INSTRUCTIONAL/TECHNICAL SESSION (1 Hour)
Acquired Neurogenic Disorders
Tom Sather, PhD/CCC-SLP
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States
Katie Strong, PhD, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Central Michigan University
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Abstract
Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Mastodon provide unique opportunities for speech-language pathologists, rehabilitation clinicians and providers to better understand stroke, aphasia, and neurology. These platforms can be a rich source of information for current research, evidence-based practices, and developments in our own discipline, and others. Relevant hashtags, individual clinicians, and institutional accounts on social media curate and collate the latest research findings and clinical practice guidelines. Additionally, social media provides a platform for networking and collaboration with other professionals who are interested in stroke, aphasia, and neurology. For example, SLPs can join online forums or groups to share knowledge and expertise, ask questions, and seek advice from colleagues. Social media can amplify voices and flatten hierarchies among those who may not have such opportunities in non-virtual systems. In this presentation, we will provide strategies for clinicians to efficiently and effectively access social media resources across multiple social media platforms to support their own understanding of neurology, stroke, and aphasia, as well as foster connections across social media. Additionally, we will provide curated social media resources, accounts, and interaction tools for novice to expert clinicians, as well as for novice to expert social media users. Social media accounts, interactions and tools with established longevity will be discussed, as will a strategic approach to using social media that avoid wasted time and unintended content deviations. All content within this presentation will be geared towards a path of improved understanding of neurology, stroke and aphasia for the practicing clinician, researcher and academic.
Summary
As of October, 2022 there are 4.74 billion social media around the globe, representing more than 55% of the entire global population, with average global social media usage at nearly 2.5 hours per day (Kepios, 2022). Thoughtful and strategic use of social media, including platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Mastodon and others, provides increased access to resources, development of virtual community, and increased understanding of the lived experience of neurological conditions, including stroke and aphasia.
Using social media provides substantial benefits and advantages to clinicians, researchers and academics. Strategic and thoughtful use of social media can be effective for professional development, participation in formal and informal communities of practice, increased understanding and awareness of current research, clinical practices and best practice guidelines, and increased exposure to international and diverse perspectives. Social media provides a platform for first-person accounts and experiences, enhancing the clinicians’ understanding of the lived experience of stroke and aphasia (Garcia-Rudolph et al., 2019). Additionally, social media can be effectively used to flatten hierarchies that may be present in traditional, non-virtual spaces, thus potentially amplifying voices, ideas and thoughts of those who may historically not be provided such opportunities (Titanji et al., 2022).
In this presentation, we will provide examples of how social media is currently being used by rehabilitation clinicians, physicians and other providers, as well as medical students and students in speech-language pathology academic programs to support understanding of neurology, stroke and aphasia. Topic-specific social media resources will be provided across multiple platforms, including social media content from peer-reviewed journals with strong social media presence (e.g., Lancet Neurology, Brain and JAMA Neurology; Mishra et al., 2021). Formative and foundational neurology, stroke and aphasia resources available on social media will be presented. Formations of communities of practice surrounding stroke and aphasia (Bryant et al., 2021) will be discussed and strategies to develop or participate in such communities will be provided (i.e., Brunner et al., 2022).
Participants will also be provided with strategies to be effective consumers of information on social media, as well as efficient users of social media to support learning and understanding, rather than ineffective scrolling and time wasting. Finally, participants will be provided with a compendium of formative content resources available on social media to support increased understanding of neurology, stroke and aphasia. These institutional and individual resources include specific social media accounts, hashtags, and interactions geared for novice, experienced and expert clinicians.