NSB303: Evaluating Online Health Resources - A Detailed Analysis

This report provides an analysis of several online health resources, including MedlinePlus, Mayo Clinic, Drugs.com, Webicina, and Smart Patients. Each resource is evaluated based on its target population, accessibility, benefits, and limitations. MedlinePlus is geared towards patients and families, offering simplified health information in multiple languages, but suffers from discoverability issues. Mayo Clinic provides comprehensive health information and direct consultations, with easy access and multilingual support, but is limited by internet access. Drugs.com targets consumers and healthcare professionals with drug information and an app, yet faces challenges in understandability and potential for misinterpretation. Webicina curates reliable medical information but may present uneven quality. Smart Patients offers a supportive community for patients, particularly those with cancer, though content quality can vary. The report highlights the importance of considering the strengths and weaknesses of each resource when seeking health information.

MedlinePlus
The main target population for MedlinePlus is the patients, and their friends and families.
Also, health professionals and consumers can benefit from the authoritative and up-to-date
information provided here. 1
Users are able to access a wide range of health related information on different medical
conditions
These include latest treatment, specific details on a certain drug, and particulars about
conditions, diseases, and wellness issues. 1
MedlinePlus also provides medical videos as well as links to most current medical research on
certain topics and diseases. 1
There are certain benefits of MedlinePlus, including
Provides abundant information regarding health and health care for patients, families, friends, and
caregivers
Information has been simplified and use of overly technical language has been limited
Simplified search method
Provides some information in Spanish , Somali, and Russian in addition to English
However, there are certain limitations to the resource, including,
Access difficulty: information can only be accessed by individuals who are aware of the resource. For
instance, upon searching “schizophrenia” using a search engine like Google, no results from
MedlinePlus was revealed.
Although information is provided in English, Spanish, Russian, and Somali, language differences still
remain to be a limitation

Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic’s main target is the patients
it provides a wide range of health information including disease specifics,
treatment options, and diagnostics to users. 2
Allows patients to consult and receive help directly from health specialists
The resource presents certain benefits including
In addition to online help, Mayo Clinic provides physical avenues in different
locations where patients can visit
Easy access is another benefit to using this resource. For instance, upon
searching for “schizophrenia” using Google search engine, results from Mayo
Clinic were available
Access of the resource by users allows an opportunity for self-help to patients
Provides information in different languages including English, Espanol,
Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese
Easy search while providing suggestions as one key in key words
However, Lack of access for the population that is not connected to the
internet is a potential limitation for the resource

Drugs.com
Drugs.com primarily targets consumers and health care professionals.
It is a digital health resource that helps patients to look for drug information, interaction
between drugs, and identify pills and create a personal medications record. 3
Information can be accessed through their website or drugs.com app compatible with various
smartphone devices.
Benefits include
 provision of wide range of information, especially regarding different treatments, medications, and
side effects
Easy access of information especially through the app
Users can retrieve information any time any where provided they have a smartphone
Limitations to accessing the site include
Difficulty in finding the site. For instance, no result that led to the site was found when a search
engine search as Google was used to look up of “Schizophrenia”
Difficulty in understanding and using this resource. Since most drugs have jargon terminologies it
is difficult, especially for consumers, to utilize this engine effectively
Potential for harm resulting from erroneous interpretation of treatment information or even
inappropriate treatments by consumers
Limitation posed by language barrier as information only appears in English

Webicina
Webicina is a web-based organization whose target population is
consumers, health professionals, and academics. 4
It provides curated information on medical conditions and
specialties from hand-selected online resources to ensure
reliability
Benefits include
The site allows users to access credible information on different topics
Unlike general search engines, this web based page accumulates
health related topics
Limitations of accessing the site include
potential for providing uneven quality of medical information from the
varying sources
Difficulties in finding, comprehending, and using information
Lack of access for the population that is not connected

Smart Patients
Smart Patients is an online community that primarily targets patients.
Other target population include patient family, friends, caregivers, patient
advocates, and survivors of certain diseases. 5
It provides a platform where patients of different diseases can interact,
especially those suffering from cancer.
It enables users to learn from each other regarding treatment and side
effects, latest evidence, coping strategies, clinical trials, recurrence, end of
life, and grieving
Smart Patients provides certain benefits to users such as helping patients to
better manage their symptoms, understand their treatments, and stay
informed on current research.
Also, the support system offers emotional support to patients and their
families as they interact with each other. Additionally, users receive
motivation and advice from other members
Some limitations to accessing the site include
High potential of dissemination of erroneous information since it is difficult to
regulate the quality of content shared in the platform

References
1. MedlinePlus. About MedlinePlus. [Cited 2019 April 14.]
Available from https
://medlineplus.gov/aboutmedlineplus.html
2. Mayo Clinic. About Mayo Clinic. [Cited 2019 April 14.]
Available from https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic
3. Drugs.com. Find drugs & conditions. [Cited 2019 April 14.]
Available from https://www.drugs.com/
4. Webicina. Webicina. [Cited 2019 April 14.] Available from
https://webicina.com/
5. Smart Patients. Smart Patients: an online community where
patients and their families learn from each other. [Cited 2019
April 14.] Available from https://www.smartpatients.com/