Increasing Public Awareness of Quality Health Information on the Internet: Does It Make a Difference?

• Published in: Journal of consumer health on the Internet 2003-01, Vol.7 (1), p.51-58
• Main Authors: Blackwelder, Mary B., Hanus, Karen, Lemahieu, Linda, Sieracki, Rita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Consumer health information; education programs; Exact sciences and technology; General populations; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Internet; medical libraries; Medical sciences; Other aspects of specialized information. Miscellaneous; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Public libraries; Quality assurance; quality of health information; Sciences and techniques of general use; Specialized information sources; Specialized information sources (paper or electronic format); User training
• ISSN: 1539-8285; 1539-8293
• DOI: 10.1300/J381v07n01_05

Recent surveys indicate that the number of people looking for health information online has skyrocketed. Consumers have access to an abundance of information via the Web, not all of it quality, authoritative information. Bad information can be worse than no information. The Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries partnered with a local public library to offer classes to the public on finding quality health information on the Web. Within three months after each class, a follow-up survey was sent to participants to determine if they had accessed health information online since taking the class, if taking the class had helped them to find information, and if they had used any of the information in making a health care decision or in interacting with their health care provider. Results show that awareness of quality health related Web sites helped consumers to find information that they in turn used in managing their health care decisions.