The Internet: A modern Pandora's Box?

Mayer, Miguel Angel; Till, J. E.

doi:10.1007/bf00439230

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Some applaud this shift as an opportunity for partnerships in health care (Thomas, 1998) and greater use of the consumer as a resource (Wilkins, 1999), while others see a Pandora's box of 'unmanageable problems' [(Mayer and Till, 1996), p. 568]. Many providers are threatened by their loss of power and fear damage to physician-patient communication (Anonymous, 2000).…”

Section: Collaborations or Collisions Ahead? Implications For The Heamentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

Cline

Haynes²

2001

Health Education Research

1,411

1,046

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Increasingly, consumers engage in health information seeking via the Internet. Taking a communication perspective, this review argues why public health professionals should be concerned about the topic, considers potential benefits, synthesizes quality concerns, identifies criteria for evaluating online health information and critiques the literature. More than 70 000 websites disseminate health information; in excess of 50 million people seek health information online, with likely consequences for the health care system. The Internet offers widespread access to health information, and the advantages of interactivity, information tailoring and anonymity. However, access is inequitable and use is hindered further by navigational challenges due to numerous design features (e.g. disorganization, technical language and lack of permanence). Increasingly, critics question the quality of online health information; limited research indicates that much is inaccurate. Meager information-evaluation skills add to consumers' vulnerability, and reinforce the need for quality standards and widespread criteria for evaluating health information. Extant literature can be characterized as speculative, comprised of basic 'how to' presentations, with little empirical research.

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Section: Collaborations or Collisions Ahead? Implications For The Heamentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

Cline

Haynes²

2001

Health Education Research

1,411

1,046

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only a few studies of web-based breast cancer support groups have been reported [12,14-19]. One of these studies, by Klemm et al [17], involved line-by-line analysis of postings on prostate, breast, and mixed internet-based cancer support groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The BCML was established in early 1994, and has operated continuously since that time [23,14]. It's an unmoderated English-speaking online (via email) discussion group, based at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hypothesis is that good-quality unmoderated online support groups can be characterized as ones where respected long-time ("veteran") members serve as "tacit peer-navigators" and become quite skilled in this role. An example is provided by Musa Mayer, a "veteran" of the BCML [14] and a frequent contributor. She is the author of three books about breast cancer, and a respected breast cancer activist [27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Untitled

Till

2003

Health Qual Life Outcomes

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BackgroundAt least some forms of breast cancer are increasingly being viewed as a chronic illness, where an emphasis is placed on meeting the various ongoing needs of people living with cancer, their families and other members of their social support networks. This commentary outlines some approaches to the evaluation of cancer-related support groups, with a particular emphasis on those designed to provide long-distance support, via the internet, for women with breast cancer.DiscussionThe literature on evaluations of community-based cancer support groups indicates that they offer a number of benefits, and that it is more reasonable to expect an impact of such interventions on psychosocial functioning and/or health-related quality of life than on survival. The literature on both face-to-face and online social support groups suggests that they offer many advantages, although evaluation of the latter delivery mechanism presents some ethical issues that need to be addressed. Many popular online support groups are peer-moderated, rather than professionally-moderated. In an evaluation of online support groups, different models of the role of the "navigator" need to be taken into account. Some conceptual models are outlined for the evaluation of the "navigator role" in meeting the informational, decisional and educational needs of women with breast cancer. The Breast-Cancer Mailing List, an example of an unmoderated internet-based peer-support group, is considered within the context of a Shared or Tacit Model of the navigator role.ConclusionApplication of the concept of a "navigator role" to support groups in general, and to unmoderated online ones in particular, has received little or no attention in the research literature. The navigator role should be taken into account in research on this increasingly important aspect of cancer communication.

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“…To some researchers, the Web is a “Pandora’s Box” that has both benefits and costs [17, 18], particularly its impact on health-seeking knowledge. In a Pew Research poll from 2013 [19], a majority of those surveyed (73%) sought health-related information with a third of those (35%) diagnosing themselves as opposed to seeing a doctor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representing vaccine misinformation using ontologies

Amith

Tao

2018

J Biomed Semant

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BackgroundIn this paper, we discuss the design and development of a formal ontology to describe misinformation about vaccines. Vaccine misinformation is one of the drivers leading to vaccine hesitancy in patients. While there are various levels of vaccine hesitancy to combat and specific interventions to address those levels, it is important to have tools that help researchers understand this problem. With an ontology, not only can we collect and analyze varied misunderstandings about vaccines, but we can also develop tools that can provide informatics solutions.ResultsWe developed the Vaccine Misinformation Ontology (VAXMO) that extends the Misinformation Ontology and links to the nanopublication Resource Description Framework (RDF) model for false assertions of vaccines. Preliminary assessment using semiotic evaluation metrics indicated adequate quality for our ontology. We outlined and demonstrated proposed uses of the ontology to detect and understand anti-vaccine information.ConclusionWe surmised that VAXMO and its proposed use cases can support tools and technology that can pave the way for vaccine misinformation detection and analysis. Using an ontology, we can formally structure knowledge for machines and software to better understand the vaccine misinformation domain.

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The Internet: A modern Pandora's Box?

Cited by 32 publications

References 3 publications

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

Untitled

Representing vaccine misinformation using ontologies

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