Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2019

Trust-Building in a Patient Forum: The Interplay of Professional and Personal Expertise

Abigail Bakke Minnesota State University, Mankato

Abstract

Online discussion forums for patients offer the benefits of community but the risks of misinformation. A physician-moderated forum may help to mitigate this tension. How do both the professional expertise of a physician moderator and the personal, experiential expertise of patients contribute to trust in a forum? A rhetorical analysis of a year of postings in an online Parkinson’s community reveals that both forms of expertise were trusted, demonstrating the possibility for them to complement each other. This study illustrates the broader ways trust is established in patient communities and offers implications for technical communicators as forum designers or moderators.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2019-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0047281618776222
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Cameron (2023)
    Agentive assemblages in online patient spaces
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Singer (2019)
    Embracing Wildcard Sources: Information Literacy in the Age of Internet Health
    College English

Cites in this index (16)

  1. Gigante (2018)
    Argumentation by Self-Model: Missing Methods and Opportunities in the Personal …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Reed (2018)
    Building on Bibliography: Toward Useful Categorization of Research in Rhetorics…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Angeli et al. (2018)
    Introduction to the Special Issue: Medical Humanities and/or the Rhetoric of He…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Kenzie et al. (2018)
    Teaching Writing for the Health Professions: Disciplinary Intersections and Ped…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Lerner (2018)
    Medical Narratives in Rhetorical Context: Ethically Researching Anti-Vaccinationists
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 16 →
  1. Scott (2016)
    Boundary Work and the Construction of Scientific Authority in the Vaccines-Auti…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Scott et al. (2015)
    Rhetoric, Ebola, and Vaccination: A Conversation Among Scholars
    Poroi
  3. Swarts (2014)
    The Trouble with Networks: Implications for the Practice of Help Documentation
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Scott et al. (2013)
    The Rhetorics of Health and Medicine: Inventional Possibilities for Scholarship…
    Poroi
  5. Derkatch (2012)
    Demarcating Medicine's Boundaries: Constituting and Categorizing in the Journal…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  6. Arduser (2011)
    Warp and Weft: Weaving the Discussion Threads of an Online Community
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  7. Mackiewicz (2010)
    The Co-construction of Credibility in Online Product Reviews
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  8. Mackiewicz (2010)
    Assertions of Expertise in Online Product Reviews
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  9. Segal (2009)
    Internet Health and the 21st-Century Patient
    Written Communication
  10. Spoel (2008)
    Communicating Values, Valuing Community through Health-Care Websites: Midwifery…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  11. GALEGHER et al. (1998)
    Legitimacy, Authority, and Community in Electronic Support Groups
    Written Communication
Also cites 21 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1108/09593840410542484
     ↗
  2. 10.4018/978-1-5225-1072-7.ch005
     ↗
  3. 10.1016/j.pec.2010.05.029
     ↗
  4. 10.1177/016224399502000402
     ↗
  5. 10.1007/s10551-010-0603-1
     ↗
  6. 10.1080/0965254X.2014.920904
     ↗
  7. 10.1177/146144804044331
     ↗
  8. 10.1080/10810730.2014.894596
     ↗
  9. 10.2196/jmir.4103
     ↗
  10. 10.1007/s10912-014-9278-4
     ↗
  11. 10.2307/2578601
     ↗
  12. 10.1145/2826972.2826973
     ↗
  13. Moturu, S. T., Liu, H. & Johnson, W. G. (2008). Trust evaluation in health information on the World Wide Web.…
     ↗
  14. 10.4135/9781452233277.n11
     ↗
  15. 10.1111/1467-9566.00339
     ↗
  16. 10.1016/S0963-8687(02)00021-5
     ↗
  17. 10.1504/IJWBC.2010.035840
     ↗
  18. 10.1177/1049732311405685
     ↗
  19. 10.1136/bmj.322.7284.444
     ↗
  20. 10.1080/10410230802229738
     ↗
  21. 10.4324/9780203938942
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 12 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    Stance in CEO Statements from U.S. and Vietnamese Banks’ Annual Reports: A Corpus-Based Cross-Cultural Study ↗
    Minh Hieu Nguyen
    multimodality professional writing
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    An Acceptance Analysis of Firms’ Posts on Sina Weibo to Build Credibility ↗
    Chenghui Wu
    multimodality social media
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Developing Intercultural Socioemotional Communication Skills: A Hybrid Student Exchange Project Between Kenya, Ireland, and Germany ↗
    Belinda Oechsler; Yvonne Cleary; Sissi Closs
    multimodality technical communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    What Video Games Can Tell Us About Interactive Technical Communication ↗
    Emily Kuzneski Johnson
    multimodality technical communication multilingual writers
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    “Is This Ethical?” New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design ↗
    Leslie Seawright; Amy Hodges; Timothy Ponce
    multimodality technical communication disability studies multilingual writers