Facebook groups and communities for allied health professionals

In the world of the 21st century, we increasingly rely on technology to support our everyday lives. This may involve a face time call to stay in contact with family & friends, using a banking app to pay bills, shopping online and/or keeping up to date with the latest information. Whatever the motive, we should be getting some kind of VALUE from social media.

Before we get into the groups and communities available for allied health professionals on social media (specifically Facebook), I’d like to set the scene a bit for you about the benefits of social media as a learning forum.

The internet and rapid exchange of information has revolutionized communication to the extent that we can communicate with colleagues anywhere at any time using social media platforms. This enables us to share knowledge in a valuable, engaging, and enjoyable way and thus learn with and from other people. It is often said that learning is a social activity, and this is true within social media, particularly given support and challenge from others who face similar problems in similar or different settings can serve to stimulate our own personal review process (Edmonstone, 2018). Therefore, this virtual environment can assist ALL allied health professionals (particularly students, new graduates and/or rural and remote allied health professionals) with professional networking, health communication & knowledge sharing, and, evidence-informed practice.

To build on this, a systematic review by Moorhead et al., (2013) identified six overarching benefits of social media for health professionals which are as follows: (1) increased interactions with others, (2) more available, shared, and tailored information, (3) increased accessibility and widening access to health information, (4) peer/social/emotional support, (5) public health surveillance, and (6) potential to influence health policy. While these benefits are phenomenal and help explain why social media groups and communities are so prolific, the authors caution that the information exchanged needs to be monitored for quality and reliability, and the users’ confidentiality and privacy need to be maintained (Moorhead et al., 2013).

With that established, let’s move on to a list of Facebook groups and communities you can join to ensure you are feeling supported, have access to recent evidence and networking opportunities.

NB: listed in no particular order & worldwide groups may be included

Multidisciplinary groups:

Geriatric OT, PT, and SLP Collaborative Group
ST’s, PT’s , OT’s, DT’s and Audio’s!
Home Health SLP OT and PT Collaboration Group
Paediatric PT, OT, SLP Telehealth
Growth Rx

OTs:

Occupational Therapy Treatment Ideas & Information
Occupational Therapy International Research Network
Confidence In Kids Occupational Therapy
NatureOTs – connect and grow
MH4OT
School Based OT Resource Page
NDIS OT Providers
Occupational Therapy Community
Paediatric OT Special Interest Group (Brisbane & beyond)
Telehealth OT
The My OT Spot Community

Physio:

Australian Physiotherapy Neurology Group
Global Pelvic Physio
APA Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy Australia
PhysioConcepts Education
Telehealth Physical Therapy Providers (PT – Physio)

Podiatry

Podiatry Australia
Podiatry – Bridge The Gap
Podiatry Boards
Podiatry Paeds Group
UK Podiatry

Social work:

Social Work
Queensland Social Workers
Social Work Wise

Psychology:

Psychology @PsychologyMags
Psychological Facts
School Psychology

SLP:

DARE Speech Pathology
Speech Pathology Australia
The SLP Revolution
SLPs for Evidence Based Practice
AAC for the SLP
SLP Materials & Resources
Pediatric SLPs
Medical SLP Forum
SLP Telepractice Collaboration

Nursing:

Australian Nurse Diary
Nurselifern
Australian Nursing – The Nurse Break
You are Not alone! Nurses helping nurses
TheNursePath

Dietetics

Build Up Dietitians – Clinical Dietetics Group
The Future of Dietetics: RD & DTR Union Station
Clinical Nutrition
Dietitians for Change
Build Up Dietitians – Jobs and Career Advice
Dietitians / Nutritionist in Clinical Practice
Registered Dietitians and Future RD’s Community

References:

Edmonstone, J. (2018). Action learning in health, social and community care. Boca Raton FL: Taylor & Francis. Chapter 1. “What is action learning and what is it for?”

Moorhead SA, Hazlett DE, Harrison L, Carroll JK, Irwin A, Hoving C. (2013). A New Dimension of Health Care: Systematic Review of the Uses, Benefits, and Limitations of Social Media for Health Communication. J Med Internet Res, 15(4):e85

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Allied Health Support Services is a supportive community and information platform full of all things relevant to the Allied Health professional… Stay connected, keep up with the latest, chat, support, step outside your comfort zone and your own profession! Have a look!