Challenges of Communicating Health Information on Diabetes Miletus through Facebook and Implications on Healthcare Delivery in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Background: Communicating health information on social networking sites especially Facebook can be quite gainful but at the same time contains a range of probable risks. It provides a comprehensive and deep understanding, support and engagement for patients and those with absolute interest in the care and wellbeing of patients suffering from a particular illness. Objective: This study sought to find out the difficulties faced when sharing data related to a person’s medical history including symptoms, diagnosis, procedures and outcomes and its implication on healthcare delivery in Ebonyi State. Method: The study was anchored on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), adopted discursive analysis research method. Results: The study found that health communication through Facebook faces the challenge of lack of status identification. Unique contribution: Insights into the major challenges of health communication through Facebook which has some negative consequences. Key Recommendation: The study recommended that members of Facebook diabetic patient groups should always identify their status by indication their professional status such as doctor, care giver, nurse, Mr. Mrs or Miss ‘A’ ‘B’ or ‘Z’ before their names, diabetic patients in Ebonyi State should register in online health communication groups to enable them take advantage of the benefits of belonging to such groups, there is need to urgently address the negative consequences of Facebook health communication and other social media health communication platforms.