American government strives to improve healthcare quality through increased access to healthcare information by patients. There are notable benefits of this approach. One of them is that it enhances patients’ health literacy levels. Thus, allowing patients to participate in clinical decisions and take better actions about their lifestyle. Additionally, self-care is also achieved, thus, improving one’s health. One factor that has increased patient access to health information is the dynamic development in technology, such as the introduction of internet services, which enables patients to access credible and reliable information about a particular health issue. These may include; their risk factors, manifestations, and remedies. A good example of these websites is the American Heart Association. Therefore, this paper will discuss the patient health information provided by the American Heart Association about heart disease.
Health Issue
Heart disease is one of the major chronic diseases affecting many Americans. Cardiovascular illness is a general term that refers to various conditions that alter the human heart. Common cardiovascular diseases include coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and aortic aneurysms. Plaque build-up of cholesterol in the walls of the coronary arteries blocks the coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart. Blood entering the heart is restricted when the build-up of atheroma causes the coronary artery to narrow, leading to chest pains. A completely blocked coronary artery can cause a heart attack.
Moreover, the altered blood supply to the brain causes a stroke. Blocked arteries in the limbs (primarily the legs) cause peripheral vascular disease. The largest blood vessel in the body is the aorta. The aorta supplies blood from the heart to other organs. When the walls of the aorta weaken and bulge outwards, this suggests that one is suffering from an aortic aneurysm condition.
Cardiovascular disease causes the highest number of deaths in America compared to other chronic diseases. For instance, in 2020, it accounted for 928741 deaths. Moreover, in the same year, coronary heart disease accounted for 41.2 percent of deaths, stroke (17.3%), high blood pressure (12.9%), and heart attack accounted for 9.2% of the total deaths in America (Tsao et al., 2023). Moreover, aging and elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable to heart disease. Older women are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease than their elderly-aged men counterparts. However, in both men and women, susceptibility to heart disease increases with age (Rodger et al., 2019). Furthermore, cardiovascular disease risk factors include physical inactivity, unhealthy nutrition, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, race/ ethnicity, and kidney dysfunction. (Bays et al., 2021). According to a report by Tsao et al. (2023), direct and indirect expenditures on heart disease between 2018 and 2019 amounted to more than $ 400 billion.
Website
Approximately 80 percent of American adults search online for health information. Most of this information impacts consumers’ health beliefs, health behaviors, intentions, and healthcare decision-making (Sun et al.,2019). For example, one website that provides credible and reliable information about cardiovascular disease is the American Heart Association (AHA). AHA is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1915 as the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease. The last update was in 1924 to its current name. The organization publishes scientific medical guidelines related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. The American Heart Association, in conjunction with other volunteer scientists and healthcare professionals, writes and reviews all the information for credibility.
The healthcare sector is changing daily; therefore, physicians must ensure that they are up-to-date, and this is why the American Heart Association updates its guidelines annually concerning various diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. The aim is to help health professionals achieve the best patient outcomes. The website states that their information is intended to help people improve their health by helping them understand cardiovascular disease and stroke and their preventive measures and learn various medical conditions. Moreover, its information does not discourage advice from other health experts who understand one’s medical conditions. Additionally, the targeted audience for the American Heart Association information is the general public and anyone who needs information about heart disease.
Website Design and Layout
American Heart Association website design and layout are well-organized, which makes it easy to read and access information. The website uses questions, sentences, and phrases to ease the identification of specific topics. There is a database with a list of information about health issues. Examples of headings that ease access to information about heart disease are; What is cardiovascular disease? How common is heart disease? Who is likely to develop cardiovascular disease? Cardiovascular disease causes, symptoms, signs, and prevention. The table of content is also provided at the top of the website before the reader access the information.
American Heart Association uses Lub Dub as its custom hyperface on its materials excluding long-form scientific documents where sans serif is unsuitable. The website uses this typeface to modernize its brand to reach a broader audience and make new connections. Additionally, the website uses various colors, such as red, white, grey, and black backgrounds, when presenting its information.
Website Sponsorship
The American Heart Association is a not-for-profit organization that supports research through funding, advocates for better heart policies, and educates the public about healthy life through its resources and campaigns. However, they cannot achieve all these objectives without financial support from well-wishers. Therefore, the organization primarily depends on support from sponsors to allow them to achieve their mission. Some of the major sponsors of this organization are CVS Health, Bank of America, UnitedHealth Group, and Medtronic, among others.
Credibility
Experienced writers and editors primarily produce the information on the American Heart Association website. Physicians and other professional experts in cardiovascular disease help in writing this information. The American Heart Association’s staff may also help compile and assemble the information. Moreover, the information must receive a statistical and science-based review by the science and medicine team to ensure its credibility before posting it on their website. One of the writers is Paul St. Laurent, an advanced practice nurse in clinical cardiovascular care for more than twenty-five years. Paul also holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from Chatham University and the University of Southern Indiana, respectively.
Thon & Jucks (2017) concluded that information seekers consider the author’s credentials and the technicality of language when determining the credibility of information on a website. Information seekers believe that authors with authority in medical fields also have more expertise in a specific health issue. Therefore, these factors were found to impact the information seeker’s perception of the credibility of information. Additionally, technical language use has a negative impact on the authors’ integrity and credibility of their information.
Moreover, the website is free to access by the public as it discourages any subscriptions to acquire the information. Moreover, the authors are not affiliated with any political side but are focused on providing valuable information about cardiovascular disease for public consumption. The website provides easy ways of reaching the authors, including website email and customer service numbers. Furthermore, the information provided by the website is accurate. American Heart Association is a science-based organization; therefore, they ensure that the science and medicine advisors review the information to check for any errors. The internal staff oversees a database of reviews by assigning each to at least one advisor for the review process. Any database with inaccuracies is returned for additional review. The website also provides additional accessible links that help the reader get valuable information about a particular health issue. Additionally, the website uses more than one language to write its information. These languages include Portuguese, Italiano, Espanyol, and Deutsch to reach more audiences worldwide.
Adequacy
The website provides enough information that educates consumers. For instance, the organization has many health education brochures that help people reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, understand illness tests and treatments, and manage their health conditions successfully; therefore, consumers often get adequate and accurate answers to their questions.
The sophistication of the Information
The website uses simple and comprehensive language that enhances the information’s readability. The American Heart Association website clearly states its intended purpose. The activities and information align with its mission, “building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.” The site is primarily for educational purposes. They create awareness of the significance of choosing a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, they also provide science-based guidelines for physicians to help them achieve the best patient outcomes. Additionally, they educate the public, policymakers, and lawmakers by advocating for changes that aim at protecting and improving the health of the general community.
In conclusion, the American government aims to improve the health of its citizens through increased access to healthcare information. The Internet development has enhanced this strategy, as studies suggest that approximately 80 percent of adults in America seek health information online. They search for information regarding various health issues, such as cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is one of the major chronic diseases affecting many Americans. Therefore, people often seek health advice from websites such as the American Heart Association, which educates people on chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease.
References
Rodgers, J. L., Jones, J., Bolleddu, S. I., Vanthenapalli, S., Rodgers, L. E., Shah, K., … & Panguluri, S. K. (2019). Cardiovascular risks associated with gender and aging. Journal of cardiovascular development and disease, 6(2), 19. https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/6/2/19
Tsao, C. W., Aday, A. W., Almarzooq, Z. I., Anderson, C. A., Arora, P., Avery, C. L., … & American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. (2023). Heart disease and stroke statistics—2023 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 147(8), e93-e621. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001123
Bays, H. E., Taub, P. R., Epstein, E., Michos, E. D., Ferraro, R. A., Bailey, A. L., … & Toth, P. P. (2021). Ten things to know about ten cardiovascular disease risk factors. American journal of preventive cardiology, 5, 100149. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666667721000040
Thon, F. M., & Jucks, R. (2017). Believing in expertise: How authors’ credentials and language use influence the credibility of online health information. Health communication, 32(7), 828-836.
Sun, Y., Zhang, Y., Gwizdka, J., & Trace, C. B. (2019). Consumer evaluation of the quality of online health information: systematic literature review of relevant criteria and indicators. Journal of medical Internet research, 21(5), e12522. https://www.jmir.org/2019/5/e12522/
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