In the following video, Craig shares his tips on finding reliable information, such as his experience with online groups.
This article by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health is from the United States, but it discusses some helpful ways to check the trustworthiness of online information. They suggest asking 5 questions about a website or app:
- Who runs or created the site or app? Can you trust them?
- What is the site or app promising or offering? Do its claims seem too good to be true?
- When was its information written or reviewed? Is it up-to-date?
- Where does the information come from? Is it based on scientific research?
- Why does the site or app exist? Is it selling something?
Through this page, we’ll help to guide you through some appropriate answers.
1. Who runs or created the site or app? Can you trust them?
Is it a branch of the government, a university, a health organisation or a business?
One of the first things to do is to look at the web address (or URL) as it holds important information. For instance, if a web address ends with .gov.au, we know the information is from a government website (.gov) within Australia (.au). More examples include:
.edu = an educational institution like a university
.com = a commercial organisation, so a company who aims to make a profit
.org = a not for profit organisation, often a community organisation – Some of these organisations do still have an agenda and may be biased.
After these three letters, you may see two other letters showing where the website is licensed. For instance:
.au = Australia
.uk = United Kingdom
.nz = New Zealand
If there are no letters indicating a country, for example .com, then it is a site based in the USA.
Finally, on the website’s home page there should be some information about who runs the site and what sort of organisation they are. Otherwise, it is good to look at any “About Us” links within the site. Reliable websites make it easy for you to learn who is providing the information.
2. What is the site or app promising or offering? Do its claims seem too good to be true?
Sometimes it’s good to have a balance of information and so looking at a few sites (without overloading on too much information) can be helpful. Looking at what other people have found in independent reviews, which are not related to that site can sometimes help.
3. When was its information written or reviewed? Is it up-to-date?
Outdated medical information can be misleading or even risky. Reliable health websites regularly review and update their content. To find out how up-to-date online information is, look for a date on the page. It is often near the bottom and says something like, “This page was last modified ….” .
If you are reading about treatment success or survival rates it is important to know about the Stupp protocol.
The Stupp protocol refers to a treatment protocol for glioblastoma that was published in 2005. At the time, because this clinical trial showed that the new treatment improved survival for people with glioblastoma, it became the new standard of care.
‘Standard of Care’ means this is a proven effective treatment which is recommended in clinical practice guidelines worldwide. As with all ‘standard care’, whilst it may be suitable for many people, there are individual situations which may mean that this is not recommended for some people.
When looking for information about treatment success or survival rates, you may want to check if the treatment emerged after the Stupp protocol was introduced. New treatments that were tested after 2005 would have been compared to the Stupp protocol, i.e. standard current treatment.”
4. Where does the information come from? Is it based on scientific research?
Information should be based on scientific research and provide a balanced viewpoint. Look for references to research articles. “Evidence-based” (based on research results) information should be clearly set apart from opinions or advice.
While it can be helpful to read people’s individual stories, keep in mind that testimonials and people’s opinions aren’t the same as objective, evidence-based information.
5. Why does the site or app exist? Is it selling something?
It is good to approach information finding with a degree of skepticism. Keep in mind the motivations behind the creators of any information that you read.
This is particularly relevant for information about complementary and integrative health approaches (also called complementary and alternative medicine), where the site may hope to convince you of a benefit so they can sell you a product.