Health Communication System docx.

Running head: HEALTH COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
HEALTH COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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HEALTH COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................2
DISCUSSION...........................................................................................................................2
UTILITY OF TWITTER......................................................................................................2
PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS...................................................................................5
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY.........................................6
TELEMEDICINE.................................................................................................................6
BARRIERS OF TELEMEDCINE........................................................................................7
RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................9

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INTRODUCTION
Public Health Informatics (PHI) is one of the most emerging and important stream
that is the collaboration of technological science and medical science. It can be used in
various public health support services for assessing the health surveillance, to find and spread
preventive measures of diseases and promoting healthy practices among common people
(Valdez et al., 2015). Apart from the public health status, the public health informatics also
aims to look after the workplace issues, residence issues as well as the environmental
problems. The role of the public health informatics is also to ensure the facilities and services
are continuously improved with newer data entries within time. By doing this, it enables the
system to get stronger and improve its quality of medical and health related surveillance and
develop the decision making so that the community health remains at its best. This also
enables them to collect all the data regarding a particular disease, its symptoms, prevention
strategy and treatment procedure, so that in time of need the information is available to
anyone who needs access for treating the diseased individuals, mostly health care
professionals (Ravì et al., 2016). This paper will delve deeper into the utility of Twitter to get
information related to public health informatics, basics of public health informatics,
information and communication technologies (ICT), the issues related to ICT and the things
that can be done to overcome the barriers in ICT.
DISCUSSION
UTILITY OF TWITTER
A recent trend has been observed on social media website like Twitter, where various
health related information are posted and discussed which is visible to a diverse audience.
The information related to public health informatics are also posted on this platform. This has
led to a great advantage of the common public to get notified about the newer innovations

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and technologies and services available for everyone. The user friendly interface and
popularity of Twitter has also facilitated the transfer of information related to health to a great
extent. Various research also conclude that Twitter has helped the common people in
knowing various health related information that has In turn helped them to overcome a few
crucial situations. However, there are a few risks of believing to the information available on
Twitter all the time as in recent times, another trend of posting wrong information to create
panic has also taken front seat. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to verify the information
available on the social media platform before believing in it and implementing the
information. In various instances, arousal of panic has also been observed because of the
wrong information that is posted (Pershad, Hangge, Albadawi & Oklu et al., 2018).
There are a few Twitter accounts that are known to be posting genuine health related
facts and making the public aware of various things. These accounts include
@AUMentalHealth, @telemedicine_Jn and @RuralMental_Hth.
The account, which goes by the name Mental Health Australia or @AUMentalHealth,
is one of the most active accounts posting about genuine information related to mental health
in Australia. Their posts are quite commendable as the details and innovation they post or
recommend enlightens all the audience of the account to live life with a better mental health
status. One of their recent posts is about staying active and working out to enhance the mental
health conditions. It also encourages the audience to practice yoga and pilates. Another post
informs the audience about their new social awareness drive that they are arranging to
enhance positivity in people, which in turn can keep their mental health and wellbeing in
place (Mental Health Australia, 28th March, 2020). The Corona pandemic that has spread
throughout the globe like wildfire has also capability of exerting negative impact on the
mental health of people according to the article that was posted from this account. The issue
has also been described in details in their article and the ways it can be avoided are also

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elaborated (Mental Health Australia, 24th March, 2020). The account also posts various case
studies related to mental health in Australia. The case studies are conclusively done with
analysis of the issues so that people can learn from the case and take care of their mental
health (Mental Health Australia, 25th March, 2020).. Another thing, which adorns their wall
are beautiful and creative quotations to encourage people (Mental Health Australia, 25th
March, 2020).
Telemedicine Journal or @telemedicine_Jn is another account on Twitter, which is
also very active in posting newer information. The types of posts this account shares include
telemedicine and e-health related innovative solutions to take care of patients, news about
industries, peer reviewed applications and reviews on various related products. Their one of
the recent posts share that the telemental health service, one of their services, offers mental
support over the phone to the patients who are going through a psychological fright because
of the current Corona pandemic (Telemedicine Journal, 24th March, 2020). The article also
provides the way in which the support is provided and how much effective it is in decreasing
the fright of the patients. Another post mentions about the huge success rate they enjoy in
providing support to the children who are suffering from mental illnesses as well as in
decreasing their suicidal tendencies. The processes they apply is also written in the article so
that anyone can learn from it and help others dealing with similar issues (Telemedicine
Journal, 18th March, 2020). One of the other posts also mentions about the problems the
telemedicine facilities are met with which include legal and ethical implications
(Telemedicine Journal, 15th February, 2020). They also shared posts about patient centered
medical facilities that can be applied digitally or by following telemedicine policies.
Another account on Twitter named Rural Mental Health or @RuralMental_Hth posts
genuine information and studies about the mental health of people residing in remote areas of
Australia. Their most recent tweet is about a remote village in Australia, that goes by the

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name Innamincka is about to get their first telemedicine facility. The village population is 12
however, about 50,000 tourists visit the village. However, there are no medical facilities
nearby to the village. So, a telemedicine center will be established there to help the people
during their need (Rural Mental Health, 26th February, 2020). Another post of this account
informed about the deficiency of doctors in the remote areas of Australia. It also discussed
about the ways in which this deficiency can be fulfilled (Rural Mental Health, 11th February,
2020). One of their posts is about bullying and its effect in the mental health of the bullied
individual. It clearly discussed the ways to avoid it and shed light on the digital facilities that
are available to improve the condition of the affected individuals. There are also numerous
retweets from other accounts that were found in the profile informing about various health
issues and newer innovative technology to alleviate pain of patients. The page also exerted
pressure to make everyone aware of the mental illnesses and its ill effects on the individual
suffering from it. One of the main concerns that the account expressed was about the mental
conditions of the individuals residing over the remote areas and the process that can be
implemented to make the situation of the sufferers better (Rural Mental Health, 25th February,
2020).
PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS
Public Health Informatics, as discussed in the introductory section of this report is an
essential tool that is widely used all across the globe. It ensures the availability of information
that are required at certain point of time to anyone who needs it (Aziz, 2017). The
information that can be retrieved from health informatics databases includes information
regarding identification of diseases, treatments and preventive measures. It makes the
treatment that the health care professionals provide to the needy accurate. Though public
health informatics is gaining popularity gradually, however development is very much
required for proper functioning of this system (Nelson & Staggers, 2016).

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
Information and Communication Technology or ICT is a procedure involving various
services and support systems making the communication regarding treatment of a diseases as
well as transfer system of the knowledge much seamless than before. The information that is
stored in the databases of ICT include information to manage individual and community
health and provide various other technologies for assessing and communicating among a
wider audience (Hilty & Aebischer, 2015). One of the main responsibility that the ICT carry
is building a positive collaborative relation between health care professionals and researchers
to establish easier and broader treatment opportunities for everyone present in a community.
One of the most widely studied processes belonging to ICT is the Telemedicine (Blount &
Gloet, 2015).
COVID 2019
The latest pandemic that is affecting the whole world is COVID-19 or a novel strain
of coronavirus. The symptoms of the disease is common flu which includes fever, cough and
breathlessness. This is highly contagious and spreads from one person to another via droplet
infection. It can be prevented by social distancing and maintaining hygiene. The need for ICT
thus, increases several folds in such situations for consulting about the treatment and nature
of the virus across the world (Bai et al., 2020).
TELEMEDICINE
Telemedicine is a medical practise in which the patients and doctors are not present
physically in the scenario, but the doctors listen to the symptoms the patients are showing and
assess the condition the patients are suffering from, thereafter prescribing medicines and
treatments that should follow to cure the individual, all over the phone or video call
(Wootton, Craig & Patterson, 2017). It is an extremely beneficial technique that can be

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followed by the people living in remote areas, regions from which the nearest medical facility
is far away and the individuals from weaker financial backgrounds. Telemedicine has
emerged as a technique that is very successful in saving lives of patients in severe cases. For
example, stroke is a disease known for taking lives when a delay in the initiation of initial
treatment is witnessed. Telemedicine have helped the individuals having stroke a lot in saving
their lives by providing prompt initial treatments over the phone (Itrat et al., 2016). It is also
very cost effective, assures of privacy and takes prompt life saving medical actions. However,
it also has some barriers that needs to be rectified for providing treatment with better
efficiency (Driessen, Castle & Handler, 2018).
BARRIERS OF TELEMEDCINE
Though telemedicine is an effective way of providing medical treatment to the people
in need of it, there are a few barriers in the current methods which, often makes the facility
unavailable to people and creates other problems as well. The most common barriers that
creates a blockage in the supply of proper telemedicine facility that were identified by the
providers themselves in Australia include lack of sufficient funding, issue regarding time,
infrastructural and technical glitches, lack of modern and efficient equipment and skills.
Proper funding is very much required to establish proper telemedicine facilities and it has
been one of the most prominent issues. Time is the second most prominent issue, as
telemedicine consultation requires a considerable amount of time, which increases the
workloads of the doctors working in rural regions. The infrastructural and technical glitches
also plays key role of creating barrier in the supply of telemedicine. The internet connection
in the rural regions of Australia and issues regarding computer leads to the difficulties. The
telemedicine help providers in rural regions are mostly observed to be weak in handling
equipment and had little computer skills which further escalated the issues regarding
telemedicine (Sapolsky et al., 2018).

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RECOMMENDATIONS
The issue regarding funding can be overcome by designing newer health policies in
which telemedicines would be given new guidelines and facilities for running and functioning
effectively. Improvement in the spreading the fact of the presence of this system in a wider
basis would also help in gathering financial support from various other places. Time can be
saved by recruiting more health care professionals specifically for working in telemedicine
centers which would lead to effective management of workforce as well. The infrastructure
should also be improved for which the government should arrange for the availability of high
speed internet in remote regions of Australia which would greatly facilitate the availability of
the telemedicine facility. The regions should also be provided with efficient health workers,
comfortable in working in computers. Training should also be given to the doctors who are
already present their to develop technical skills. All this can be also be done by creating a
more widespread campaign about telemedicine in Australia and the advantages it offer.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that the ICT is one of the most crucial invention that should
be used more in medical facilities and by medical practitioners. It provides in-depth
knowledge to anyone who requires any kind of information. The social media platform,
Twitter is also a way in which the information and innovation can be informed to people.
Telemedicine is one of the boons that should be established for a much wider population. The
barriers that are identified should also be resolved by the involvement of doctors, researchers
and government officials. Newer government policies should also be designed to facilitate the
wide spread establishment and usage of the services across Australia.

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REFERENCES
Aziz, H. A. (2017). A review of the role of public health informatics in healthcare. Journal of
Taibah University Medical Sciences, 12(1), 78-81.
Bai, Y., Yao, L., Wei, T., Tian, F., Jin, D. Y., Chen, L., & Wang, M. (2020). Presumed
asymptomatic carrier transmission of COVID-19. Jama.
Blount, Y., & Gloet, M. (2015). Adoption of ICT enabled telehealth services in the Australian
context: Implications of technology use for telehealth workers. In 2015 48th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 3571-3580). IEEE.
Driessen, J., Castle, N. G., & Handler, S. M. (2018). Perceived benefits, barriers, and drivers
of telemedicine from the perspective of skilled nursing facility administrative staff
stakeholders. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 37(1), 110-120.
Hilty, L. M., & Aebischer, B. (2015). ICT for sustainability: An emerging research field.
In ICT innovations for Sustainability (pp. 3-36). Springer, Cham.
Itrat, A., Taqui, A., Cerejo, R., Briggs, F., Cho, S. M., Organek, N. & Uchino, K. (2016).
Telemedicine in prehospital stroke evaluation and thrombolysis: taking stroke
treatment to the doorstep. JAMA neurology, 73(2), 162-168.
Mental Health Australia. (2020). @AUMentalHealth. Twitter.
Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2016). Health Informatics-E-Book: An Interprofessional
Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Pershad, Y., Hangge, P. T., Albadawi, H., & Oklu, R. (2018). Social medicine: Twitter in
healthcare. Journal of clinical medicine, 7(6), 121.

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Ravì, D., Wong, C., Deligianni, F., Berthelot, M., Andreu-Perez, J., Lo, B., & Yang, G. Z.
(2016). Deep learning for health informatics. IEEE journal of biomedical and health
informatics, 21(1), 4-21.
Rural Mental Health. (2020) @RuralMental_Hth. Twitter.
Sapolsky, H. M., Crane, R. J., Neuman, W. R., & Noam, E. M. (Eds.). (2018). The
Telecommunications Revolution: Past, Present and Future (Vol. 43). Routledge.
Telemedicine Journal. (2020). @telemedicine_Jn. Twitter.
Valdez, R. S., Holden, R. J., Novak, L. L., & Veinot, T. C. (2015). Transforming consumer
health informatics through a patient work framework: connecting patients to
context. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(1), 2-10.
Wootton, R., Craig, J., & Patterson, V. (2017). Introduction to telemedicine. CRC Press.