Title: The use of social media in healthcare: knowledge transfer in the Cyprus healthcare system

Authors: Marcos Komodromos; Nicholas Nicoli; Charalambos Papacharalambous

Addresses: Department of Communications, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus ' Department of Communications, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus ' Department of Physiotherapy, School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Engomi, Nicosia, Cyprus

Abstract: Social media is considered one of the most popular channels used by healthcare practitioners to communicate with their publics, transfer their knowledge and promote health. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefits of the use of social media in healthcare to enhance knowledge in the Cyprus' healthcare system. This qualitative study elaborates the orientation of physical experts about social media and knowledge exchange in the workplace. The face-to-face interview approach was used to investigate the exposition with the help of 184 non-directive and semi-structured interviews from the physical experts in Cyprus, using convenience sampling and thematic analysis was done using NVivo-11 plus. The results end up with three major themes. The social media applications extend communication and relationship between employees. These social media applications are equally beneficial for acquiring existing and new knowledge transfer. Social media applications advance knowledge exchange by promoting knowledge sharing and transfer.

Keywords: digital communication; new media; knowledge transfer; social media communication; healthcare system; clinical practice.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2021.115976

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2021 Vol.13 No.3, pp.253 - 265

Received: 21 Mar 2020
Accepted: 29 Mar 2020
Published online: 06 Jul 2021 *

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