was to undertake a review of the literature pertaining to social media use in health care and physiotherapy in particular. The results of the review identified five key themes, these were: privacy/confidentiality breaches; student use and the need for student guidance; the patient therapist relationship and boundary blurring; integrity and reputation of the profession; and a lack of institutional guidelines. Cases from the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and Health and Disability Commissioner relevant to the topic were used to explore the themes identified. As a result of the review it is recommended that these cases be used as educational tools in ethical decisionmaking. The findings of this review recommend the implementation of American Medical Association (AMA) guideline into New Zealand practice. However, it would need to be contextualised to ensure relevant local ethical, cultural and legal obligations are covered. Before professional bodies establish their own guidelines, it would be useful to survey health practitioners as to their current views, attitudes and awareness of social media use in a health care setting.
Keywords: Social media, ethical guidelines, ethical boundaries
INTRODUCTION
The use of social media and text messaging is widespread throughout modern society and healthcare. Social media is defined as "forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content" (Merriam Webster 2013). Examples of social media include blogs, Twitter, Linkedln, Wikipedia, YouTube, podcasts, online forums and Facebook (Kuhns 2012). Texting or text messaging is defined as an exchange of brief written text messages between mobile phones or portable devices over a network (Federation of State Medical Boards 2012). In the context of health and health care delivery, the use of social media and texting raises important and challenging ethical issues, particularly in relation to maintaining professional boundaries.
There are many advantages and disadvantages associated with these forms of communication. The benefits for health professionals and patients using social media are numerous. Social media and texting can be an opportunity for health care professionals to provide relevant,...