Readability Index and its Application in Reviewing Websites for Patient Education
A readability index is a measurement of a text through several formulas according to factors such as syllables, word familiarity, and sentence length to determine the grade level required to understand the information conveyed in the text (Kher, Johnson, & Griffith, 2017). Ideally, a readability index helps us evaluate a particular piece of information to determine if it is easy or complex to understand. The complexity of a text is often matched to a user’s reading precision, and formulas are created based on the difficulty of the text complexity. Each readability index determines the complexity of a text differently by focusing on different attributes. While some readability indices focus on syllable counts, others focus more on phrase and word lengths.
Readability indices are crucial in reviewing different medical websites containing patient education. Many websites are created online to provide patient information to patients suffering from various diseases. Unlike medical professionals who have some level of medical information due to medical school, many patients might have difficulty reading and understanding these websites primarily created for patient education. Thus, websites are reviewed for dependability and feasibility through readability indices. Several websites contain a readability score or index, which illustrates the required grade level in the US to read and comprehend a text without struggling.
Determining if a Website is Reliable and Valid
The first step in determining if a website contains valid and reliable health information is checking the date the article was published. Some articles contain outdated information, and with increasing research in the contemporary world, these articles would most likely have unreliable data. Therefore, it is always crucial to check the date of an article to establish whether you would rely on the information contained. It is always advisable to use articles not older than five years in medical research. Secondly, Oyibo et al. (2018) claim that a website is reliable if the author of the topic is a knowledgeable person. This can be determined by assessing the author’s academic history, including relevant degrees, previous articles or books, and their prowess in that field.
Besides, medical researchers should always avoid websites that have anonymous authors. This prevents someone from looking at the author’s credentials and determining if they can rely on their information. The third way to establish if a website is reliable is by looking at the institutions that published the article. A medical researcher should search for websites associated with established institutions that have been proven to be integral and reliable. Such institutions include universities, colleges, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and foundations.
The Website that I Often Use to Educate Staff or Patients
The website that I used the most to educate me, staff, or patients in my practice is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is a federal biomedical research agency in the US whose primary objectives include enhancing national health through innovation and discovery, promoting high-level scientific behavior, expanding the biomedical knowledge base, and fostering research that prevents illnesses (Beckett, 2014). These objectives support the mission of the National Institutes of Health which is to minimize the burden of disability and illness, lengthen life, and promote health through conducting and supporting scientific research. This research agency is among the largest supporters of biomedical research in the US since it also offers training for medical researchers and distributes health information.
Additionally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) publishes peer-reviewed articles written by knowledgeable and highly educated scientist hence making its information reliable. Many people have suggested this website as a good place to start while looking for reliable and credible scientific information since it a sponsored by the federal government. The website is user friendly because anyone can click on the website and research on articles concerning the topics that they wish to study. The developers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) made the navigation to other pages faster and easier by offering shortcuts to different areas on the website. This makes the exploring experience interesting and easier.
How Healthcare Websites Facilitate Information Exchange
Healthcare websites are platforms used to exhibit general and updated information on upcoming events, technologies and treatments, and patient services. Tormey (2022) claims that healthcare websites are essential because they help facilitate the exchange of medical information. When such websites are designed properly, it becomes easy to exchange health information from one patient to another. For instance, the website could contain a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section where the most common questions that patients would likely ask are answered. Besides, instead of calling the healthcare facility, patients could easily access the healthcare website and access the information that they want online.
Even though there might be patients that feel calling the office is the better option, a healthcare website would allow for communication without adding extra stress to a healthcare professional. Additionally, a healthcare website allows health practitioner to communicate with each other and exchange medical information. For instance, one health practitioner could publish a particular piece of information on the website and another could access this information on the website and learn about the same knowledge.
Characteristics of a Good Health Website and How These Websites Could be Improved
A good health website is simple and easy to navigate. Wilson (2018) explains that well-designed medical website should not take users more than two clicks to obtain the information that they are looking for since they might become frustrated. Besides, this might make visitors less likely to make appointments since their experience might be ruined by difficult navigation. The second characteristic of a good health website is it contains information that is easily understandable. Many people that visit a particular website often skim the information rather than reading it comprehensively. Hence, a website should contain information that is succinct and precise. The third characteristic of a good health website is it load information quickly. Many website users expect the sites that they visit to lead fast. If a site takes longer to load, users would easily lose interest and attention and log off.
Therefore, health websites can be improved by using languages that are easy to read and understand to help users that have little medical knowledge comprehend the information being communicated in the text. Secondly, they can be improved by having a direct call to action on the website. Additionally, the website can be enhanced by organizing menu items logically for instance, organizing information on the same topic in the same folder.
References
Beckett, R. D. (2014). National Institutes of Health.
Kher, A., Johnson, S., & Griffith, R. (2017). Readability assessment of online patient education material on congestive heart failure. Advances in preventive medicine, 2017.
Oyibo, K., Adaji, I., Orji, R., & Vassileva, J. (2018, July). What drives the perceived credibility of mobile websites: classical or expressive aesthetics?. In International conference on human-computer interaction (pp. 576-594). Springer, Cham.
Tormey, J. (2022). 3 Pros of Having Hospital and Healthcare Websites. Sequence Health. https://www.sequencehealth.com/blog/3-pros-of-having-hospital-and-healthcare-websites
Wilson, D. (2018). Five Characteristics of a Healthy, Well-Designed Medical Website. Proclaim Interactive. https://www.proclaiminteractive.com/blog/is-your-medical-website-healthy/
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