Social Media for COVID-19 Era Information Collection, and Dissemination: A Case Study of Three Tertiary Hospitals in Ghana

Abstract

The emergence of digital media platforms like social media has considerably influenced health information collection and dissemination. Through in-depth interviews, (N=27) health professionals were purposively sampled, to evaluate the effectiveness of social media use for health information collection and dissemination during the peak of COVID-19 in Ghana. The participants sampled for the study include; (n=2) Regional Public Health Officers;(n=10) Directors of Ghana Health Services;(n=10); and (n=5) Disease Control officers. The responses from the participants were analyzed using the qualitative condensed thematic approach. The findings of the study show that social media for public health information facilitates the retrieval of official information, disease detection, timely estimation, and prediction of disease incidence and severity. Regarding the challenges and constraints facing Ghana’s use of social media for COVID-19 public health information collection, this study identified the high cost of internet data and smartphones, and low budgetary allocation as the three critical limitations. Other challenges are fake news in the form of misinformation, and disinformation on social media platforms. The study recommends an increase in budgetary allocation and required infrastructural development, to enhance the application of social media in public health information collection and dissemination for public health management.