Examining the impact of social media based communities of practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing and examining the impact of social media based communities of practice of new mothers and midwives to enable information sharing and learning
IRAS ID
163663
Contact name
Rosemary McCarthy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Salford
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Women seek information and support during pregnancy from a number of sources including peer groups, professionals and the World Wide Web. The poor quality and inaccuracy of some informal shared information can result in misconceptions, poor advice and increased anxiety for mothers. This study aims to create two social networking groups on Facebook, communities of practice of new mothers, who through their interactions become more knowledgeable and better informed about motherhood and family health (Lave & Wenger, 2011). The objective is to examine the impact of such a group on the access to, understanding of, and the overall quality of information exchanged to support pregnant women and new mothers. A secondary aim is to explore the further spread of information to the wider community, and generate a deeper understanding of how and to who information is transferred.
The groups will be moderated by a Registered Midwife (Midwife moderated Facebook group- MMFG). Exploring the use and experiences of women using MMFG support may help to establish if mothers believe their experiences are improved by joining a MMFG and if maternity services should consider offering this choice of service to all woman.The study takes place over 36 months and consists of 4 Action research cycles:
1/ Recruitment, initiation and expectations,
2/ Initial review and meeting needs,
3/ Post-delivery group review and evaluation
4/ Individual user experience evaluation
30 participants and 4 midwives will be recruited from two NHS Trust sites to form two Midwife Moderated Facebook Groups (MMFG). Their engagement, participation and contribution will be shaped and evaluated throughout each of the cycles. Methods of data collection will be focus group interviews at ten week intervals, individual semi structured interviews for final evaluation and data from the Facebook site. Qualitative analysis of the data using a framework approach will be undertaken.REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
15/WS/0028
Date of REC Opinion
4 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion