We've all been there. We have some medical questions but these questions may not be serious enough to go to a doctor just yet or we want to do a little more research before we make our appointment, so where do we turn? The internet of course. The internet is an amazing thing. We now have all of this information at our fingertips. Our problem now is that we have too much information. It is now our job to determine if the information we are looking for is reliable. Anyone has the ability to post information on line, so when we are searching for information, we want to be sure we are trusting information that is from a credible, qualified and reliable source. So how do we do that. We have got some tips to help determine if a health website is reliable as well as some suggested websites we know are the real deal.
Tips for evaluating health websites
- Reliable health websites should make it easy for you to determine who the author. It could be an organizations such as the American Red Cross or an individual such as Bob T. Smith, MD.
- Websites should make the credentials known of the individuals who wrote or reviewed the information.
- Reliable websites should not ask for personal information and if it does it should explain exactly what the information will be used for as well as provide a privacy policy for you to review that should include what they will not do with your information.
- Webpages that are reliable should not have any major grammar or spelling issues. If common words are mis-spelled or capitalized in a strange way, do not trust the information.
- Evaluate the overall appearance and user friendliness of the website. Does it look professional. It is organized, clean and easy to navigate? Does the page have multiple pop ups or attention grabbing features?
Questions to ask before trusting a webpage
- Who is the owner and operator of the website?
- Who is paying for the website?
- What is the purpose of this web page? If the website has an about us tab, check it out.
- When was the information last updated and reviewed?
- How does the website support the information and document it's support?
- What is the websites original source of information? If it is an article does it have cited sources readily available?
- What information does the web page collect and why?
- Are there any governmental or organizational agencies that are regulating the website's information?
Reliable health information websites
- https://www.cdc.gov/
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/
- http://www.learntobehealthy.org/
- http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
- https://www.nih.gov/
- https://medlineplus.gov/
- http://www.redcross.org/
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