K101_Tma05

Drawing on your experience from the project and the discussions within your team, discuss the wider implications of the rapid growth of care-related information on the web. Following completing the K101 Project I have concluded that it is easy to find information on care-related topics online, but this information isn’t always useful and reliable. The information that we found on the internet was quite often more related to health instead of actual care of the illness. There was lots if information available about different illnesses, the causes, medications available and a few about the preventions, but sometimes this information was complicated and confusing by the way it is put across; some websites use professional terms and jargon that service users and their families may not understand. There is so much different information available from so many different websites that it can empower service user. During the project we accessed so much different information about a number of different illnesses and my knowledge on these illnesses gave grown massively. The websites that we accessed were particular helpful and informative. In particular I found the website that I searched about cancer ‘American Cancer Society’ was extremely helpful and useful and allowed me to expand my knowledge of cancer. I found this information to be very useful and allowed me to advise my family and friends on certain things about the illness that I was no aware of. A problem I did find when looking for online care information is that there is a lot of information about international and national support groups but found it very difficult to find local support groups which I found to be quite strange as I thought that if there are support available for certain types of illnesses in my locality then people should be able to find out about they and the internet is a great way to advertise these resources. It is very easy to access online care-related information and this information can be very informative buts its reliability and trustworthiness can differ depending on the care subject and the website you use. The layout of the website is also another thing that can cause problems when using online care information. Some websites can look complicated and cluttered which may put some people of using them, also some websites can be too bright and too colourful which isn’t beneficial to someone with sight impairment. Another problem for service users using the internet to access information is that some service users are not computer literate particular older individuals, so may not feel comfortable using them. Some service users may be unable to access online care information due to the financial implications of it; to have online access you require an internet connection or may have too visit an internet café which can cost a lot of money and the financial burden of this can be too much for some people. The amount of care related information is continually growing although this is a good resource it can have wider implications as some sites offer diagnosis and this information may not be accurate or reliable. The information people receive on the internet should be used wisely as some service users may worry more about their illness and actual think their symptoms are worse than they really are. A major concern about the amount of online care information is that as there is so much information and so many different websites available online that the trustworthiness of the websites can come in to question. Anyone can freely make a website and that is concerning as you don’t know for certain that the information you are receiving is correct. Also a number of websites that my group looked at required you to enter personal details so you could receive extra ‘benefits’. People may not feel comfortable disclosing their personal information online and also these websites may not be real or trustworthy websites. If online care information is being sought people should use websites that are run by registered charities or the government as this information should be accurate. Although I think online care information is good to a certain extent as it is good to have some knowledge about your own health care I still think a professional’s opinion should always be sought to ensure you have the correct information and her receiving the correct type of care and medication. I think that as online care information continues to grow more and more people may decide to no longer seek professional medical advice which could have an effect on their long term health. So in conclusion my group came to conclude that the growth of online care information is a good resource but only if the service user can be reassured that the information they are receiving is accurate and being provided by reputable website; health care professional should be able to advise their patients/ clients of what websites will be useful for them and also advise them of which websites to avoid due to their unreliability.