Social support in cyberspace: lessons learned.

Abstract

The lessons learned from the implementation of phase one of Women to Women (WTW1), a research-based computer outreach program for rural women with chronic illness, and their influence on the development of phase two of Women to Women (WTW2) are discussed in this article. The changes implemented in WTW2 included moving from the FirstClass delivery platform to WebCT; increasing the intra- and interdisciplinary nature of the team by adding nurse experts in Web skills and women's health and non-nurse colleagues in family finance and nutrition; expanding the geographical area to be served from Montana to adjoining states; developing health teaching units that harness the internet as the major source of ever-current health information; including a control group in the study design; and selecting more pertinent, repeated measurement instruments to assess psychosocial variables.