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"Evaluating Health
Information On the World Wide Web, A Hands-On Guide for Older Adults and Caregivers."
This resource is developed by the SPRY (Setting Priorities for Retirement Years)
Foundation, Washington DC.
I. How do you find reliable health web sites?
- Start with government web sites: You can
link to all of the government web sites through the portal site: www.firstgov.gov.
Some of the sites with health information from the government include the National
Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Administration on
Aging.
- Look up organizations with a history of reliability in health
information. These will most likely have a ".org" suffix, indicating that they
are nonprofit organizations. Some of these include: American Cancer Society, American Lung
Association, American Heart Association, Arthritis Foundation, American Diabetes
Foundation, National Kidney Foundation and the National Osteoporosis Foundation. It is
important that you don't accept a ".org" suffix as an indicator of reliability.
There are some ".org" web sites that are sponsored by commercial entities. When
visiting a ".org" site, be sure to find out what organization supports the site.
- Try searching for links to reputable medical schools. These will
probably have a ".edu" suffix, indicating that they are educational
institutions.
II. What to Look for in Evaluating the Content on a Health Web
Site
Accuracy: The information on the health web site is
accurate if it is in agreement with currently accepted science and technology.
- What to look for on the web site: Are the
sources listed so that you can verify them from another, reliable source? You need to
check the information on web sites carefully to make sure that it comes from a reputable
source. For example, a site might describe a course of treatment for a disease and list a
publication with an official-sounding (yet unfamiliar) title as the source of its
information. To be safe, you would need to check the same information against a trusted
source, such as a government health web site (www.nih.gov, www.cdc.gov, or www.dhhs.gov) or a standard medical reference book.
- Is the Information free of errors in grammar and spelling? This
may not seam as important as the content itself, but errors in language can have harmful
results. Imagine the consequences of a web site visitor thinking about taking an
over-the-counter medication misspelled on a web site. Another reason to check a web site
for grammatical and spelling errors is that such errors can indicate that the developers
of the web site are not keeping a close eye on the quality of the site. This could mean
that other aspects of the site are questionable as well.
- Is it clear who is responsible for the accuracy of the content on
the web site? A reputable site will clearly indicate who is behind the site and who is
responsible for the accuracy of the content. Check the About Us section on the web site,
as well as any disclaimers that may be posted. Some sites have a separate section just on
how they generate the content and have it reviewed.
- Are there statements on the site that you would consider broad and
sweeping? Be cautious about a site that makes frequent use of such terms as
"all", "none", "everyone", "every time." For
example, an inaccurate statement would be something like: "All cancers can be cured
by chemotherapy."
Authorship: Authorship refers to the individual or team
who wrote the content on the web site.
- What to look for on the web site: Can you readily identify who
wrote the content on the web site? You should be able to locate the authors of the content
on a health web site without conducting an extensive search.
- Do you have evidence of the qualifications of the authors of
content on the health web site? You should be able to find a description of the
professional qualifications of the content authors on a health web site. This might be in
the form of a brief biography with a hot link to more extensive information about the
author. Look on the web site to see if they include complete contact information (usually
in "Contact Us")
Copyright: Copyright refers to the legal ownership of the
content by the web site sponsors. Is there a copyright statement on the web page? Read the
copyright statement to determine what content on the web site is copyrighted. Be sure that
the statement gives the name of the holder of the copyright.
Contact Information: The contact information should
include the following:
- Name of a "real" person who can answer questions and
deal with issues (not just "Webmaster")
- Address of the organization sponsoring the web site
- Telephone and fax numbers for the organization
- E-mails for those members of the organization who deal with both
content and technology issues
- What to look for on the web site: Does the web site have a section
entitled, Contact Us (or equivalent)? When you click on a Contact Us link, you should be
able to find all the information listed in the Definition section above.
Site Support: Site Support refers to the agencies or
individuals who are funding the site's development and maintenance.
- What to look for on the web site: Does the site clearly indicate
what its funding sources are? When you examine the Home page of a site, you should be able
to find the funding sources for the site by clicking on the About Us (or equivalent) link.
Some sites put their supporters on the Home page, often under the title of the site.
Identifying site support is important, since it helps you to judge whether or not the site
developers have a bias in the health information they are giving you.
- Can you readily tell the difference between content on the site
that is advertising and content that is not? A number of commercial health sites are now
labeling their advertising banners with a tag line such as "sponsor." This helps
you to differentiate between information on the site that is generated by a commercial
entity and information that may not be.
Disclaimers and Cautions: Disclaimers and cautions are
statements that let the web site visitor know what responsibility the web site sponsors
will take for the content on their site. Can you easily find a link to the site's
disclaimer or caution statements on the Home page? Does the disclaimer let the web site
visitor know that the information on the site doesn't take the place of the doctor/patient
relationship?
Currency: Currency refers to how up-to-date the
information is on the web site. Can you find the date on which the content was developed
for the web site?
Intended Audience: The intended audience (or audiences) is
the specific group of people for whom the site was designed. Can you tell from the Home
page if this site is for you?
Completeness of Content: The content includes enough
information so that the site visitor can make informed decisions. When reading the content
on the site, do you feel that you are getting the whole story?
Clarity of Content: The clarity of the content refers to
the ease with which the web site visitor can understand the information. Can you
understand most of the information for the consumer on the web site without having to
resort to a medical dictionary?
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