Online Patient Support Groups during COVID-19

Abstract

There has been an exponential growth in the number of patients dealing with long-term disease who have access to and engage in online peer-to-peer support forums (also known as 'online patient support groups') as a result of the increased access to the Internet and the advancement in technology. Some study has demonstrated changes in the quality of life of patients who have participated in online patient support groups during the pandemic. There are wide variety of online patient support groups are available from before but engagement in this groups increases with the epidemic blow up. Some obstacles to enter online patient support groups include awareness, time limitations and the confrontation with derogatory implications of the illness.The goal of the article is to explore the experience of the patients, general public, and health practitioners of online patient support groups during COVID-19.