Information found on the Internet can vary substantially in terms of its quality. The purpose of this assignment is to help you systematically evaluate the quality of website information and determine its usefulness in guiding your own practice, or the health-related decisions of clients.
Select a health-related website that is of interest to you and/or to the clients in your workplace. Use the criteria described in Unit 9 (Consumer Health Informatics) for determining validity of health information on the web; include other relevant supportive literature; and critique the quality of the information found on that website. Think critically about each criterion listed and why it is deemed to be important. For each criterion, ask yourself, “So what?” More specifically, consider the following:
• Why is this criterion important?
• What are the assumptions underlying the question posed?
• How does this criterion assist the user in evaluating the quality of the health information on the website?
• Would you apply the criterion with equal rigor regardless of the underlying intent of the website? Why or why not?
• If not, which of the criteria do you consider to be of most importance? Of least importance? Provide rationale for your responses.