How to utilize the World Wide Web to find credible health information
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Scenario for Mr. Smith
Kim Stover
Case Scenario
- 59 year old male recently diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disese
- He has no close relatives and lives alone
- He has a high school diploma and has attended some college courses
- He is interested in his diagnosis and is interested in lerning how to manage it
- He has been looking for information but keep asking nursing staff why there is conflicting inforamation
- He has asked for help with how to know what is good credible information and how to get through the information overload
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Objective :
To guide you through the utilization of the World Wide Web (WWW) to obtain valid and accurate information through identification of reliable and unreliable websites.
Goals and Objective
Goals
1. Identify what makes a website reliable
2. Identify what indicates a unreliable source
3. Differentiate between the two sources by given website examples
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Step 1 : Identify who the website is representing
Examples : websites ending in ".edu" or ".gov"
Reliable for CKD information : government agencys, medical journals, educational institutions
Unreliable for CKD information : magazines, most news articles, social media posts,
What makes a website reliable.
Example : instagram, facebook (unless a government page), News weekly
Ask yourself if the information is clearly being reviewed by experts ?
Step 2
Ways to check for this?
- At the bottom of the website there will be the names and credentials of reviews in an acknowlegments section
- Reliable sources will have an editoral board that reviews information
Why its important? Any person can say anything about CKD . They could say it turns your kidneys blue however unless there is peer review done we can not ensure the validity of the information.
If they are trying to sell you something as a cure for your CKD or even promote certain dialysis centers it is better not to trust the information on the website as it may be biased
Step 3
- Look for terms like "revolutionary new drug" or Click bait with flashing banners
- Avoid websites that make you subscribe to get access
Look for indications of where the information came from
Step 4
- Citations should be near the bottom.
- If a study is mentioned, there should also be mention of who and when the study took place
- You can also look at who funds the website
Citations generally look like this:
Ennis, G., & Tofa, M. (2020). Collective impact: A review of the peer-reviewed research. Australian social work, 73(1), 32-47.
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One website will be Reliable the other will not...
Test your knowledge.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd
UNRELIABLE!!!
https://factslegend.org/35-facts-about-human-kidneys/
WHY?
- It is not a government site nor is it backed by any reputable source
- it has many pop up ads not related to health.
- It is asking for subscription to the page
- it is not reviewed by an MD or reputable organization
- the only resource stated is wikipedia
RELAIABLE!
WHY?
- It is run by the National Institute of health can tell by the ".gov" in the URL
- There are NO ads or requesting of subscriptions
- near the bottom of the page it states"NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts" meaning it is peer reviewed
- There is a link near the bottom to the research in which the information was obtained from
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References
References
“Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) - NIDDK.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd.
Ennis, G., & Tofa, M. (2020). Collective impact: A review of the peer-reviewed research. Australian social work, 73(1), 32-47.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services“Finding and Evaluating Online Resources.” , https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/finding-and-evaluating-online-resources.