Are hospitals our friends? An exploratory study on the role of Facebook in hospital organizations’ dialogic communication

Abstract

Rooted in the dialogic public relations model, the aim of this paper was to analyze the way in which hospital organizations use Facebook to communicate and build relationships with their patients and followers. Using a content analysis of Facebook profiles, there is a reflection on how dialogic principles are applied in the management of Facebook by hospitals in Portugal. Special attention will be paid to communication regarding the Zika virus, which was of public interest at the time the empirical analysis was carried out. The study demonstrates that Portuguese hospitals are present on Facebook but do not use the social network dialogically or to communicate about topical themes of public interest.

Keywords:

• Dialogic principles
• hospital organizations
• Facebook
• Portugal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The three DGS statements were issued on 15 January, 28 January, and 16 February 2016 and are available in full on the Directorate-General for Health website: https://www.dgs.pt/paginas-de-sistema/saude-de-a-a-z/zika.aspx [accessed on 22 April 2016]

2 WHO statement available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2016/1st-emergency-committee-zika/en/ [accessed on 22 April 2016].

3 Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/01/15/health-online-2013/ [accessed on 26 April 2016].

4 As well as Portugal, the survey included samples representing the populations of Norway, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Poland and Latvia (Andreassen et al., 2007).

5 I would like to think Vanessa Santos, holder of a Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication from UBI, for her help in collecting the online data.

6 https://servicos.min-saude.pt/utente/HealthProviders, accessed on 20 April 2016

7 http://www.aphp-pt.org/index.php/associados/membros, accessed on 22 April 2016

8 Hospitals in Portugal can be public, private, or under public-private management. To help with the discussion of the results, the data was split into 2 categories: public hospitals and private hospitals, without specifying which are under public-private management.

9 The DGS released three statements (15 and 28 January and 16 February 2016) which are available in full on the Directorate-General for Health website: https://www.dgs.pt/paginas-de-sistema/saude-de-a-a-z/zika.aspx [accessed on 22 April 2016]