Effects of a social media website on primary care givers’ awareness of music therapy services in a neonatal intensive care unit

• Medical professionals are using blogs to disseminate pertinent information.
• The stimulus intervention motivated medical professionals to visit the blog site.
• The stimulus intervention increased blog site visits.
• The music therapy blog was considered a useful tool for obtaining information.

Due to time constraints experienced by clinical staff in the hospital environment, traditional methods of educating and disseminating information about new services and treatments, for example music therapy, are often difficult and cumbersome. Social media blogs are emerging as a preferred option for healthcare professionals when needing to disseminate updated clinical and research information in a timely manner. The purpose of this pilot study was to gain information about the effect of a music therapy blog on (1) awareness of NICU music therapy services, and (2) usefulness of the blog as an information source for primary care givers working in a neonatal intensive care unit. Participants included 12 primary care physicians and practitioners working in a level three neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a large tertiary care facility in the South Eastern United States. Participants were randomized to two groups; group A received an email stimulus intervention for the first two weeks of the study while group B received the stimulus the last two weeks of the study. Results showed that there were significant results between the mid/post-test and pre/post-test for group A, but not for group B suggesting that the stimulus intervention helped motivate group A participants to visit the blog site even without the stimulus intervention the last two weeks of the study. Both groups reported high scores for the usefulness of the blog for acquiring information about NICU music therapy services.