As our world becomes increasingly more digital, it’s important that we also increase our online literacy to avoid misinformation, especially on health topics. Engaging with digital resources is crucial in staying updated on health news, accessing health records, making appointments, and communicating with healthcare professionals.
What is online health literacy?
Online literacy is more than just the ability to access and read information. Proper online health literacy includes the ability to determine the reliability of a source, think critically about the information, and use that information in ways that promote good health and well-being for yourself and others.
Online health literacy helps us make decisions in everyday life concerning healthcare and disease prevention to improve our quality of life to the best of our ability. ¹
Components of online health literacy
The four components of digital health literacy include:
Functional
Sufficient basic skills in reading and writing to function effectively in everyday situations.
Communicative
The ability to collaborate, adapt, and control communication about health in social and multimedia environments.
Critical
The ability to evaluate the credibility, relevance, and risks of sharing and receiving health information digitally.
Transactional
The ability to apply health information from the internet across diverse contexts.
Transactional literacy is the highest level of online health literacy and is built upon functional, communicative, and critical literacy. All these components together allow us to properly understand online media and gain the knowledge we need to improve our health and the health of our communities. ²
Why is health literacy important?
Online literacy levels vary across the world, but poor health literacy remains a significant issue globally. In the United States alone only 12% of adults are considered proficient in online health literacy. ²
Online literacy remains a stronger predictor of an individual’s health status over income, employment status, education level, and racial or ethnic group. ³
Higher literacy rates benefit societies
Literate individuals are more likely to participate in economic prosperity, have higher earnings and employment rates, and contribute to better health and well-being in the community. Strengthening health literacy allows a substantial return in health and well-being at both individual and community levels.
Limited health literacy significantly affects health
Societies with limited health literacy often participate less in health-promoting and disease-prevention activities. Individuals with poor health literacy are more likely to not keep up with their medications, have increased hospitalization, diminished management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, and riskier health choices like smoking. Health literacy is assumed to have a direct effect on self-assessed health.
Strengthening health literacy helps to address health inequalities
Vulnerable groups that struggle with health literacy the most include older people, members of ethnic minorities, recent immigrants, people with lower levels of education, and those with low proficiency in the national language of their country. Limited health literacy often correlates with a lack of ability to manage self-health, access health services, understand relevant information, and make informed health decisions. Targeted initiatives, such as literacy programs in schools, can strengthen health literacy among vulnerable groups, especially children, and can help to address gaps in health equality. ³
Ways to improve online health literacy
Online literacy is necessary to fully participate in economic, civic, work, and daily life. Even if you feel confident in your ability to decipher information online, digital media platforms constantly change and evolve; it’s critical to treat online health literacy as a skill that needs constant improvement. Here are some helpful things to keep in mind while searching for health information online: ⁴
Provider and Purpose
The first step in evaluating online health information is to find out who is managing the site (provider) and why (purpose).
Find out who created and is managing a site by looking for an “About” or “About us” page. A mission statement often includes who is managing the website and why.
A trustworthy site clearly identifies who is providing this information.
Some trustworthy sites include The National Institutes of Health and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Check to see if there is a way to contact the organization/owners with questions or comments.
Trustworthy sites will provide a way to contact the owners. This is usually at the bottom of a website page or under a “Contact” or “Contact Us” page.
There should be a clear way to communicate with whoever manages the site such as an address, email, phone number, etc.
If the website has an online shop, keep in mind that they might be trying to sell something and not just offer information.
If a site offers a specific brand or product, such as vitamins for example, they might be biased in their information to attempt to sell you that product or item.
When you see advertisements on a website, check if it is easy to tell the difference between the ads and the health information.
Ads should be clearly labeled as advertisements. If you can’t tell the difference between the ads and the information, the site may not be reliable.
Information Quality
Find out where the information comes from and who writes it.
Look for phrases like “editorial board,” “selection policy,” “editorial policy,” or “review process.”
If the site isn’t clear about the professionals writing the information, it’s most likely an unreliable source.
Reliable health information relies on medical research, not opinions.
Make sure to check if they are citing the sources of any research mentioned.
Look at the tone of the information.
Be cautious about websites that make unbelievable claims or promote “miracle cures.”
Check to see if the information is current
Any out-of-date information could be a hazard to your health. It may not reflect the latest research or treatments.
Health information is constantly changing and being updated. Look for signs that the site is reviewed and updated regularly. You can usually find this at the bottom of the site.
Any health information more than 5 years old is usually considered to be out-of-date. ⁵
Privacy
Be cautious of websites that ask you to “Sign up” or “Become a member.”
Look for a privacy policy to see how the site will use your personal information. This is usually found at the bottom of the site.
Only share your personal information if you’re comfortable with how it will be used.
The internet provides us with quick access to health information, but it’s important to be able to tell the difference between a trustworthy site and an unreliable one. By increasing online literacy, digital communication tools have the potential to enhance health literacy, improve patient-provider communication, and ultimately lead to better health outcomes. ⁶
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