Healthy Roads Media Training Sessions

Health Information Sources on the Internet

Evaluating Health Information Sources

• Why evaluate health information sources on the Web?

  Evaluating the quality and usefulness of what you find is always a good idea when searching for information. It is especially critical when using the World Wide Web.

  Why? The Web offers a wide variety of accessible information, but not all information on the Web is reliable. While quantity is readily available from a wide variety of sources, the quality of Web information varies greatly. Anyone can publish on the Web, and they do.

• How do I evaluate a Web source?
  
  Applying some general criteria will help you sort through your sources and select the best sites to use.

  Sometimes you will be able apply the criteria and easily tell the quality of a resource just by looking at the information the resource has readily available. If you cannot easily tell the quality of a resource, you may need to check other reliable sources to verify its credibility. The following list contains some of the most basic evaluation criteria.

  Why do I need this site?
  • What question(s) do I need answered?
  • What do I want the Web site to tell me?
  • Is the Web the best place to look for the information I need?
  
  Whose site is this anyway?
  • Who is the author, publisher or sponsor of this site?
  • What makes them an expert on this topic?
  Anyone can publish on the Web and say they are an expert. You need to look for clues to see if they really are qualified. If you cannot find an answer, chances are it isn't a site you should use.
  
  What is the reason or purpose of this site?
  • Why was this site created?
  • Does this site acheive its purpose?
  • For whom was this site created?
  • Is there a disclaimer stating that the information given is not intended as advice?
  Some sites are there to help you learn or keep you informed, others may be available just to entertain you or to sell you something.

  Is the Web site meaningful or useful?
  • Does it contain fact or opinion?
  • Is the information accurate?
  • Is the information easy to understand?
  • Does the site give me the sources they used for their information so that I can check out the facts?
  • Does it have links to other useful sites?
  • Can I find my way around the site without too much trouble?
  Try to find a bibliography or resource list that was used in developing the site. This is where you may need to check facts against other standard resources to verify the accuracy.
  
  Is the information out of date?
  • When was the site first published?
  • Has the site been recently updated?
  Try to find the most current health information available.

  Checklist of criteria for evaluating a Web health source

Sample Evaluation Site

Ten Tanning Facts and Evidence to Support Them
(www.lotionbarn.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=facts)

Questions to ask:
*Did they document their evidence? Where is the research located?
*Who provided the "evidence"? Can you tell from their page?
*What is the purpose of their site? Is it to inform or to sell their products?

Selected Health Multiple Language Sites

24 Languages Project
(medlib.med.utah.edu/library/refdesk/24lang.html)

Health education brochures in multiple languages by the Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah.

Multilingual-Health-Education.net
(www.multilingual-health-education.net/faq.asp)

A non-profit alliance of Canadian Health Agencies. Language materials and links to many Canadian resources.

EthnoMed
(ethnomed.org/)

This site is from the Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington and contains medical and cultural information on a variety of ethnic groups in order to assist providers in bridging language and cultural barriers during medical visits. It is designed to be used quickly by providers before seeing a patient. The patient education materials section (in languages other than English) is small but developing.

NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service
(www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/)

NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (Multicultural Communication) provides information and services to assist health professionals to communicate with non English speaking communities throughout New South Wales, Australia.

NN/LM Internet Discovery Tools -Health Educator Resources
(nnlm.gov/tools.html)

Selected Sites for Consumers

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Wide variety of health information and alerts. Also in Spanish
(www.cdc.gov/)

Health Topics A to Z - The CDC's topical list of health subject information in English and Spanish.
(www.cdc.gov/health/default.htm)

healthfinder
(www.healthfinder.gov/)

Healthfinder is a free guide to reliable health information, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The site provides an easy-to-use, searchable index of carefully reviewed health information from over 1,700 government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and universities. Available in English and in Spanish.

MEDLINEplus - A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Also available in Spanish.
(medlineplus.gov/)

Contains an encyclopedia, dictionary, extensive list of health topics, directories to a variety of health agencies, interactive tutorials with sound and pictures, and more. Type easy to read in the search box to retrieve low literacy materials.

National Institutes of Health - Health Information - Health information by topic and links to research organizations.
(health.nih.gov/)

NOAH: New York Online Access to Health - Health information in English and Spanish.
(www.noah-health.org/)

Quackwatch - "Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions"
(www.quackwatch.org/)

Additional Information Sources