PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Alison Thomson AU - Dominika Raciborska AU - David Baker AU - Gavin Giovannoni TI - How to start a blog AID - 10.1136/practneurol-2017-001597 DP - 2017 Apr 12 TA - Practical Neurology PG - practneurol-2017-001597 4099 - http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2017/04/12/practneurol-2017-001597.short 4100 - http://pn.bmj.com/content/early/2017/04/12/practneurol-2017-001597.full AB - Blogs that address issues of health and medical education run by clinical and research teams can have a profound impact on how patients access and navigate health information. Regularly updated websites are useful tools to facilitate two-way communication with a range of different audiences from patients to the general public. They provide benefits of supporting patients to learn and self-manage their health, and to educate colleagues and disseminate research. This article describes how to set up a blog, pointing out some simple style and formatting considerations, usable methods and appropriate conduct for healthcare professionals to engage with patients online.