Reference no: EM133441866
Assignment:
Directions: We live in the digital era and have access to an overwhelming amount of information every day. Many of us rely on internet search engines like Google to find answers to our day-to-day questions. We are also exposed to much news and information through various social media platforms. Much of this information we receive is health-related. Unfortunately, not all health information we encounter is correct. In fact, the internet is flooded with incorrect and fake health information. While some of the misinformation is harmless, others could be dangerous. As future health professionals, you must train your ability to differentiate credible health information from fake news and misinformation.
Let's first review some principles regarding credible online health information. Ask yourself the following:
1. What's the organization from which the information comes? In general, .gov is more credible than .org and.com. Websites under national research institute such as NIH is more trustworthy. Renowned organizations such as Mayo Clinic are also more credible.
2. Does the website contain advertisements for supplements or medications? In-planted ads are usually warning signs - unless the site has a disclaimer telling you that they do not endorse any products and the ads are run by an algorithm.
3. Peer-review journal articles are usually considered credible. However, not all research is of good quality. Here are some simple ways to ensure the research result is credible
- The article should at least be included in PubMed.
- Look up the funding agency to make sure there are no obvious conflicts of interest (e.g., a research article claiming chocolate is good for heart health that was funded by the Chocolate manufacturer might not be the most unbiased study).
- When it comes to human health, studies that involved large-scale clinical trials are better than ones that were only tested on animals or cell levels. Studies using large sample sizes are more convincing than small sample sizes.
- Don't just believe one research article. Look up several research articles (both supporting and rejecting the conclusion) and compare before believing.
4. When the information comes from blogs or news articles, always validate the references. When the article says: according to recent research, does it actually provide the link to the original research article? Also, it's a good idea to briefly read through the cited article to ensure the conclusions are consistent with that in the news/blog article.
This is not part of the assignment, but here are a couple of interesting websites that are dedicated to clarifying misinformation from fake news (including health-related information). You don't need to visit the sites now, but I encourage you to save the links and take a look later.
McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS) | separating sense from nonsense.
Science-based medicine | Exploring issues & controversies in science & medicine
And finally, here is what you need to do for this forum assignment
- Share health information you found, encountered, or received recently. It could be a news/blog article or something you've heard from another person.
- Follow the above principles to look up additional information from credible sources and determine if the information from 1 is credible or fake.