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How to find credible health promotion information on the Internet?
The growth of the Internet has made it easy for anyone and everyone to share ideas and information about health promotion. How can we tell what information we can trust?
How is credible information connected to health promotion?
If we accept the Ottawa Charter definition of health promotion: "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health”, it is clear that in order to fulfill this goal people require ease of access to trustworthy health information online, and the skills to assess its credibility and relevance.
Tips for assessing health promotion information
It's worth remembering that looks can be deceiving - just because content is well presented does not necessarily mean it is accurate. The quality of the content is what counts.
There are many tools and checklists on health information assessment such as the Toronto Public Library’s Health & Wellness evaluation criteria on purpose, authority, coverage, currency, and usability. A simple, brief and easy-to-remember checklist tests the following four points:
Currency
 How recent is the information?
How recently has the website been updated?
Is it current enough for your topic?
Reliability
What kind of information is included in the resource?
Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is is balanced?
Does the author provide references or sources for data or quotations?
Authority
Who is the author?
What are their credentials?
Who is the publisher or sponsor?
Are they reputable?
What is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
Are there advertisements on the website?
Purpose/Point of View
Is this fact or opinion?
Is it biased?
Is the author trying to sell you something?
Brevity is important because most people searching for health promotion information are looking for quick answers. They may not take the time to work through an extensive checklist to verify if a site is credible
Australia's HealthInsite has a longer, more detailed checklist for site evaluation that follows these same basic principles.
Even after using an assessment checklist to verify the quality of online health resources, people need to exercise caution before acting on any information found online. While the internet can be a valuable tool for learning more about medical issues, it can’t take the place of a personalised consultation with a health care professional.
Where can you go for more information?
Health on the Net Foundation
Offers site certification, a search engine which uses only reputable sources, and a directory of reputable information sources on various health topics.
Howard Rheingold's Crap Detection 101, discussing critical evaluation skills as an important form of literacy: 24-minute video - Article
Toronto Public Library has a list of sites with detailed evaluation criteria
University of Toronto Gerstein Science Information Centre: Public Health Research Guide
University of Toronto Best Research Resources for Public Health
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