Title: ehealth - using social media as a tool for knowledge translation in dementia prevention.
Speaker: Dr Melinda Martin-Khan, Centre for Health Services Research at University of Queensland.
Abstract: Researchers have long acknowledged that there is a significant lag between new knowledge and translation into practice; and an even bigger disparity between translation and adherence. Social media (twitter, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts and blogposts) offer an opportunity to speed up the delivery of new knowledge from scientist to the public (rather than through traditional pathways) and focus more attention on adoption and adherence.
Sufficient evidence is already available for dementia prevention awareness and strategies to be put into action. Following a knowledge translation project with primary care clinicians, strategies are being trialled to initiate conversations about dementia prevention using social media. Challenging scientists to communicate directly with their audience in accessible and interesting ways.
Bio: Dr. Melinda Martin-Khan is a health scientist who is focused on improving patient quality of care and patient outcomes through strengthening collaborative health service research with clinicians and consumers. Dr. Martin-Khan is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Services Research working in the Ageing and Geriatric Medicine Program (incorporating the Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine) and the Telehealth Program (incorporating the Centre for Online Health). Specific research interests include the development of quality indicators, measuring and reporting organisational quality of care outcomes, incorporating telehealth systems into mainstream health care, and communicating dementia risk reduction messages using ehealth.