Introduction and Consumer Website Description
The internet provides essential health information for people across all demographics. It is, therefore, crucial that the quality of information available to the general public is of impeccable standards. By assuring the quality of health website information, consumers can make informed personal health decisions. This study seeks to evaluate the quality of the Mayo Clinic asthma website using the DISCERN instrument. This evaluation will focus on asthma because it is a long-term disease that affects people of all ages but is manageable through proper treatment. Therefore, patients dealing with this condition are constantly looking for valuable information that would help with managing the disease.
The DISCERN instrument is appropriate to use in this study because it provides guidelines to consumers to help them judge the quality of information on a website by using an information checklist. Additionally, the Mayo clinic is an ideal website for this study since it is easily accessible to all consumers. The asthma website provides a varied array of information regarding asthma to consumers of all ages, and it, therefore, has a large target audience. The information provided is divided into four main sections: symptoms and causes, diagnosis and treatment, doctors and departments, and care at the Mayo Clinic.
Consumer Health Website Evaluation Excel Spreadsheet
Evaluation of the Consumer Website
The DISCERN instrument has 5 ranges of scores; excellent=63-75; good=51-62; fair=39-50; poor=27-38 and very poor=15-26 (Oloidi & Obamiro, 2020). The Mayo Clinic asthma website recorded a score of 65 according to the DISCERN instrument. Therefore, the website score falls between the 63 – 75 range of scores. This score reveals that the quality of the information on the website is excellent. The quality of the website’s information is excellent owing to several factors. The website provides a wide array of valuable information that helps with understanding and managing the disease. The website has divided the particulars into four main sections; symptoms and causes, diagnosis and treatment, doctors and departments, and care at the Mayo Clinic as mentioned above. These sections contain subsections that give more specific information about different aspects of the disease.
The symptoms and causes section has six subsections: the overview of the disease, symptoms, circumstances that necessitate a visit to the doctor, the causes of the disease, risk factors, complications of asthma, and the prevention methods available for asthma. The diagnosis and treatment section gives information on the process of diagnosis of the disease. This section has eight subsections; the actual diagnosis processes, the classification of asthma according to its severity, the different medical treatment options both long term and short term, the different lifestyle and home remedies for the disease, the guidelines for support and coping with the condition, the preparation process for scheduling an appointment with the doctor and the different expectations from a session with the doctor.
The third section of the website, doctors and departments, gives information on the appropriate departments capable of handling the treatment of the disease and the different doctors available to help with treatment listed according to their locations and qualifications. The fourth section of the website gives the reasons why the Mayo clinic is suitable for asthma treatment. The site lists factors such as technological capabilities, experience and expertise of the medical professionals, custom and comprehensive treatment plans, costs and insurance of treatment plans, travel, location, and lodging choices.
Conclusion
From the above information, it is clear that the Mayo Clinic asthma website provides comprehensive information on the different aspects of the treatment of the disease. The website is also easily accessible to the general public through the internet. The information provided is also listed in an orderly manner, making it easier for the consumer to read. If the consumer prefers to get information on a particular section of the website, they can easily access it without reading through the other segments available. Therefore, as evaluated by the DISCERN instrument, the Mayo Clinic asthma website provides quality health information to consumers.
Reflection
This study reveals that a lot of planning is involved in the creation of a consumer health website. The website must entail all aspects of quality assurance as outlined by the DISCERN instrument to ensure that the consumer receives all the relevant information. These guidelines are important for the creation of future websites that will provide information about asthma or other conditions. This information is also important to the consumer in that they can identify the websites that provide the best information for the condition in question. In the future, this information will be essential for the research of other diseases. Obtaining quality information in the course of research will help in the formulation of better treatment methods according to every patient’s needs.
Reference
Oloidi, A., Nduaguba, S. O., & Obamiro, K. (2020). Assessment of quality and readability of internet-based health information related to commonly prescribed angiotensin receptor blockers. The Pan African Medical Journal.