The "Camoni" Eating Disorders Online Community – How Do We Make It Work?
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Abstract
Despite of its growing recurrence worldwide, treatment for eating disorders (ED) remains especially challenging. The challenge becomes even greater as online communities begin to spread rapidly.
Camoni, which means "like me" in Hebrew, is the first and only health and medical social network in Israel. Its main focus is the individual with chronic disease and the people surrounding him: caregivers, friends and professionals. Camoni network's goal is to empower patients and their caregivers. The ED community is one of sixteen communities which utilize this medical social network.
The Camoni community model uniquely combines social networking tools (conversation walls, blogs, internal messaging, online chats, etc.), health news, articles and constant participation of healthcare experts who oversee the conversations. This model in the ED community allows users to openly share their frustration, despair, shame and helplessness (common symptoms in ED) within a protected environment that encourages healing.
Patients with an ED utilize this social health network to share their experiences and feelings. In contrast to other online forums and communities that are not managed by professionals, where discussions among patients might take a pro-ED direction (e.g. pro-Ana sites), Camoni offers a combination of social support between patients and important professional support, which provides users with extra value.
The national health insurance system in Israel usually provides ED patients with only one weekly session with a psychologist and a dietician; yet, it this is clearly not sufficient. The virtual space in Camoni where patients and relevant professionals participate, provides users with resources in addition to weekly therapy and helps to fill the gaps between sessions.
Moreover, the conversations that occur in the ED community often help prepare patients for their actual treatment sessions, as they obtain new insights from other patients and professionals in their Camoni community.
One of the most common ED symptoms is a distorted view of oneself and the world. The social health network helps reduce this distortion. When patients share routine situations that they tend to interpret as catastrophic, other community members and experts offer a variety of nonjudgmental opinions and options, that can help the patient identify distorted or unhelpful thinking patterns, recognize, and change inaccurate beliefs, and relate to others in more positive ways.
In conclusion, after three years of activity and approximately 4,000 registrants in the Camoni ED community, we believe that patients with eating disorders need a reliable, healthy professional resource that can accommodate their profound despair and help them cope with the recurrent crisis and setbacks that characterize eating disorders. These resources, together with the help and support received from similar patients are the essential components of a successful online social health network site. We believe that such a model can be a significant tool in helping these individuals deal with their ED on a daily basis.
Camoni, which means "like me" in Hebrew, is the first and only health and medical social network in Israel. Its main focus is the individual with chronic disease and the people surrounding him: caregivers, friends and professionals. Camoni network's goal is to empower patients and their caregivers. The ED community is one of sixteen communities which utilize this medical social network.
The Camoni community model uniquely combines social networking tools (conversation walls, blogs, internal messaging, online chats, etc.), health news, articles and constant participation of healthcare experts who oversee the conversations. This model in the ED community allows users to openly share their frustration, despair, shame and helplessness (common symptoms in ED) within a protected environment that encourages healing.
Patients with an ED utilize this social health network to share their experiences and feelings. In contrast to other online forums and communities that are not managed by professionals, where discussions among patients might take a pro-ED direction (e.g. pro-Ana sites), Camoni offers a combination of social support between patients and important professional support, which provides users with extra value.
The national health insurance system in Israel usually provides ED patients with only one weekly session with a psychologist and a dietician; yet, it this is clearly not sufficient. The virtual space in Camoni where patients and relevant professionals participate, provides users with resources in addition to weekly therapy and helps to fill the gaps between sessions.
Moreover, the conversations that occur in the ED community often help prepare patients for their actual treatment sessions, as they obtain new insights from other patients and professionals in their Camoni community.
One of the most common ED symptoms is a distorted view of oneself and the world. The social health network helps reduce this distortion. When patients share routine situations that they tend to interpret as catastrophic, other community members and experts offer a variety of nonjudgmental opinions and options, that can help the patient identify distorted or unhelpful thinking patterns, recognize, and change inaccurate beliefs, and relate to others in more positive ways.
In conclusion, after three years of activity and approximately 4,000 registrants in the Camoni ED community, we believe that patients with eating disorders need a reliable, healthy professional resource that can accommodate their profound despair and help them cope with the recurrent crisis and setbacks that characterize eating disorders. These resources, together with the help and support received from similar patients are the essential components of a successful online social health network site. We believe that such a model can be a significant tool in helping these individuals deal with their ED on a daily basis.
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