PHILADELPHIA – October 16, 2018 – Health Union, LLC has been accepted for a poster presentation at the 2018 Connected Health Conference in Boston. The poster, titled “Using Qualitative Analysis to Assess a Model of Support for Online Health Communities for People Living with Chronic Health Conditions,” will be presented on Oct. 18. This study provides a rich assessment of the impact of Health Union’s online health community model on patients living with chronic health conditions.

In this study, presented in poster form, Health Union describes results from its qualitative analysis of over 5,800 comments exported from over 40 Facebook posts. These Facebook posts were extracted from dedicated health communities for people living with multiple sclerosis, migraine, IBS, rheumatoid arthritis, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. The results demonstrate how the structural elements of Health Union’s online health communities (OHC) model support high levels of community engagement, information sharing, and mutual support of OHC participants.

The study was conducted by Health Union’s Brian M. Green, MS; Katelyn Van Horn, MSW, MPH; Ketki Gupte, MA; and Amrita Bhowmick, MPH, MBA, of Health Union’s community development team.

Over the past eight years, Health Union has launched 19 online health communities dedicated to people living with specific chronic conditions. Health Union’s OHC model engages, empowers and encourages people to take an active role in their health by providing content that aligns with their needs and interests while cultivating a safe environment where meaningful relationships can thrive. A unique feature of the Health Union OHC model is the use of trained moderators to assist with cultivating active levels of support and engagement in each online community.

The 10th annual Connected Health Conference will take place Oct. 17-19 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. According to its website, the conference is the global platform for provocative and forward-thinking discussion and real-world perspectives on technology-enabled health and wellness.

About Health Union, LLC

Health Union integrates the power of human connection and technology, uniting people in the shared experiences of life with chronic health conditions. The company creates condition-specific online ecosystems – publishing original, daily content and continuously cultivating social conversation – to support, educate and connect millions of people with challenging, chronic health concerns. Today, the Health Union family of brands includes 19 online health communities, including LungCancer.net, Blood-Cancer.com, MultipleSclerosis.net and Type2Diabetes.com.

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