Angelina Anderson

School: Roosevelt University

Major: Biological Sciences

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-vxd3-rj21

Angelina Anderson is entering her final year at Roosevelt University majoring in Biology. She will be continuing the project that this article is based on for her undergraduate thesis, looking further into the ethics of the new medications that were discussed in the Facebook group. At Roosevelt University, Angelina works as a Science Peer Advisor, participates in and is a leader in several organizations, was an Office of Student Research fellow this spring and presented in the Roosevelt Student Research Symposium. She plans to go into the field of research focusing on genetics and healthcare policy reform, later this year she plans to apply to graduate school.

The Evolution of the Modern Support Group

Abstract

This research project examines the evolution of the modern medical support group as social media continues to take a more central part in support group activity. The purpose of this project is to determine whether online support groups are pushing the bounds of support groups or if they are evolving the very definition. This analysis was conducted by looking at two Migraine support groups on Facebook that are moderated by the same administrator. Looking at posts and comments made by both the administrator as well as those by group users, I analyze how the support group is being utilized and what the motivation behind group participation may be. Through rhetorical analysis, I identify a set of post types that support group users have in common and offer hypotheses about how users enact online medical identities. Applying the insights of Ginroy and Holt, I identify a growing expectation for medical professionals to communicate with patients over the internet.1,3

This project aims to determine whether support groups are changing and if so if they are changing to meet a need that is not being met by the medical community, as well as looking at how that may connect to patients' emotional and physical needs. This project may help to answer if there are any gaps in the medical community for meeting the needs of patients who have conditions like Migraines.