Dr Rowena Forsyth | Ep 14
Digital Health and Communities
Dr Rowena Forsyth, a Senior Lecturer in Digital Health at the University of Sydney. Rowena’s work sits at the intersection of health sociology, cyberpsychology, and digital communities, and she has a keen interest in how people use technology collectively for decision-making, support, and connection.
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Dr Rowena Forsyth
Rowena is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Health at the University of Sydney.
Her focus is health sociology especially qualitative digital health, cyberpsychology, medical tourism and online communities.
Find out more about her work and research at Sydney University here.
In today’s episode of Confessions of a CyberPsychologist, I chat with Rowena about:
Her Academic Journey
Rowena began her career studying sociology and health services research, focusing on how information was communicated between doctors and laboratory staff during the shift from paper-based to computerised systems. Through this, she became fascinated by the “collective” element of decision-making—how information exchange online can build new communities and foster shared understanding.
Medical Tourism and Online Communities
- Growing Global Trend
Medical tourism, where individuals travel abroad for health procedures, has been on the rise, with an estimated 5 million people worldwide engaging in it in 2015. In Australia, roughly 20,000 individuals travel for cosmetic procedures alone each year. - Why Go Abroad?
Contrary to common assumptions that medical tourists are seeking luxury or extreme procedures, Rowena’s research shows they are often everyday people looking to address long-term concerns, such as post-pregnancy body changes. Cost, efficient scheduling, and specialist expertise abroad all play significant roles in their decision-making. - Online Support Networks
Many medical tourists form tight-knit online communities on platforms like Facebook, often closed or private groups where members can safely discuss procedures, post updates, and share healing progress photos. These spaces provide both practical tips and emotional support, evolving into lasting friendships. - Shared Stigma: Feeling judged or misunderstood by friends and family, individuals turn to these online groups where their choices are not stigmatised.
- Paying It Forward: Those who have undergone procedures will often mentor newcomers, offering everything from hospital recommendations to encouragement and first-hand recovery advice.
Professional Communities and Online Identities
- Privacy and Boundaries
Health professionals frequently join closed online communities to consult each other, share best practices, and keep up to date with new research. While some keep personal and professional identities separate, others prefer to be authentic across all platforms. Concerns about institutional guidelines and regulatory body oversight also influence how much they share. - Benefits of Online Collaboration
Many practitioners find these digital networks crucial for:- Exchanging research and articles
- Offering peer support for rare or complex cases
- Facilitating international collaboration, often leading to co-authored publications
Digital Health for Young People
- Trauma-Informed Approach
Rowena is involved in a project focusing on 12-year-olds and older adolescents in the Pacific region. Using co-designed workshops and fictional scenarios, researchers explore how teens use digital tools for nutrition and physical activity guidance. - Early Findings
A high percentage of young people (81% of 13-year-olds) already have smartphones and use platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to find health information. The goal is to improve digital literacy, ensuring they access reliable, up-to-date content.
The Future of Cyberpsychology in Australia
Australia’s unique demographic landscape—large geographical distances, diverse populations—creates immense potential for cyberpsychology research. Whether it’s adolescent digital health or the ethical boundaries of online professional identity, the field continues to grow. Academic groups at the University of Sydney, including Rowena’s own team, are keen to welcome more students and researchers to explore how we can use technology wisely and ethically to enrich both patient and practitioner experiences.
Dr Rowena Forsyth's Research and Publications
Source (and more details available): Dr Forsyths Profile at the University of Sydney.
Book Chapters
- Does Involving Clinicians in Decision Support Development Facilitate System Use Over Time? A Systematic Review. [More Information]
- Medical Tourism.
Journals
- Cosmetic Medical Tourists’ Use of Online Support Communities: Sharing Information, Reciprocity, and Enduring Relationships. [More Information]
- Health Professionals’ Use of Online Communities for Interprofessional Peer Education. [More Information]
- How Are Clinicians’ Acceptance and Use of Clinical Decision Support Systems Evaluated Over Time? A Systematic Review. [More Information]
- Self-reported and accelerometry measures of sleep components in adolescents living in Pacific Island countries and territories: Exploring the role of sociocultural background. [More Information]
- “I am not just a place for implementation. I should be a partner”: a qualitative study of patient-centered care from the perspective of diabetic patients in Saudi Arabia. [More Information]
- Increasing Access to Mental Health Services: Videogame Players’ Perspectives. [More Information]
- Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior of Male Video Game Players: An Online Survey. [More Information]
- Patient-centered care in the Middle East and North African region: a systematic literature review. [More Information]
- It Helps Me With Everything”: A Qualitative Study of the Importance of Exercise for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury.”. [More Information]
- Online Group Counseling for Young People Through a Customized Social Networking Platform: Phase 2 of Kids Helpline Circles. [More Information]
- Comparative optimism about infection and recovery from COVID-19; Implications for adherence with lockdown advice. [More Information]
- Optimising consent and adherence in high-risk medical settings: nurses’ role as information providers in allogeneic bone marrow transplant. [More Information]
- Rules of engagement: Journalists’ attitudes to industry influence in health news reporting. [More Information]
- Views of health journalists, industry employees and news consumers about disclosure and regulation of industry-journalist relationships: An empirical ethical study. [More Information]
- Women’s views about maternity care: How do women conceptualise the process of continuity? [More Information]
- Power and Control in Interactions Between Journalists and Health-Related Industries: The View From Industry. [More Information]
- Trouble in the gap: a bioethical and sociological analysis of informed consent for high-risk medical procedures. [More Information]
- Health Journalists’ Perceptions of Their Professional Roles and Responsibilities for Ensuring the Veracity of Reports of Health Research. J[More Information]
- Medicine, the media and political interests. [More Information]
- Policies and practices on competing interests of academic staff in Australian universities. [More Information]
- Widening the debate about conflict of interest: addressing relationships between journalists and the pharmaceutical industry. [More Information]
- Women with gestational diabetes in Vietnam: a qualitative study to determine attitudes and health behaviours. [More Information]
- Decision Making in a Crowded Room: the Relational Significance of Social Roles in Decisions to Proceed with Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation. [More Information]
- Tissue donation to biobanks: a review of sociological studies.[More Information]
- Patient perceptions of carrying their own health information: approaches towards responsibility and playing an active role in their own health – implications for a patient-held health file. [More Information]
- Distance versus dialogue: modes of engagement of two professional groups participating in a hospital-based video ethnographic study.
- Distance versus dialogue: Modes of engagement of two professional groups participating in a hospital-based video ethnographic study. [More Information]
- Illuminating everyday realities: the significance of video methods for social science and health research.
- Are health systems changing in support of patient safety?: A multi-methods evaluation of education, attitudes and practice. [More Information]
- Video Research in Health: Visibilising the Effects of Computerising Clinical Care. [More Information]
- When requests become orders – a formative investigation into the impact of a computerized physician order entry system on a pathology laboratory service. [More Information]
- Whiteboards: Mediating professional tensions in clinical practice. [More Information]
- The (im)possibilities of clinical democracy.
- Visibilising Clinical Work: Video Ethnography in the Contemporary Hospital.
- A tale of two hospitals: Assessing cultural landscapes and compositions. [More Information]
Conferences
- The challenges of adapting a face-to-face intensive qualitative research methodology course for online delivery to graduate level public health students.
- You have to see it to believe it: Video as a tool for facilitating reflexive health care practice.
- Video ethnography as a methodology for studying the technologization of practice.
Research Reports
- Quality Domains for the Development of a Consumer Experience Report on Quality of Residential Aged Care. [More Information]
