Jenny Widén
“Your local health centre is not necessarily the first place you turn to about these things. Instead, women turn increasingly to Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook,” says Lisa Guntram, associate professor at the Department of Thematic Studies at Linköping University.
This shift raises important questions: How does it affect women’s view of their own bodies? Who becomes the new experts? And what role do influencers and content creators play in shaping health knowledge?
These are the issues that Lisa Guntram and Lisa Lindén, docent at Chalmers University of Technology, will investigate in the new research project: “Beyond the clinic. Expertise and experience in content creators’ and audiences’ interactions around women’s reproductive health on social media”. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council with nearly SEK 5 million.
“Enormous role”
“Our ways of learning about health have moved to a completely new arena. Social media now plays an enormous role in how people understand both their health and their bodies,” says Lisa Guntram.
Studies show that up to 80 percent of women use social media to search for health information. The researchers want to understand how, where and by whom knowledge about women’s reproductive health is created and shared.“It won’t matter what the doctor at the health centre says if you have ten doctors and numerous other actors in your phone whom you can also consult. This creates both new opportunities and new challenges,” Lisa Guntram explains.
Content creators
The project will include interviews with both content creators and the women who follow them. Among the creators are doctors and midwives who share their expertise, as well as individuals without medical training who share personal experiences.
“In this context, the line between personal experience and expertise is often blurred. This is another important dimension to study” says Lisa Guntram.
Some creators also have commercial interests, which makes it harder for followers to know whom to trust and what information is reliable.
More not always better
In the past, sources of health information were few. Today, there is an endless stream of content available around the clock.
“More information is not always a good thing. It can create opportunities for better health, but also uncertainty when you cannot assess its value,” says Guntram.
The researchers are not aiming to necessarily say whether this development is good or bad, but rather to better understand how people navigate it.
Maternal health
Lisa Guntram will also be part of the new MAMA research hub, funded by the Swedish research council for health, working life and welfare – Forte with SEK 67 million. The centre will focus on improving care for pregnant women and mothers.
“It’s fantastic that we have secured such long-term and valuable funding for issues around equitable maternity care,” says Lisa Guntram.
