Website Credibility Evaluation

Evaluation of Website Credibility Evaluation of Website Credibility Familydoctor. org is a website that offers information on a health related topics and wellness. This website has a domain of . org which means it is operated by an organization. The main purpose of this website is to provide families with information on health related topics and offer wellness information that will benefit all members of the family. This website was chosen based on the fact that many people have families.Anyone who is interested in any health topics and/or wellness can find this site by searching in various search engines, such as Google or yahoo, by typing into the search bar family health or whatever health topic of interest. Evaluation of Credibility Authority This website provides information from family practice physicians, medical students and family practice residents. All of the information available on this site has been written and approved by physicians and educators who have expertise in family practice and patient education. The affiliates of familydoctor. rg are found on the website along with all of the doctors and educators responsible for the information found on the site. The information on the website goes through an editorial board that reviews the content, and then sends it to a physician of the specialty topic for final review before being placed on the web. Information This website is comprised of information that goes through a process of critiquing and evaluating before it is placed on the site. The information is written in a format that is understandable by all, regardless of the education. Objectivity The information provided on this site is not objective.The site has a partner and many sister sites that are listed. When health related information is to be displayed on the site by outside sources that information has to go through the same peer reviewing and critiquing that the information from the site itself goes through. As long as the criteria th at is set is met, then information can be posted on this site. Ease of Navigation Once on this site, there are headings labeled across the top that will aid in searching for what the site offers. For example, the diseases chosen are in alphabetical order and can be chosen using the first letter of the word.Another example is the headings are set for children, teens and elders. All of the information listed on this site can be printed and used as education or information. All advertisements on this site are clearly marked as advertisement and guidelines are set as to what the advertisements cannot contain. With all of this, browsing on this site is not difficult. Privacy and Security On this site is a simple explanation of the privacy policy with a link to a more extensive privacy policy from the organization that operates this website.It is clearly stated when, what and how personal information is collected and how it is used as well as how cookies are used. The American Academy of Family Physicians is clearly stated as the operator of this site with contact information and other pertinent information. Empirical Evidence Determining the credibility of a website starts with tools that can be used to evaluate the site. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) offers information defining how to evaluate websites credibility. Key factors such as; â€Å"Who runs and pays for the website, what the website’s purpose is, Where id the information on the site come from and how is the content selected,† (NLM, 2012). This writer went through the www. familydoctor. org website; it was determined to be credible by using the factors from NLM. Importance to Nursing This site can be used by nurses for many purposes. Some purposes are: a) education to patients and family about diagnosis and treatment, b) information on wellness and prevention c) information to assist families with caring for their elderly family member. Patients may receive conflicting health-relate d information from family, friends, and the media.Part of nurses’ role as teachers is to help patients access and evaluate information so that they can make appropriate decisions and facilitate self-care (Anderson & Klemm 2008). There are an endless number of uses for this website to the nursing profession. One can find this site to be easy to access and view. Conclusion Information found on the internet should not be the sole source of information, but can be used in adjunct to the education provided by the healthcare provider. Teaching the key factors to determine the credibility of a website is information that should be shared with patients and families.Although the Internet may be a source of empowerment for patients, it can overwhelm users because of the sheer amount of information that is available (Anderson & Klemm 2008). References Anderson, A. & Klemm, P. (2008) The Internet: Friend or foe when providing patient education? Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. 12(1) 55-63. National Library of Medicine (2012). Evaluating internet health information. A tutorial from the National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval. html