Health
Trusting health advice on the Internet
By The British Psychological Society
Apr 8, 2005, 04:16

Psychologists are discovering what people look for in deciding whether or not a website offers trustworthy health advice and why people sometimes reject advice from some of the most trustworthy sources.

Research into the area by Professor Pamela Briggs and Dr Liz Sillence from the PACT Lab, Northumbria University, with colleagues at both Northumbria and Sheffield Universities, will be presented at the British Psychological Society Conference at the University of Manchester on Saturday 2 April 2005.

In a project sponsored by the ESRC E-Society initiative, Professor Briggs, Dr Sillence and colleagues studied the internet habits of 15 women who were considering taking hormone replacement therapy over a period of six months.

The researchers were interested in how women made decisions about which sites to trust and which to ignore. Participants attended four 2-hour sessions at an Internet caf� where they were directed to particular sites as well as being allowed to explore sites freely. Their preferences were noted via discussions and a logbook recording their impressions. The women were also interviewed again after six months.

Surprisingly, some of the most 'reputable' sites in terms of medical expertise, proved to be some of the least trusted sites. The women were drawn initially to attractive sites, containing contributions or stories from like-minded individuals. They were suspicious of sites where the authors might have had a hidden agenda - for example, to sell some specific product.

Professor Briggs said: "We can no longer assume that simply because advice comes from a reputable health organisation that it will be adopted by consumers. There are thousands of health advice sites out there, so we need to appreciate that good design combined with stories that resonate with individual experience are very important factors in building that initial trust".

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