BMJ  2007;335:645-646 (29 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39343.478403.68

Observations

Medicine and the media

Patients' blogs—do doctors have anything to fear?

Blogs written by parents about their sick children's condition and treatment can be beneficial if handled sensitively. Matthew Hurley and Craig Smith point out the pitfalls to avoid

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

In recent months we have had very different experiences of parents using blogs. One family used a blog simply to update family and friends overseas about their extremely premature baby. It contained a daily record of events, including details of procedures and the names of staff looking after their baby. In another blog the parents of a baby with rare congenital abnormalities used it to keep detailed records of medical care and decisions, including discussions and disagreements with different medical and nursing staff. Both blogs initially caused some concern among staff.

The phenomenon of parents' blogs may have a unique association with paediatric and neonatal practice. It is common practice for parents to take photographs of their babies to log their progress. Electronic dissemination makes sharing these experiences easier, and for many the blog is simply the modern photograph album or memory box. Keeping a blog can be beneficial to . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Who are the doctor bloggers and what do they want?

Rebecca Coombes
BMJ 2007 335: 644-645. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tunick, R., Mednick, L. (2009). Commentary: Electronic Communication in the Pediatric Setting--Dilemmas Associated with Patient Blogs. J Pediatr Psychol 34: 585-587 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

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Blogs can be expensive to remove

Oscar H Gyde
bmj.com, 28 Sep 2007 [Full text]

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