ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2017
Development of Trust in an Online Breast Cancer Forum: A Qualitative Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Cancer Online Support Groups Work, for Whom, and in What Circumstances: Realist Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Review
- Women's Insights on Extended Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer: Qualitative Online Forums Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Online Mental Health Forums and Rural Resilience: Mixed Methods Study and Logic Model.JMIR mental health · 2023Article
- Use of Online Health Forums by People Living With Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Thematic Analysis.JMIR cancer · 2023Article
- Mirroring, monitoring, modelling, belonging, and distancing: Psychosocial processes in an online support group of breast cancer patients.Journal of community psychology · 2022Article
- Patient Perspectives on the Appropriate Use of Prescribed Opioids in Chronic Non-Malignant Pain: Analysis of Online Forums Using Theoretical Domains Framework.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Article
- Extending Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy for 10 Years: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Women's Decision Making in an Online Breast Cancer Forum.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Web-Based Peer Support Interventions for Adults Living With Chronic Conditions: Scoping Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2021Article
- A Revised Model of Trust in Internet-Based Health Information and Advice: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Article
- Perceptions of Food Hypersensitivity Expertise on Social Media: Qualitative Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2019Article
- Prevention of HIV and Other Sexually Transmissible Infections in Expatriates and Traveler Networks: Qualitative Study of Peer Interaction in an Online Forum.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Article
- Sharing and Empathy in Digital Spaces: Qualitative Study of Online Health Forums for Breast Cancer and Motor Neuron Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundOnline health forums provide peer support for a range of medical conditions including life-threatening and terminal illnesses. Trust is an important component of peer-to-peer support, although relatively little is known about how trust forms within online health forums.
objectiveThe aim of this paper is to examine how trust develops and influences sharing among users of an online breast cancer forum.
methodsAn interpretive qualitative approach was adopted. Data were collected from forum posts from 135 threads on 9 boards on the UK charity, Breast Cancer Care (BCC). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 BCC forum users. Both datasets were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's approach and combined to triangulate analysis.
resultsTrust operates in 3 dimensions, structural, relational, and temporal, and these intersect with each other and do not operate in isolation. The structural dimension relates to how the affordances and formal rules of the site affected trust. The relational dimension refers to how trust was necessarily experienced in interactions with other forum users: it emerged within relationships and was a social phenomenon. The temporal dimension relates to how trust changed over time and was influenced by the length of time users spent on the forum.
conclusionsTrust is a process that changes over time and which is influenced by structural features of the forum, as well as informal but collectively understood relational interactions among forum users. The study provides a better understanding of how the intersecting structural, relational, and temporal aspects that support the development of trust facilitate sharing in online environments. These findings will help organizations developing online health forums.
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