---
title: "Peer-to-peer healthcare on NPR"
description: "Macro and micro health news and how the two combined to create one great story about online communities."
date: "2011-04-04"
authors:
  - name: "Susannah Fox"
    job_title: "Former Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/susannah-fox/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/04/04/peer-to-peer-healthcare-on-npr/"
categories:
  - "Health Policy"
  - "Medicine & Health"
  - "Online Search"
  - "Social Media"
tags:
  - "Social Networking"
---

# Peer-to-peer healthcare on NPR

To me, there are two types of breaking news in health care: the macro and the micro.

Macro health news breaks when there is a natural disaster, a scientific breakthrough, or a new twist in a policy debate (see: "[ACOs](http://e-patients.net/archives/2011/04/accountable-care-organizations-and-patient-centeredness.html)"). I read up on the facts and try to make sense of the latest turn of events, but usually from a comfortable distance.

Micro health news breaks when a loved one gets a serious diagnosis. Then I follow the unfolding health care story with intensity and I care more about the outcome.

Nancy Shute of NPR pulled off a nice trick when she reported on how one online community swarmed to the rescue of a woman who was recently diagnosed with a rare condition. The story grabbed my attention with micro intensity but was able to make a macro point: "[Web Communities Help Patients With Rare Diseases](http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135106113/patients-with-rare-diseases-connect-online)." By the end of it, it mattered to me that one woman's kidney was saved thanks to a Facebook group. I bet it mattered to a lot of listeners, not just because it was a good story, but because it resonates with their own experiences. Pew Internet's research shows that 1 in 4 internet users living with chronic disease go online to find other people with similar health concerns. The report [Peer-to-peer Healthcare](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2011/P2PHealthcare.aspx) also chronicled how those connections can make all the difference in the world, especially among people living with rare disease.