Instructions

The purpose of this assignment is to apply knowledge of reliable and valid information sources to patient education in clinical nursing practice and to evaluate patient educational materials posted on the internet.

The assignment for this week consists of 3-5 page paper evaluating consumer/patient health information on the web. You will be required to find a website that is designed to provide health information to the consumer/patient and analyze it according to the criteria described below. You are required to report your analysis in a formal course paper.

Choose a health topic/issue in which you want to educate your patient/consumer/family about (diabetes, heart failure, teenage pregnancy, depression, etc…) and briefly describe in your paper :

An explanation of your health topic/issue and why you selected it (Significance of the topic/issue selected).

Find an internet source that is designed to provide information/education about your selected health topic/issue and analyze the following:

• describe the website (main title, information)

describe the overall impression about the design of the website (organization, easiness of finding information, easiness to read, table of content/index, colors, font, does it look professional).

• Who is sponsoring the website?

How often is the site updated? When was the site created? Was it updated recently?

• Does it state that the content is not medical advice?

Who is the intended audience? Does the site have a clear target audience? Is the information presented appropriate to the target population?

How credible are the information presented:

• Is there any evidence that the author of the web information has some authority in the field about which she or he is providing information? Who is responsible for the information? What are the author’s credentials? Is a mechanism in place for you to contact the author?
• Are there clues that the author/s are biased? For example, is he/she selling or promoting a product? Is the author taking a personal stand on a social/political issue or is the author being objective ? Bias is not necessarily “bad,” but the connections should be clear.
• Does the information have a complete list of works cited, which reference credible, authoritative sources? Is the information valid and supported by evidence? Are omissions noted? Is the author’s point of view objective and unbiased?
• Is the information accurate? Any inconsistencies, inaccuracies, errors, false information, etc…
• Are there links that point to additional, valuable resources with minimum effort?
• Adequacy:

Overall, does the site provide consumer/patient education? is the education adequate or does the consumer have to go somewhere else to find answers about the topic?

• Sophistication of the information:

Is this source too elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right?

Is the purpose of the site clearly stated? Does the site match its purpose? Is the site intended to educate or sell?