According to the Interactive Services Association, an estimated 58 million adults in the United States and Canada are using the Internet. Consumers are accessing a great amount of information from web sites. Clinicians and health educators are continuously looking for new methods of educating their clientele. In the past, personal counseling, videos, books, and brochures were the patient education methods available. Since the mid-1990s, consumers have referred to the World Wide Web (the Web) to learn how they can improve their health, prevent disease, and learn details about specific diseases. Unfortunately, there is no formal process of editing or evaluating web sites before being released to the public. As a result, the Office of Health Promotion has developed a reliable and valid instrument to critique the credibility of health-related web sites. The instrument's intended users are health educators and clinicians who refer their clientele to web sites as an additional source of patient education.
For additional information, please contact Leslie Teach at leslie.robbins@ncsl.org
Go to the Health-related Web Site Evaluation Form
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