Objectives
The purpose of this work package is to explore how and why people share experiences of health and illness on the internet in the context of multiple sclerosis (MS). We are interested in how people living with MS and those that care for them seek out others’ experiences, how they share their own, and the affect this has on their understanding of MS, relationship with healthcare practitioners, healthcare decision making and general wellbeing. We use a range of different qualitative research methods to do this, including online ethnographic research on patient forums, websites, blogs and Youtube, interviews and non-participant observations.
Research status
We are currently conducting interviews with people living with MS, people caring for those living with MS, and people working in relation to the provision of experiential information on the internet, such as forum moderators and web developers.
Participation and further information
If you are interested in taking part in the research, or would like more information about it, you can download the participant information sheets below:
Information sheet for people affected by MS
Information sheet for people working in the provision of online experiential information
Or, for further information, please contact Fadhila Mazanderani (f.mazanderani@warwick.ac.uk)
Thank you for taking an interest in the project and we look forward to hearing from you.
This research has been reviewed and received approval from the University of Warwick Biomedical Research Ethics Sub-Committee (BREC).
Team members
This work is being conducted by John Powell and Fadhila Mazanderani at the University of Warwick.
Fadhila Mazanderani