Utilizing social media for self-care messaging and education for patients with diabetes could positively improve patient health, according to findings of a study published in Frontiers in Public Health.1 With proper self-care and awareness, patients can adopt behaviors that help to manage diabetes.
The authors stated that responsibility in disease management has become more important to patients, and education plays a large role in enhancing self-care and disease management, especially because of the lengthy and challenging lifestyle changes. Pharmacists play a critical role in diabetes management, especially with the popularity of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and the addition of over-the-counter continuous glucose monitoring devices. In a multisite study, investigators found that pharmacists can help improve clinical outcomes, including diabetes control and management of comorbidities. The investigators emphasized the importance of education, medication management, and medication access as part of the pharmacist’s role.2
However, in-person educational sessions could have limitations for patients due to transportation, time and location constraints, and lack of resources. Social media could play a role in prevention, care, and management of chronic diseases, but there have been limited studies on the impact of social media for type 2 diabetes management, specifically in developing countries.1
Investigators of the study aimed to determine self-care education in a virtual setting and the effects on health literacy and hemoglobin A1c levels for individuals with type 2 diabetes in Iran. The study was conducted in diabetes clinics from March 2022 to June 2022, including patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, aged 30 to 60 years, a history of diabetes for at least 6 months, owned a smartphone, access to social media applications, and absence of psychological disorders. There were 38 patients in the intervention group and 38 in the control group.1
The intervention group included necessary self-care instructions, including physical activity, blood glucose monitoring, types of diabetes, dietary guidelines, diabetes complications, and foot care. Patients in the control group did not receive any education material.1
The data analysis was performed with 70 participants, with 38.6% being male and 15.7% being in rural areas. Investigators found that there were no statistically significant differences between reading, access, understanding, evaluation, decision-making, and overall health literacy scores between both groups prior to the intervention, but all of the scores except access were significantly higher for the intervention group compared with the control group after the intervention. The post-intervention access score did not have a difference between the 2 groups.1
After the intervention, the intervention group showed an increase in reading, access, understanding, evaluation, decision-making, and total health literacy, and the scores for control and prevention of complications were higher for the intervention group compared with the control group. Diet, physical activity, and treatment did not show statistical differences post-intervention.However, investigators did not find statistically significant differences before or after the intervention for hemoglobin A1c for both groups.1
In a separate study published in BMJ Health and Care Informatics, investigators found that patient engagement with diabetes-related content was low in social media, showing that social media strategies for health care organizations should be reassessed and refined for patients with diabetes.3
The study was retrospective in nature and evaluated the engagement, empowerment, and participation for patients with type 2 diabetes through Facebook pages of health care organizations in Honduras. Each page had a minimum of 10,000 followers and was actively distributing information related to type 2 diabetes. Investigators gathered posts published between October 2023 and March 2024, and posts were categorized into health education, research and innovation on diabetes, diabetes-related technology, interviews and personal stories, awareness days or other celebrations, recipes or food-related posts, and miscellaneous.3
They found that there were significant disparities in the frequencies of posts and public engagement for different types of organizations, and the majority of posts were miscellaneous with text and images. Investigators also found that recipes and food-related posts were the most liked and shared among patients. The multimedia components were particularly engaging. Other posts that were engaging were health education and personal stories, highlighting that patients want more educational content on diabetes.3
READ MORE: Diabetes Resource Center
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REFERENCES
1. Safdari A, Nejat N, Abolfathi A, Mehrabi F, Rafiei F. Effect of social media-based education on self-care status, health literacy, and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1507726. Published 2025 Jan 20. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1507726
2. Naseman KW, Faiella AS, Lambert GM. Pharmacist-Provided Diabetes Education and Management in a Diverse, Medically Underserved Population. Diabetes Spectr. 2020;33(2):210-214. doi:10.2337/ds19-0048
3. Cano A, Uddin M, Caceres F, Rodriguez J, Syed-Abdul S. Engaging with patients with diabetes: the role of social media in low-income healthcare organisations. BMJ Health Care Inform. 2025;32(1):e101193. Published 2025 Feb 4. doi:10.1136/bmjhci-2024-101193
Social Media Could Be Utilized for Self-Care Messaging, Diabetes Education
Social media can help close the gap on health care information access, but pharmacists still play a large role in diabetes management, especially in therapeutics.
Utilizing social media for self-care messaging and education for patients with diabetes could positively improve patient health, according to findings of a study published in Frontiers in Public Health.1 With proper self-care and awareness, patients can adopt behaviors that help to manage diabetes.
With proper self-care and awareness, patients can adopt behaviors that help to manage diabetes. | Image Credit: Looker_Studio | stock.adobe.com
The authors stated that responsibility in disease management has become more important to patients, and education plays a large role in enhancing self-care and disease management, especially because of the lengthy and challenging lifestyle changes. Pharmacists play a critical role in diabetes management, especially with the popularity of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and the addition of over-the-counter continuous glucose monitoring devices. In a multisite study, investigators found that pharmacists can help improve clinical outcomes, including diabetes control and management of comorbidities. The investigators emphasized the importance of education, medication management, and medication access as part of the pharmacist’s role.2
However, in-person educational sessions could have limitations for patients due to transportation, time and location constraints, and lack of resources. Social media could play a role in prevention, care, and management of chronic diseases, but there have been limited studies on the impact of social media for type 2 diabetes management, specifically in developing countries.1
Investigators of the study aimed to determine self-care education in a virtual setting and the effects on health literacy and hemoglobin A1c levels for individuals with type 2 diabetes in Iran. The study was conducted in diabetes clinics from March 2022 to June 2022, including patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, aged 30 to 60 years, a history of diabetes for at least 6 months, owned a smartphone, access to social media applications, and absence of psychological disorders. There were 38 patients in the intervention group and 38 in the control group.1
The intervention group included necessary self-care instructions, including physical activity, blood glucose monitoring, types of diabetes, dietary guidelines, diabetes complications, and foot care. Patients in the control group did not receive any education material.1
The data analysis was performed with 70 participants, with 38.6% being male and 15.7% being in rural areas. Investigators found that there were no statistically significant differences between reading, access, understanding, evaluation, decision-making, and overall health literacy scores between both groups prior to the intervention, but all of the scores except access were significantly higher for the intervention group compared with the control group after the intervention. The post-intervention access score did not have a difference between the 2 groups.1
After the intervention, the intervention group showed an increase in reading, access, understanding, evaluation, decision-making, and total health literacy, and the scores for control and prevention of complications were higher for the intervention group compared with the control group. Diet, physical activity, and treatment did not show statistical differences post-intervention.However, investigators did not find statistically significant differences before or after the intervention for hemoglobin A1c for both groups.1
In a separate study published in BMJ Health and Care Informatics, investigators found that patient engagement with diabetes-related content was low in social media, showing that social media strategies for health care organizations should be reassessed and refined for patients with diabetes.3
The study was retrospective in nature and evaluated the engagement, empowerment, and participation for patients with type 2 diabetes through Facebook pages of health care organizations in Honduras. Each page had a minimum of 10,000 followers and was actively distributing information related to type 2 diabetes. Investigators gathered posts published between October 2023 and March 2024, and posts were categorized into health education, research and innovation on diabetes, diabetes-related technology, interviews and personal stories, awareness days or other celebrations, recipes or food-related posts, and miscellaneous.3
They found that there were significant disparities in the frequencies of posts and public engagement for different types of organizations, and the majority of posts were miscellaneous with text and images. Investigators also found that recipes and food-related posts were the most liked and shared among patients. The multimedia components were particularly engaging. Other posts that were engaging were health education and personal stories, highlighting that patients want more educational content on diabetes.3
READ MORE: Diabetes Resource Center
Ready to impress your pharmacy colleagues with the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips? Sign up today for our free Drug Topics newsletter.
REFERENCES
1. Safdari A, Nejat N, Abolfathi A, Mehrabi F, Rafiei F. Effect of social media-based education on self-care status, health literacy, and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1507726. Published 2025 Jan 20. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1507726
2. Naseman KW, Faiella AS, Lambert GM. Pharmacist-Provided Diabetes Education and Management in a Diverse, Medically Underserved Population. Diabetes Spectr. 2020;33(2):210-214. doi:10.2337/ds19-0048
3. Cano A, Uddin M, Caceres F, Rodriguez J, Syed-Abdul S. Engaging with patients with diabetes: the role of social media in low-income healthcare organisations. BMJ Health Care Inform. 2025;32(1):e101193. Published 2025 Feb 4. doi:10.1136/bmjhci-2024-101193
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FDA Alerts of Potential Missed Safety Notifications With Smartphone–Compatible Diabetes Devices
App notifications can be effected by various notification focuses, software updates, or connecting hardware, such as car audio or wireless earphones.
Episode 6: High Risk: Diabetes and COVID-19
In this episode of Over the Counter, 2 experts on diabetes management and care discuss the effect COVID-19 is having on individuals with diabetes and the ways that the health care system is responding.
FDA Approves Ranibizumab Injection for Diabetic Macular Edema
The therapy is now the first and only FDA-approved treatment that maintains vision with fewer treatments compared to standard-of-care injections.
Newer Diabetes Medications Associated With Lower Risk of MACE, Reductions in Hemoglobin A1c
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors are more cardioprotective in older adults and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for younger patients.
Defining Resilience in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes
There is no standard way to define resilience in adolescent patients with type 1 diabetes, though many studies see resilience as an ability or process.
Diabetes, Prediabetes Linked to Older Brain Age
Patients with diabetes and prediabetes have older brain ages than their chronological age compared with normoglycemic patients.