Using social media to disseminate evidence-based interventions: An overview of systematic reviews (Preprint)

Abstract

Compared to implementation, the conceptual frameworks, strategies, and outcomes of efforts to disseminate evidence-based interventions are less developed. Though, several studies have used social media dissemination to spread diverse interventions in a broad range of populations. We conducted an overview of the systematic reviews of social media strategies to disseminate evidence-based interventions. We focused on the common themes in the methodology and evaluation frameworks of social media-based dissemination strategies.

The goal of our overview is to identify common themes in the design, delivery, and impact assessment of social media-based dissemination strategies.

We searched the Epistemonikos database (till 2022) to retrieve systematic reviews on social media dissemination. We included 21 reviews in this overview. We extracted and classified the data on the characteristics of the included studies, ingredients of intervention, and outcome assessment.

The study designs, intervention strategies and evaluation measures of social media dissemination interventions were diverse and mostly lacked a theoretical framework. We classified the goals of interventions reviewed in the included studies into One-way spread (using social media to reach out and share), invoking Conversations (using conversational and community features of social media to promote dialogue), peer motivation (dissemination through peer feedback and update), and miscellaneous (e.g. developing Wiki or dissemination through online multiplayer games). The main outcomes of dissemination efforts are diffusion and reach, engagement, Impact on health and health-related behaviors, and social support.

The findings of this overview call for attention to the drastic knowledge gaps in the effective utilization of different components of social media for dissemination. Studies are using various features of social media (e.g., peer-to-peer sharing, online engagement in conversations (one-on-one or with a broad audience), formation of clusters and communities, and peer feedback to facilitate the dissemination of interventions.