How Social Media Can Unite and Empower Cancer Patients

In 10 seconds? Social media has changed the way people interact and learn new information. Many cancer specialists have noted social media’s positive role in disseminating information and building community among cancer patients, their loved ones, and healthcare professionals.

I thought social media was bad for mental health…OK. You’re not wrong…but it’s all about context. Before the internet and social media, information about cancer care was a one-way street from cancer specialists to patients. Cancer patients and their loved ones didn’t have many tools to learn about cancer for themselves, let alone connect with and learn from people around the world in similar situations. While the internet is full of misinformation (a topic of great concern to us at Sparrow), we also know that empowering patients with high-quality information serves both patients and the movement to improve cancer research as a whole.