I need your help! Please have a look!

[Merel]

Hi!
My name is Merel Baars, and I am currently doing a Master's degree in Health Psychology at the University of Nottingham in the UK. I am working on my final research project which is being undertaken by/within the Institute of Work, Health & Organisations, which is a postgraduate institute of applied psychology at the University of Nottingham (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/iwho/).

The overall purpose of the project is to increase our knowledge about online support groups and how they help people living with HIV. The information gained from this study may help us to develop further the information and services provided for people living with HIV.

At the moment, I am in the process of recruiting participants.

You are invited to participate in a research study by the University of Nottingham.

The questionnaire asks questions about peoples’ use of HIV-related online support groups, coping strategies, perceptions of social support and health. It will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The study is targeted at people actively using the forum (reading and posting) but also people who just read messages.

I received permission from the Aidsmeds.com Forum Moderators to post this message. Furthermore, this study has been subject to ethical review by the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations Ethics Committee to ensure that the study is conducted in an ethically appropriate manner.

Participation may be discontinued at any time without giving a reason. Identifiable personal details will be omitted to ensure anonymity of responses. The responses will be kept secure and private. Only the researchers will have access to the data; any printouts or disks containing the data will be stored in a locked file. All information collected during the course of the study will be kept strictly confidential. Any personal comments from the returned questionnaires that are used in project reports or academic papers will be quoted anonymously and anything that might identify you will be removed.

If you require more information about the study, please do not hesitate contacting me.

If you would like to participate in the study, please continue by using the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fraRqQefX4YyoBDHCJkP1A_3d_3d

I would be very grateful for your cooperation!

Kind regards,

Merel Baars, BSc
lwxmb3@nottingham.ac.uk

[anniebc]

Hi Merel

I have completed the survey and I wish you well with your Masters degree.

Jan

[Merel]

Thank you Jan! :-)

[Matty the Damned]

Also done.

MtD

[MYSTERY]

I completed the survey. Good luck.

[Merel]

Hi!
My name is Merel Baars, and I am currently doing a Master's degree in Health Psychology at the University of Nottingham in the UK. I am working on my final research project which is being undertaken by/within the Institute of Work, Health & Organisations, which is a postgraduate institute of applied psychology at the University of Nottingham (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/iwho/).

The overall purpose of the project is to increase our knowledge about online support groups and how they help people living with HIV. The information gained from this study may help us to develop further the information and services provided for people living with HIV.

At the moment, I am in the process of recruiting participants.

You are invited to participate in a research study by the University of Nottingham.

The questionnaire asks questions about peoples’ use of HIV-related online support groups, coping strategies, perceptions of social support and health. It will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The study is targeted at people actively using the forum (reading and posting) but also people who just read messages.

I received permission from the Aidsmeds.com Forum Moderators to post this message. Furthermore, this study has been subject to ethical review by the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations Ethics Committee to ensure that the study is conducted in an ethically appropriate manner.

Participation may be discontinued at any time without giving a reason. Identifiable personal details will be omitted to ensure anonymity of responses. The responses will be kept secure and private. Only the researchers will have access to the data; any printouts or disks containing the data will be stored in a locked file. All information collected during the course of the study will be kept strictly confidential. Any personal comments from the returned questionnaires that are used in project reports or academic papers will be quoted anonymously and anything that might identify you will be removed.

If you require more information about the study, please do not hesitate contacting me.

If you would like to participate in the study, please continue by using the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fraRqQefX4YyoBDHCJkP1A_3d_3d

I would be very grateful for your cooperation!

Kind regards,

Merel Baars, BSc
lwxmb3@nottingham.ac.uk

[Ann]

Merel,

I merged your new thread with your original one. Please don't create a new thread to keep this subject at the top of the page - all you have to do is post to your original thread and it will go back to the top.

A common way of doing this is to simply post ...

bump

You "bump" the thread to the top.

Thanks.

Ann

[Merel]

bump

[OzPaul]

Hi Merel

I've completed the survey.

May I ask how many responses you've had so far ?

Wishing you well on getting your Masters degree 

Paul

[Merel]

bump

[Merel]

bump

[Merel]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted a message about a study I am conducting as a final research project for my Masters degree Health Psychology at the Institute of Work, Health & Organisations (which is a postgraduate institute of applied psychology at the University of Nottingham (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/iwho/)).

I'm really sorry to bother you again, but I really need your help! I am having trouble finding enough participants!!!

If you have already completed the study, please ignore this message!
 
The overall purpose of the project is to increase our knowledge about online support groups and how they help people living with HIV. The information gained from this study may help us to develop further the information and services provided for people living with HIV.

You are invited to participate in a research study by the University of Nottingham.

The questionnaire asks questions about peoples’ use of HIV-related online support groups, coping strategies, perceptions of social support and health. It will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The study is targeted at people living with HIV who post messages, but also people who just read messages on HIV-related online support groups, or people who do both.

This study has been subject to ethical review by the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations Ethics Committee to ensure that the study is conducted in an ethically appropriate manner.

Participation may be discontinued at any time without giving a reason. Identifiable personal details will be omitted to ensure anonymity of responses. The responses will be kept secure and private. Only the researchers will have access to the data; any printouts or disks containing the data will be stored in a locked file. All information collected during the course of the study will be kept strictly confidential. Any personal comments from the returned questionnaires that are used in project reports or academic papers will be quoted anonymously and anything that might identify you will be removed.

If you require more information about the study, please do not hesitate contacting me.

If you would like to participate in the study, please continue by using the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fraRqQefX4YyoBDHCJkP1A_3d_3d

I would be very grateful for your cooperation!

Kind regards,

Merel Baars, BSc
lwxmb3@nottingham.ac.uk

[Ann]

Merel,

I've merged your threads yet again. PLEASE stop starting new threads on this subject!

Thank you for your cooperation.

Ann

[bocker3]

Done

[NYCguy]

done

[Merel]

‘Online Support for People Living with HIV: A Comparative Study Examining Different Types of Use’

Merel Baars, MSc

Institute of Work Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, NG7 2RQ, UK.
lwxmb3@nottingham.ac.uk

Background

A large and growing number of people are now living and coping with the multiple stressors associated with HIV infection. Social support has been found to play a critical role in the health and well-being of people living with AIDS/HIV. Due to the growing popularity of the internet, more people are recognising the potential of the internet in providing social support to people living with HIV.
Accessing health-related websites and HIV-related online support groups appears to increase people’s knowledge of HIV and promote feelings of social support. It also facilitates helping others and may increase feelings of control. In previous studies, online support has been associated with improvements in patient’s quality of life across a range of different measurements. Some research even suggests it may improve peoples’ health. Studies suggested that the average time people spent with physicians dropped, as did the average length of hospital stay. Only recently researchers have started looking at specific psychosocial and physical factors associated with the frequency of this use.
It remains unclear whether there are any individual differences in these factors and whether the benefits of online support are the same for people with different user habits and participation levels. It appears some people actively participate in online support (i.e. they post messages), others just read messages (i.e. they ‘lurk’). There also appear to be differences in the level of use, i.e. how much time people spend using online support groups.

Aims

There were two main aims of this study:
1. To examine the effects of HIV-related online support groups and explore differences on several variables in both type of use (i.e. general use, reading or posting) and level of use (i.e. high or low level).
2. To explore peoples’ motives for accessing HIV-related online support groups and what they consider the advantages and disadvantages of online support.

Methodology

50 individuals living with HIV were recruited from HIV-related websites which included an online support group bulletin board, forum or chatroom. Each participant completed an online questionnaire assessing experiences with online social support, coping strategies, perception of social support, and general health status. 

Findings

Our findings suggest that lurkers, as well as individuals who frequently post, are more likely to be female, whereas people who post infrequently are more likely to be male.
Interestingly, high level posters indicated higher satisfaction with their experience of online support than low level posters, or individuals who lurk. A possible explanation of the higher satisfaction among high level posters could be the fact that posters presumably get their specific questions answered. They could also potentially benefit from expressing emotions through writing messages or from helping others.
Contrary to our expectations and findings from previous research, our study revealed no significant differences in coping strategies and perception of social support between groups using online social support. The results do suggest differences in health between people who lurk and people who post frequently. Frequent posters appear to experience less role limitations due to emotional problems, more energy and higher emotional well-being. However, these results may have been influenced by other variables, such as demographic characteristics, length of diagnosis or disease stage. Further research is needed to clarify the effects of online social support on health.
Our analysis provided a rich understanding of people’s motives and experiences of online support. According to participants, online social support has a number of benefits. For example, geographical barriers are absent and the internet is easily accessible. The anonymity makes it easier for some people to talk about sensitive topics. There is a wide online network with people from different countries which results in a variety of viewpoints.
The opportunity to support each other and share experiences, thoughts and feelings, to gain information and to connect with other people seemed to be very important for the people participating in our study. A feeling of community and a sense of control was encouraged and people indicated feeling less lonely. Not only did some people consider their online relationships real friendships, some took their virtual relationship into reality. Furthermore, being able to participate at your own pace is an advantage to those individuals that feel pressure to participate in traditional face to face settings.
Some disadvantages were also noted; online messages are easily misinterpreted, medical information may be inaccurate, and online support may not provide the same level of support as face-to-face interaction. Some people mentioned misuse of the group; hostility or negative behaviour among members of online support groups is not uncommon. Importantly, in some instances people indicated being affected by the negative nature of the messages posted. In some individuals, reading about people’s negative experiences may induce stress and fear about their own prospects.

Implications

There are some limitations to the study, however, the present study offers some insight into peoples’ experiences of using HIV-related online support. Our study suggests that online support is useful for individuals living with HIV. However, it appears there may also be disadvantages associated with online support. In light of the growing number of people accessing online support groups, it is important to increase our knowledge regarding the effects of online support on people living with HIV.

[Ann]

Hmm...

The whole "females post more frequently" premise is misleading. A quick look at our Stats page shows that of the top ten posters to this site, only three are woman.

In the top ten thread-starters list, only one is a woman. That woman is me, and I can tell you that I only appear in that list because in the line of my admin duties, I frequently move threads. When a thread is moved, it leaves behind a re-direction thread. I get the credit for the re-direction. I can also tell you that I only appear in the top ten posters list because of my work in the Am I Infected forum, not the support for positive people side of things.

I suppose maybe you just had more women answer your survey, therefore skewing your results.

Back to the drawing board, perhaps?

Ann