Research & Innovation

This review specifically focused on identifying concussion-related information accessed by different audiences on a range of social media platforms. The goals of this review were to synthesize the existing state of concussion coverage across social media platforms from all published studies to date as the basis to inform directions for patient and family education, clinical practice and future research on improving concussion care and treatment.

ABSTRACT

Social media platforms have become central to health communication, influencing how individuals access and interpret medical information. A notable innovation in this space is the emergence of medical avatars which are digital personas representing clinicians, patients, or AI-driven agents that deliver health-related content. These avatars leverage visual storytelling and interactivity to simplify complex concepts, foster trust, and enhance engagement, offering scalable solutions for health education and chronic disease support. However, their growing influence raises significant concerns regarding misinformation, ethical transparency, and data privacy. This commentary critically examines the opportunities and risks associated with avatar-led health communication across major platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. It explores how avatars shape health literacy, patient expectations, and clinical encounters, while highlighting ethical challenges such as credential disclosure and informed consent. The paper also discusses implications for clinical practice, policy development, and research, emphasizing the need for evidence-based design and governance frameworks. Future directions include longitudinal studies to assess avatar efficacy, integration of clinical guidelines into avatar-friendly formats, and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure equitable and trustworthy digital health communication. By addressing these complexities, medical avatars can advance health equity and informed decision-
making in the digital age.

Case vignette
As a pediatric social worker, I first met Asher, a 2-month-old infant with short gut syndrome, on a busy pediatric unit where technology framed daily life. Asher depended on a central line for parenteral nutrition, a
gastrostomy tube for intermittent feeds, continuous hydration, regular labs, and vigilant infection surveillance. Each therapy served purpose and introduced burden, and the hospital had become the only reliable container for those competing realities. Discharge was discussed often, and it was technically possible, yet it repeatedly faltered on a single immovable fact:the family faced housing instability, limited transportation, scarce reliable caregivers, and minimal community resources capable of sustaining technology-dependent care. During a quiet meeting, the parents shared that they did not feel able to take their child home with so much equipment because their living situation was unstable, their capacity was overwhelmed, and they feared unintentional harm. 

They asked that Asher remain in the hospital and, if necessary, die there rather than attempt a home plan they believed would fail. Clinically, Asher was not at the end-of-life and could live for years with ongoing technological support, but the family’s request precipitated for us to assess feasibility, burden, and dignity within the reality they named. After multiple goals-of-care discussions with the interdisciplinary team, we agreed to de-escalate treatment. Enteral feeds were withdrawn, parenteral nutrition tapered, and hydration maintained briefly
for comfort before removing tubing as symptom relief became the priority.

Asher died days later in a familiar room, with parents present and supported by a transparent, attentive team.

Introduction
Baby Jackie’s case was one of profound complexity and deep humanity.

She was a neonate diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, a life-limiting condition that shaped every decision we made. From the outset, the medical team understood that her prognosis was poor and that her clinical status would deteriorate over time. The family’s wishes were clear and deeply heartfelt: they wanted their baby to spend as much time at home as possible and did not want her to die in the hospital. These wishes became the guiding principles for our care planning, even as we navigated significant challenges related to safety, housing instability, and parental substance use. This reflection explores the intersection of ethics, patient-and-family-centered care, and practical realities. It highlights the tension between honoring parental wishes and ensuring safety for a medically fragile infant. It also underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the emotional weight carried by professionals in pediatric end-of-life care.

Abstract

Background: Concussion is a prevalent form of traumatic brain injury worldwide with significant health consequences and far-reaching implications. Concussion protocols have been revised in recent years to protect athletes in increasing concussion reduction and timely treatment. Campaigns, news reports and mass media have also depicted coverage of concussions over the past decade especially in light of more athletes coming forward with long-term repercussions following repeated concussions.

Methods: Previously, published studies have examined content pertaining to concussions across different social media platforms. Notably, the last comprehensive review of prevalent content across YouTube on concussions was ten years ago in 2014. Given updates in concussion protocols and clinical practice guidelines, increased news coverage and the movie release of Concussion in 2015, this study sought to examine and describe the sources, format and content covered among the top 100 widely viewed videos on YouTube a decade later.

Results: Majority of the videos were posted by nongovernmental/organizational sources. Several testimonials by athletes on aftereffects of concussions were covered. Falls comprised the leading risk factor for concussions. Football, soccer, basketball and sailing represented the highest risk sports for concussions among the widely viewed videos. Many post-concussive symptoms were accounted for in the videos. Rest and activity limitations were featured as the leading treatments for concussions. Clinical, organizational, and health equity implications are presented.

Conclusion: Recommendations to inform directions for patient and family education and clinical
care on concussions are proposed.

Abstract: Trauma-informed care is an increasingly trending clinical and organizational
approach globally. Multiple guidelines exist on implementing trauma-informed care

across healthcare systems, behavioral health programs, academic institutions, and pris-
ons, among other settings. Although many studies have assessed the implementation of

trauma-informed care guidelines and the integration of training into curricula for

healthcare providers, workforces, and in clinical practice with individuals and communi-
ties, there have been no studies previously conducted to date on assessing the existing

state of coverage on trauma-informed care across social media to inform future, actionable
interventions. This represents a critical gap in research and practice given the increasingly
prevalent utilization and accessibility of information online, especially via a multitude of
social media platforms. This study is the first to assess the sources, format, and content
across one of these social media platforms on YouTube. Content on trauma-informed care
was examined through conducting a descriptive, observational study to determine the
depth and breadth of content that was widely covered and uncovered across the top 100

widely viewed videos. Findings revealed that most of the content was published by pro-
fessional, nongovernmental sources. A wide range of resources and strategies was pre-
sented on social media for utilizing trauma-informed care across diverse settings on indi-
vidual and community levels. The five principles of trauma-informed care (safety, trust-
worthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and choice) were heavily reviewed among the

widely viewed videos. A multitude of benefits was presented in terms of implementing
trauma-informed care on both micro and macro levels. Social determinants of health were
not widely covered but formed some of the stressors and triggers examined among the
videos. DEI principles were also scantly covered across the videos. Several clinical and
organizational implications are presented. Recommendations to integrate widely covered
and uncovered content as targets for intervention in informing future trauma-informed
approaches are proposed.

Abstract

Introduction: Although community baby showers have persisted as a global health promotion practice for infants and their families over the past decades, to date there is no study that has evaluated coverage and engagement of community baby showers across social media as a rising global health communication medium in this contemporary digital era. It follows that the goal of this study sought to fill this gap by examining the existing state of coverage for community baby showers on social media utilizing view count as an engagement metric.

Methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive and observational study, we conducted a content analysis of the top 100 most widely viewed videos populated on YouTube at one conceptual point in time that covered community baby showers. to determine the most prevalent sources, formats, and content represented across this sample of videos.

Results: Many of the videos were published by nongovernmental / organizational sources (n=86) and among them, the majority were in the form of news reports (n=59). Content across these videos presented a diversity of community stakeholders and entities involved in the development and implementation of community baby showers, many which were both for-profit and non-profit organizations (n=72). There was substantial coverage of a wide range of resources and services for prenatal and postnatal care delineated across all of the videos in this sample. Several videos (n=39) covered increased support building for families of infants. Notably, these videos cumulatively generated a low number of views (N=73,036) which yields clinical, educational, and public health implications.

Conclusion: Recommendations to partner with news organizations and utilize content that generated greater viewership as facilitators in increasing capacity to reach, engagement and impact of community baby showers are presented to optimize infant health outcomes, reduce infant mortality, and heighten access to resources and support for infants and their families worldwide.

Background: Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) remains one of the leading causes of infant mortality worldwide and is largely driven by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Although SIDS has received coverage and examination of content spanning Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter across published studies, to date no study has examined SIDS related content on YouTube.

Methods: This descriptive observational study was conducted from December 2023 through January 2024. The goals of this study were to describe the sources, formats and content covered across the 100 widely viewed videos pertaining to SIDS on YouTube.

Results: Most of the videos were published by organizations (N=64) including healthcare systems, the American Academy of Pediatrics and police departments. Several of the widely viewed SIDS-related content was also disseminated by professionals (N=42). Multiple videos presented content on the symptomology pertaining to SIDS and contributing modifiable environmental risk factors. In addition, a wide range of resources were depicted as SIDS reduction measures. Notably, there was substantial emphasis on SIDS reduction postnatally across the widely viewed videos. Limited representation of content on SIDS awareness and reduction outside of the United States was depicted.

Conclusion: Clinical, public health, and organizational implications and recommendations are presented to inform future targets for intervention that can harness findings from this study on widely covered and uncovered content to address the totality of risk factors for SIDS. Future directions in health promotion across the SIDS reduction landscape are also reviewed to account for digital spaces globally, thereby contributing towards reducing infant mortality worldwide.

Abstract

I use the term “formalism” to name the tendency of compulsion to reduce experience, through repetition, to a simple shape, rhythm, and intensity. This essay shows how compulsion’s reduction of the self to just a few characteristics enables—even solicits—analogy across different contexts. Focusing on Othello, I consider several aspects of Shakespeare’s staging of compulsion: the two-way traffic between religious and secular domains; the splitting of the self, which often entails the projection of the self onto others; and the role of such splitting in the representation of racialized violence.

This essay locates in Max Weber’s body of work a theory of recognition in compulsion. With particular attention to Weber’s engagement with pre- and early modern sources, the essay argues that this theory illuminates his project of historical interpretation. For Weber, compulsion turns firsthand experience into a simple pattern or shape, inviting identification across differences in context. Ultimately, the essay shows that the “strange intoxication” of compulsive states of mind, though it might seem to transport the subject outside time and beyond the reach of material circumstance, does much more than misleadingly fuse distinct experiences; it also creates opportunities for and indeed motivates awareness of the concrete histories that connect them.