Social Media Use as Health Awareness Tool: A Study among Healthcare Practitioners

The role of social media has increased dramatically in different context such as business, politics, and healthcare promotion. Though, the factors enhancing the adoption of social media as a tool of health promotion in Malaysia have not been embraced practically. This article aims to identify conceptual framework for social media adoption by Malaysian healthcare practitioners (MHPs) as a health platform promoter in Malaysia. It helps to deliver an effective message on the available social media at the lowest costs and timely manner, to improve government performance in facing healthcare challenges. The study framework is based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) proposing that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions have a significant positive effect on the adoption of social media platforms. This study provides an important consideration of the current global healthcare orientation and the trends innovation that should be adopted by the government or any MHPs which might help of optimizing the use of limited resources. The expected resulted would also highlight the effective factors on health practitioners to adopt social media as a communication tool that can be used to enhance people awareness about diseases prevention and staying healthy