Professionalism conduct on social networks before and after COVID-19 for healthcare practitioners

Social networks have revolutionized numerous activities in daily life, affecting the behavior of professional conduct. Professionals, especially healthcare practitioners, directly impact the health and well-being of community members through online social network sites (SNSs). However, limited studies have considered the use of SNS by healthcare professionals, especially during the Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). Understanding how healthcare professionals use SNSs is crucial, as it can influence public health communication and education. By studying their SNS interactions, we can gain insight into how information is disseminated and how it impacts patient care and community health outcomes. Furthermore, this knowledge can help develop guidelines to improve the effective and responsible use of SNSs in the medical field. To understand the effect of COVID-19 on the behavior of healthcare professionals in SNSs for medical and healthcare purposes, we conducted a comprehensive survey based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), which is a theory of information systems used to explain how users come to accept and utilize technology. It focuses on two key factors: perceived usefulness (how much a person believes a technology will improve their performance) and perceived ease of use (how easy the technology is to use). We developed a cross-sectional survey covering two samples from Kuwaiti healthcare professionals before and after COVID-19. The results of the study suggest that physicians do not strongly favor using SNS as a healthcare tool, neither before nor after COVID-19. Therefore, it is essential to promote greater awareness of healthcare in the SNS. It is also important to study the needs of healthcare professionals so that they can positively employ SNSs for healthcare. • COVID-19’s limited effect on medical SNS use in Kuwait is examined. • The finding shows that Kuwaiti physicians do not favor SNSs for healthcare. • There is weak TAM support for professional medical content. • Addressing data security is important to influence medical SNS safety. • Kuwaiti healthcare needs guidance on responsible SNS healthcare use.