Twittering for Work and Health

I have finally created a professional Twitter account for those who want to get notices of my blog posts and other information over there. Feel free to follow me for updates regarding my practice as well as other mental health related news. Please note that I will only be following other established mental health professionals and organizations.

I have used Twitter socially for over two years now and have always been impressed with it as a way to quickly disseminate information across communities. Last fall, I discovered that one of my closest friends was in the hospital having emergency surgery, thanks to a mutual friend’s tweets. If not for her messages, I’d likely have not found out until days later, when my friend had the strength to email. During a recent dinner with another friend, she noted that Twitter has become a faster and more useful resource for local information on earthquakes than the previously relied upon California and Nevada earthquake Index .

But there are more things that you can do with Twitter, besides staying updated on personal or local updates. I just watched a fabulous online presentation entitled Twittering and Plurking for Work and Health , by PF Anderson, Emerging Technologies Librarian at the University of Michigan. She gives a fantastic overview of how these social networking technologies can be utilized by healthcare providers and patients to enhance productivity, learn about health legislation, mobilize activism and support, and to have more accessible relationships with providers. You can click through her slides for a quick overview, or play them with audio for the full 60 minute presentation. I am excited to see how technology is creating new avenues for patient care and empowerment, and I am looking forward to expanding my use of new web tools in productive ways for the clients who work with me.