BMJ  2004;328:1564 (26 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1564-a

Letter

How electronic communication is changing health care

Barriers to online learning networks need to be overcome

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Russell et al highlight the importance of creating online networks for healthcare professionals to share knowledge in their study of soft networks for bridging the gap between research and practice.¹ However, only a minority of CHAIN members posted messages, and these were apparently to exchange information in response to a "cry for help." There was little evidence of interactive group discussion.

Online group discussions can potentially result in learning and change in practice because this active process allows integration of tacit and explicit knowledge. This has been increasingly recognised with the development of online networks or "communities," such as on the National Electronic Library for Health (NeLH), NHS University, and BMJ Learning websites.

However, in our experience of developing four online networks for a variety of healthcare professionals a high reluctance to engage in meaningful online group discussions prevails. This is despite providing online discussion forums that have . . . [Full text of this article]

john.sandars@man.ac.uk

Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, Medical School, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT

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