Consumer Health Information Website Analysis Paper
Please make sure APA 7th edition check the format very carefully. Follow all the requirements carefully, the assignment worths many points
Instructions
The purpose of this assignment is to apply knowledge of reliable and valid information sources to patient education in clinical nursing practice and to evaluate patient educational materials posted on the internet.
The assignment for this week consists of 3-5 page paper evaluating consumer/patient health information on the web. You will be required to find a website that is designed to provide health information to the consumer/patient and analyze it according to the criteria described below. You are required to report your analysis in a formal course paper.
• Choose a health topic/issue in which you want to educate your patient/consumer/family about (diabetes, heart failure, teenage pregnancy, depression, etc…) and briefly describe in your paper :
o An explanation of your health topic/issue and why you selected it (Significance of the topic/issue selected).
• Find an internet source that is designed to provide information/education about your selected health topic/issue and analyze the following:
•
o describe the website (main title, information)
o describe the overall impression about the design of the website (organization, easiness of finding information, easiness to read, table of content/index, colors, font, does it look professional).
o Who is sponsoring the website?
o How often is the site updated? When was the site created? Was it updated recently?
o Does it state that the content is not medical advice?
o Who is the intended audience? Does the site have a clear target audience? Is the information presented appropriate to the target population?
• How credible are the information presented:
•
o Is there any evidence that the author of the web information has some authority in the field about which she or he is providing information? Who is responsible for the information? What are the author’s credentials? Is a mechanism in place for you to contact the author?
o Are there clues that the author/s are biased? For example, is he/she selling or promoting a product? Is the author taking a personal stand on a social/political issue or is the author being objective ? Bias is not necessarily “bad,” but the connections should be clear.
o Does the information have a complete list of works cited, which reference credible, authoritative sources? Is the information valid and supported by evidence? Are omissions noted? Is the author’s point of view objective and unbiased?
o Is the information accurate? Any inconsistencies, inaccuracies, errors, false information, etc…
o Are there links that point to additional, valuable resources with minimum effort?
• Adequacy:
•
o Over all, does the site provide consumer/patient education? is the education adequate or does the consumer have to go somewhere else to find answers about the topic?
• Sophistication of the information:
•
o Is this source too elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right?
o Is the purpose of the site clearly stated? Does the site match its purpose? Is the site intended to educate or sell?
• Submit a 3-5 page analysis paper following APA format 7th edition (include title page, running head, introduction, headings, Summary paragraph, reference page, in-text citation). You need to include at least 5 reliable and current (within the last 5 years) references of which at least 3 journal articles.
Sample Answer
Diabetes
Introduction
Diabetes is one of the most significant public health issues in contemporary times. This paper explores a website that presents information related to diabetes and evaluates the accuracy and credibility of information presented on the website.
Health Topic Explanation
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent conditions in modern times in developed countries, including the United States of America. Diabetes is a metabolic disease that results in high blood sugar in a patient’s body and increases the chances of adverse outcomes, including organ damage (Bullard et al., 2018). In the human body, insulin is responsible for moving blood sugar from the blood into the cells, where it’s stored for use as energy. Among patients with diabetes, the body will either not produce enough insulin or lack the ability to effectively utilize insulin to control blood sugar (Xu et al., 2018). Untreated diabetes or high blood sugar can damage different organs, including the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and other major organs (Bellou et al., 2018). Over the years, diabetes has become a significant health issue in developed countries, including the United States of America. By 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that nearly 4.2 million people of all ages represent at least 10.5% of the United States of America population have diabetes (CDC, 2021). Among the population of the United States of America with diabetes, 34.1 million adults above 18 years, which represented 13% of the population, struggled with the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 7.3 million adults who have already made the laboratory criteria of being diagnosed with diabetes are not aware of their condition and are undiagnosed (CDC, 2021). This represents a significant proportion of the population that are at a high risk of developing complications from diabetes but are not yet aware of their condition. Raising awareness on how to diagnose, manage, and prevent diabetes is an essential public health issue.
Internet Source
The diabetes.org website is one of the websites that seek to inform and educate the general population in the United States of America and globally about diabetes. The website contains information on different topical issues related to diabetes, including providing information on what diabetes is as an illness, providing information on an individual’s risk to diabetes, and highlighting the different approaches that individuals can adopt to have a healthy life after being diagnosed with diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2021). The diabetes.org website also provides information on how individuals who want to support the fight against diabetes can get involved and donate to diabetes foundations around the United States of America and the world. Diabetes.org website also provides information on advocacy and research efforts related to diabetes. The website also provides various resources that both patients and health caregivers can utilize to manage diabetes while also providing specialized resources for professionals involved in attending to patients who have diabetes. Finally, the diabetes.org website provides a test that any individual can take to assess their diabetes risk (American Diabetes Association, 2021).
The diabetes.org website is easy to find because of its use of the.org extension, which shows that an established and credible organization sponsors the website. The website is professionally designed and well organized with only two colors, including white and maroon. These colors make the website look attractive, all at the same time appearing professional. The website also uses a legible font that makes it easy for users to peruse through. The diabetes.org website also has a menu bar with a table of contents that highlights all the important topics included in the site related to diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2021). Therefore the diabetes.org website is therefore sponsored By the American Diabetes Association, a non-governmental organization involved in efforts to mitigate the rising prevalence of diabetes in the United States. By the fact that the diabetes.org website is sponsored by the American Diabetes Association all the information from the website can therefore be taken as credible because well-qualified and specialized professionals write it. The Diabetes.org website is regularly updated, with the authors posting and updating articles every week. From the information on the website, it appears that a recent update was conducted on the website, at least in the past two weeks. The terms of diabetes.org clearly highlight that all the information presented on the site is meant to educate and draw the attention of users to the issue of diabetes and is not in any way medical advice (American Diabetes Association, 2021). Therefore, all the authors on the diabetes.org website urge users to consult their doctors for adequate diagnosis of diabetes and for any management-related information. Reviewing the diabetes.org website, it is evident that the target audience for the side includes patients with diabetes and average individuals who want to acquire more information on how to prevent themselves from diabetes. The information presented on the Diabetes.org website is therefore appropriate for the target audience. For individuals in a population interested to learn about diabetes and know their risk, the information on the diabetes.org website assists them to achieve their goals. On the other hand, for individuals who are already struggling with diabetes and need information on how to effectively manage their condition, the diabetes.org website provides sufficient information for their use.
