Authors:
Inga Saboia
1
;
2
;
Ana Margarida Pisco Almeida
1
;
Pedro Sousa
3
;
4
and
Cláudia Pernencar
5
;
6
Affiliations:
1
Department of Communication and Art/DigiMedia, University of Aveiro, Portugal
;
2
UFC Virtual, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil
;
3
Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal
;
4
Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), Portugal
;
5
Arts and Design Research Lab (LIDA), Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal
;
6
NOVA Institute of Communication (ICNOVA), Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Dietitian, eHealth, Facebook, Instagram, Nutritionist, Social Behaviour, Social Media, Twitter.
Abstract:
At its present state, Social Media (SM) is an important stage to promote user participation, acting as an open space for the discussion of a multitude of fields, one of which being health. Professionals, like Registered Nutritionists and Dietitians (RNDs), whose access to media was traditionally more restricted, are also more engaged in this new context, creating a new scenario. To better understand how is this group of professionals using social media to communicate with their audiences is the main objective of this study. To approach this topic, a mapping was conducted, followed by a presentation of the summary of the evidence discovered: RDNs demographic and professional profile; their most used social media tools; the reasons why they use social media; their common behaviours and attitudes, as well as a review of the gaps and shortcomings in the literature. A literature review, using a structured approach was also conducted. 2877 works were screened, but only 8 were associated wi
th answers. Of these 8, there were 2 studies that partially presented a quantitative analysis. Results show lacks in consolidated studies that can be used to support the creation of knowledge in this field. This lead to conclude that research about social media usage by nutritionist, at present, remains in a nascent stage and requires further studies.
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