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Evaluation Of The Canadian Cancer Society Website Cancer

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DISCERN Evaluation of Cancer.ca For individuals faced with a cancer diagnosis, information seeking plays a crucial role in their ability to cope with their diagnosis as well as treatment options. To make decisions, patients require information about their disease, treatment options that outline the benefits and risks, as well as alternative treatments and their prognosis (Rutten, Arora, Bakos, Aziz, & Rowland, 2005). Modern technology has provided patients with access to a plethora of information, particularly as it relates to Cancer, furthermore with the internet becoming a primary source of information it is of importance that patients seeking health information become proficient in assessing the credibility of websites (Schwarz & Ringel Morris, 2011). One instrument to aid in assessing the quality of treatment information in DISCERN. Through utilizing this tool, an evaluation of the Canadian Cancer Society Website cancer.ca will be presented to determine the quality of this websites content specifically as it relates to treatment information for cancer. The DISCERN Instrument The DISCERN instrument was developed by the National Health Services (NHS) as a result of a national project to develop quality standards for written information on treatment choices (DISCERN Handbook). The NHS is an organization that provides health care of all citizens in the United Kingdom regardless of their ability to pay (NHS Website). DISCERN was the first standardized index of quality

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