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- Online health communities are online social networks related to health. They primarily provide a means for patients and their families to learn about illnesses, to seek and offer social support, and to connect with others in similar circumstances. These online groups can be composed of individuals with illnesses, groups of medical professionals with shared interests, non-professional caregivers and family of patients, or a combination. The term "online health community" is primarily academic jargon. Changes in the health care system coupled with increased infiltration and use of the Internet have resulted in heavier reliance on the Internet for disease and health education. Eighty percent of American adult Internet users currently go online to find health care information for themselves and their loved ones, with health searches one of the most popular uses of the Internet. Furthermore, 1 in 4 of people with an illness have gone online to find other people who share similar experiences. Individuals access these communities searching for a variety of resources. Existing medical and health websites, such as WebMD and Health Cloud, have recognized that they will have more visitors if they offer interactive community features such as discussion or Internet forums. Depending on the specific community, patients and medical professionals are able to engage in behaviors such as sharing their illness experiences, exchange knowledge, and increase disease-specific expertise. Even more, these online communities provide users with a breadth of social resources that may be directly beneficial to their health. These communities have been particularly useful in providing emotional and informational support to those with various illnesses such as cancer, HIV/Aids, infertility, diabetes, and other rare illnesses. These communities are distinct from general online communities in that they focus exclusively on health-related topics for those currently navigating the world of diseases, illness, and medicine. Furthermore, they also differ from other health-related sites that only allow users to retrieve information. The main hallmark of these communities is that they allow for communication between multiple people. That said, they can take a variety of forms, and vary drastically in their scope. (en)
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