How New Zealand consumers evaluate the quality of health information on the internet : a study of parents with young children

Abstract

The research investigated how six New Zealand parents of children under five from Wellington evaluate the quality of online health information. It also explored their online health information seeking in general, the evaluation criteria they utilised and factors influencing their perceptions of online health information credibility. Finally, it examined how well New Zealand parents recognise reputable online health information evaluation tools. The study found that the parents use eight evaluation criteria to assess online health information. Even though they believe online health sources are beneficial as they enable people to access an array of information quickly and conveniently, the participants did not consider such information wholly trustworthy. In addition, the domain type presenting information appears to influence parents when obtaining online health information. Finally, the recognition of well-established online health information evaluation schemes was non-existent among the parents represented. The study therefore recommends the provision of credible health portals and gateways in tandem with user education on how to evaluate the quality of health information on the Internet.