Retirement Living : Beyond Dr. Google

Your health is important, but whose advice can you trust? Here are some secrets for finding reliable information on the internet.

Is the internet helping you find the right information for better health or providing you with bad advice? You may not realize it, but the answer is both. So how can you tell the difference?

Health continues to be one of the top topics people search for on the internet. In fact, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that at least 80 per cent of Americans look for health information online. There are many benefits to having this content available, such as better education and awareness about diseases, finding new research and treatments, and better communication with doctors.

So what’s the problem? Studies over the past decade have found that a lot of online health content isn’t up to par in terms of quality and correctness. More recently, the Pew Internet project found that 75 per cent of people fail to check up on the health-related information they find. In other words, they’re ignoring crucial checks like how recently the content was published and whether the source is reliable.

Where can you find the best advice, and how can you tell if a source is credible? We’ve got the answers.

Start with reliable sources

Academics and media literacy experts know there’s a certain pecking order when it comes to finding reliable content in any field. The reason: it’s all about who is accountable for the information — how well it’s researched, written, reviewed and maintained. Here are some reliable websites to consider:

via 50plus.com