Consumer Education
As a nurse it is not uncommon to encounter the "hey, can you answer some questions for me, or can you look at this, or what should I do about this" scenario; this goes for family, friends, neighbors, or strangers at the store who see you in your scrubs. As much as we might groan through it, because sometimes we just don't want to be in nursing mode, it is important to be able to deliver the best information and helpful tools for people to be able to make an educated decision on whatever topic they may be facing. When a neighbor comes over and reports that he has been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and has been looking up information, it is important to lead him to the best websites to use to be able to gather information that is correct and able for him to understand. The neighbor mentioned that he has been looking at websites such as Wikipedia, WebMD, and the CDC.
The first thing I would tell my neighbor is that Wikipedia is not a credible source and he should never use any information from that website. Wikipedia is a forum where anyone from anywhere can put information into, whether it’s right or wrong. This is a good website to get a starting point about what to look into but should not be used or considered for factual information. An example of bad Wikipedia information includes:
WebMD is a website ran by medical professionals, journalists, health communicators and content creators. WebMD is also a health accredited website, which means it promotes health and delivers accurate information (WebMD, 2018). WebMD is easy to navigate, offers a plethora of information, and is written in lay man’s terms for people who do not have a medical background. The jokes surrounding WebMD is that you always end up about to die of cancer if you are using their symptoms checker, so it might be a good idea only to use this website once a person has a diagnosis and not try to 'google doctor' yourself.
The last website the neighbor tried is the CDC website. The CDC is an official government entity and the information that they put on their website is the most up to date information. The CDC is helpful for medical professionals and is a legitimate website to find information regarding most anything from childhood vaccination schedules to diseases in different countries. The CDC also offers statistics, charts, and graphs which help to deliver information visually. However, in looking at the CDC for information regarding GERD, I was unable to find anything that would have been helpful to someone trying to look up new information. The CDC offers plenty of information on a wide range of topics, however, the information might not be so user-friendly.
As a nurse, I would say websites that are written by medical professionals for the intention of passing along health information to everyday consumers would be the best to use. These include WebMD, MayoClinic, or MedlinePlus. Any website that the neighbor uses is going to have an ‘about us’ link that can help to verify the validity of the website and therefore the validity of the information.
WebMD. (2018). About WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/about-webmd-policies/default.htm
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteNice job on your blog-this was fun to read. The hammer example on Wikipedia proves your point very well that it is not necessarily factual information. I had not heard the "rumor" about WebMD, this was interesting. Your point about using WebMD after a diagnosis is perhpas better than if you have symptoms you are unsure of. I wonder if there has been a study that connects the widespread use of "Dr. Google" and anxiety. And do some people search and search until they find information that makes them feel better regardless of how true it might be?
I love the CDC cartoon!
Wendy
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI can only conclude that you were in a good mood when you prepared your blog. Excellent. I love the pictures you presented along with your explanations. I can also relate to individuals coming up to me with medical questions. I have a relative who, every time he sees me will ask me something about his health after telling me that the same week or the week before he saw his primary care physician. I keep telling him that his primary care needs to answer his questions because I do not know the details of his medical condition.
There are individuals also who, even when you refer them to a website to obtain information on a diagnosis, they want you to do the research and provide them with the information. With connected health rapidly expanding, we need to devise ways to get individuals educated and motivated to utilize the technology to their advantage. Great post.
This is great. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDelete