Consumer Health

1
Consumer Health

• Separating Fact from Fiction

2
Issues

• Misleading Information
• Quackery and Health Fraud
• Problems with Products
• Problems with Services
• Problems with Costs
• The Need for Consumer Protection
• Intelligent Consumer Behavior

3
Issue1Misleading Information

• High volume and complex
• Media influence
• Radio TV
• Magazines newspapers
• Functions
• Entertain, inform, carry advertisements and make
  money

4
Issue 7Intelligent Consumer Behavior

• Seek reliable sources of information
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle
• Select practitioners with care
• Assess own health
• Active health illness management
• Use scientifically substantiated health products
  and services
• Understand costs of health and illness
• Report fraud

5
Key Points

• How facts are determined
• Selecting internet sites
• Magazines and periodicals

6
Healthy People 2010Effective Health Communication

• Accuracy
• Availability
• Balance
• Consistency
• Cultural competence

• Evidence base
• Reach
• Reliability
• Repetition
• Timeliness
• Understandability

7
How Facts are Determined

• Research Basics
• Survey Research
• Experimental and Observational Research
• Secondary Research

8
Research Basics

• Types of Studies
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
• Predictive
• The Research Process
• Primary vs Secondary Data

9
Research Process

• 1. Define the problem
• 2. Deciding on the type of data to collect
• 3. Determining through what means
• the data will be obtained
• 4. Planning for the collection of data (selection
  of a sample)
• 5. Collecting and analyzing the data
• 6. Drawing conclusions and reporting the findings

10
Survey Research

• Types of Surveys
• Questionnaire Design

11
Survey Research

• The Sampling Process
• Errors in Survey Research

12
Experimental and Observational Research

• Experimentation
• Identify cause and effect relationships
• Internal validity
• External validity
• Observational Research

13
Secondary Data

• Internal Sources
• External Sources
• Evaluating Secondary Data

14
Healthy People 2010Objective 11-4 (Developmental)

• Increase the proportion of health-related Web
  sites that disclose information that can be used
  to assess the quality of the site.
• Developers sponsors
• Purpose of site
• Original sources of content
• Privacy confidentiality of personal information
  collected
• How content is updated
• How site is evaluated

15
Rating MediaAARP

• Where the information comes from
• Whether the information checks out
• How old the information is
• Whether the information sounds "too good to be
  true."
• Whether the site is telling you to do something.

16
Rating MediaHealth on the Net (HONcode)

• Authority
• Complementarity
• Confidentiality
• Attribution
• Justifiable
• Authorship

• Honesty in advertising policy
• Authorship

17
Rating MediaQUality Information ChecKlist

• Is it clear who has written the information?
• Are the aims of the site clear?
• Does the site achieve its aims?
• Is the site relevant to me?
• Can the information be checked?
• When was the site produced?
• Is the information biased in any way?
• Does the site tell you about choices open to you?
  

18
Rating MediaScience Panel on Interactive
Communication and Health

• Background of Sponsors
• Purpose
• Content
• Confidentiality
• Design
• Evaluation Results Effectiveness

19
Rating MediaTufts University Nutrition Navigator

• Content
• Nutrition Accuracy (1-10)
• Depth of Nutrition information (1-7)
• Site last updated (1-3)
• Usability
• User experience (1-5)

20
Popular Magazines and Health Nutrition
Periodicals

• American Council on Science and Health
• Provision of factual information
• Objective presentation of information
• Presentation of sound nutritional recommendations

21
Popular Magazines and Health Nutrition
Periodicals

• Excellent
• Cooking Light
• Parents
• Ladies Home Journal

22
Popular Magazines and Health Nutrition
Periodicals

• Good
• Better Homes and Gardens
• Good Housekeeping
• Consumer Reports
• Reader's Digest
• Redbook
• Woman's Day, Glamour, Self, Health, Runner's
  World, Prevention, Shape, and Fitness

23
Popular Magazines and Health Nutrition
Periodicals

• Fair
• Cosmopolitan
• Mens Health
• Poor
• Mens Fitness
• Muscle and Fitness

24
Dr. BarrettsNot Recommended (see slide notes
for URL)

• Untrustworthy because
• Promote misinformation
• Espouse unscientific theories
• Contain unsubstantiated advice, and/or fail to
  distinguish between reliable and unreliable
  sources of advice
• Additional information
• () also carry ads for questionable products,
  services, and/or publications
• () have been accompanied by questionable
  solicitations.

25
Dr. Barretts Recommended(see slide notes for
URL)

• Consumer Reports on Health
• FDA Consumer
• Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
  (FACT)
• National Council Against Health Fraud News
• The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
• The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice
• Skeptical Briefs
• Tufts University Health Nutrition Letter

26
Summary

• How facts are determined
• Selecting internet sites
• Magazines and periodicals