The American Heart Association's Website: Credibility Assessment

“One in nine deaths in 2009 included heart failure as a contributing cause. About half of the people who develop heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis” (Heart Failure Fact Sheet). “Researchers have proven that African-Americans are at an increased risk of congestive heart failure. This is due to diabetes and high blood pressure, rather than race alone”. “There is no cure for heart failure. Treatments are used to relieve symptoms of CHF and try to prevent any further damage. The exact plan to help the patient depends on the stage and the type of heart failure the patient has”

I will compare the information available from two major online medical resources to see what type of audience they are targeting and how the information is communicated. The topic that I will be chosen is diabetes. The websites that I will be getting my sources are from Medicinenet (http://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_mellitus/article.htm) and the CDC centers for disease control and prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/home/index.html).

Caveat lector is a Latin phrase meaning, “let the reader beware.” Health information on the internet is growing at an alarming rate. However, some information on the internet is not accurate or current, and unfortunately, many web sites regarding healthcare offer misleading, incomplete, and incorrect information. Many consumers do not have the knowledge to judge and evaluate the quality of online information. This paper aims to discuss how the website WebMD presents information to readers. It will evaluate WebMD according to its source, where was the source obtained; type of funding, is it commercially funded or private; the validity and quality, how valid is the information and can it be verified; and privacy, is your personal information

The Heart360 website might help me track my risk factors by giving me motivation to live a healthier life. Most people need help to know how to track progress and learn what you problem health issues are. This website would show you the way to a healthier way of living. Most people want to live an active life, however lack of motivation, low self-esteem, and other barriers that get in way of this (Corbin, Welk, Corbin & Welk, 2016). Having a plan and sticking to the plan will start to become routine, then become part of your everyday life. I feel this type of tool would help me adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle because I would be able to see the difference for the worse or better. To keep track of my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose,

The American Heart Association (AHA) is one of the greatest non-profit organizations in the United States that cultivates suitable cardiac care with an end goal to lessen disability and fatalities brought about via cardiovascular infections and strokes. Initially created in New York City in 1924 as the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease, it is presently headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The American Heart Association is a national charitable wellbeing organization. They are known for distributing benchmarks on essential life care and superior cardiovascular life care, and in 2014 it had issued its first rules for avoiding strokes in women. The American Heart Association is known additionally to operate various and very noticeable public movements beginning in the 1970s, furthermore working various fundraising occasions. In 1997, Grace, K. S. discharged a review that demonstrated the American Heart Association was positioned as the fifth "most prominent philanthropy/non-profit in America".

Cardiovascular Disease refers to the diseases and conditions related to the heart and surrounding blood vessels. Even though the disease has decreased death rates for males and females, it still is a major problem Australians face, causing approximately 40% of all deaths and 18% of the overall burden disease. The Heart Foundation is a charity which researches causes, preventions and treatments for diseases related to the heart. The ‘Heart Foundation Tick’ is an initiative that guides people in making healthy food decisions and choices. This foundation uses the Ottawa charter and Social Justice principles to have an impact on the lives of Australian people.

Exploratory Study and its phase strategies were used because the team desired to have a full understanding of the American Heart Association, their operational objectives, and the reason people donated to charities. The exploratory phase strategies used were:

Heart disease and stroke statistics—2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association, January 25, 2017].Circulation. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000485.

Determining the credibility of a website starts with tools that can be used to evaluate the site. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) offers information defining how to evaluate websites credibility. Key factors such as; “Who runs and pays for the website, what the website’s purpose is, Where did the information on the site come from and how is

The information provided on this site is factual and can be used to educate the population. This web page is open to the public for viewing. I enjoy learning new information from this site to share with my students and patients.

The information available on these websites may or may not be written by a scholar or one having knowledge of the topic. This information can be biased and can be influenced by advertisements or the owner of the website. In today's world anyone can create a website for less than a hundred dollars. Also, content reliability and credibility are also big points to question. The qualifications and contact information can be difficult to trace. There are no website policies that the websites have to adhere to get started. Although there is one organization that regulates and acts as a “ watchdog”. It's the Health on the net foundation - HON with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The seal of approval is free for display but is based on eight criteria which should be passed by the website - authoritative, privacy, complementary, attribution, justifiability, transparency, financial disclosure and advertising policy. The HON looks at the credentials of the scholars, writing information, citations with dates, sources of publication, financial disclosure, and advertisements. Ease of accessing the website and the performance based on the content and illustrations and also updates made on the websites and if it’s keeping up with the growing medical information and

If I were a patient and I used the ‘New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’ website it would be a convenient website to search for data for heart disease. ‘HealthPeople2020’ website is also a good site to look for information. The ‘New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’ website has Health Topics under ‘Our health’ which has various types of health issues. When I searched for heart disease particularly, it was very easy to navigate; it has included all the factors that contribute to heart disease, such as blood pressure, consuming less sodium and the risk factors associated with it. The ‘HealthPeople2020’ website has Topics & Objectives

What habits can affect heart health? Millions of people currently suffer from various types of heart conditions, but only a few have changed their lifestyle to mend them. So far, exercise and diet are common methods of maintaining heart health, but it isn’t the only solutions. To better understand the risks of heart conditions and discover specific ways to live a long and healthy life, I have researched numerous ways to increase the life expectancy of the human body, specifically the heart. To further understand the types and amounts of habits that can affect heart health I referenced ten scholarly articles and a book relating to heart health, function, and condition.

Other websites like academyhealth.org are the multidisciplinary field of scientific research, with the main tasks of studying the social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, and lastly the quality

The Mayo Clinic website’s primary audience is patients who require medical services. The primary audience for the CDC is health care providers and laboratory technicians. The audiences seem to know their state of health so that they can use the information in the websites for their healthy living. The websites target both male and female audiences who are susceptible to various diseases and conditions. The education level for the audiences of Mayo Clinic is those with the ability to read