A BLOG AS A SOCIAL SUPPORT TOOL FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC DISEASE

Abstract

To examine the phenomenon of social support using the blog paratucuidadoenlinea in people with chronic illness. Method: Exploratory descriptive research with a qualitative approach, held in Bogotá in 2010, through a case study with 8 people with chronic illness who were linked to paratucuidadoenlinea blog. The intervention lasted four months and consisted of providing a service available 16 hours a day on the blog to respond to cases. The information was obtained by observations in field journals of each of the cases and semi-structured interviews conducted after the intervention. The data analysis included the organization of daily reports from the field in each case, transcription of the holdings of the cases through the chat and/or forums and interviews, building codes and categories that describe the perception of individuals with regard to the strategy. Results: The blog was used to obtain social support, regardless of socioeconomic status, age or education level, of the cases. The resulting categories were: self-recognition and personal growth, connection, communication, utility, satisfaction and responses. Conclusions: Is required to explore strategies used throughout the blog, include social support networks online and generate a scale of perceived social support use of technology, according to the Latin American context.