WEBSITE EVALUATION:
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/
I have chosen to evaluate these two websites associated with the promotion of personal health and associated issues. Both of these pages operate as commercial sites as indicated by the “.com” domain extension and are published and promoted under the same titles as the respective web servers.
yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com
The name of the site, whilst advertising personal health, is co-sponsored by “ivillage” which in turn is sponsored by NBC Universal Inc. ivillage is a “media company dedicated exclusively to connecting women at every stage of their lives”.
In addition to the website NBC produces a Your Total Health tv program which is linked to the ivillage and selected episodes can be viewed from the site.
The webpage of the site has location tabs which offer assistance with popular areas of personal health with an emphasis on feature topics that are unique to women but with a data base of information relevant to both genders.
webmd.com
WebMD purports to provide health information, tools for managing health, and support to those who seek information. They state that the information is reliable and current. This site is supported by advertising for health and lifestyle related products.
There is a clear differentiation between WebMD content, sponsor influenced content and other independent third party content. The policy toward sponsors and advertisements is clearly documented on the site and it is easy to identify each category from the
Authenticity:
yourtotalhealth.ivillage I selected two health related conditions (diabetes & sleep disorders) and both topics opened up windows on articles (and links to related topics), that explained the condition and provided information that could be absorbed in the reader’s own time and establish a basis for discussion and enquiry with a medical practitioner.
Webmd provided similar information but when entering a disease or medical condition, the result opens a new “health centre” window e.g. “diabetes health centre”, which is easier to navigate.
The articles on both sites are reviewed by medical experts who’s profile and qualifications are available via a link.
Currency:
Both sites have been updated with current year (2009) articles and the selected articles had a date when it was last reviewed so the reader was aware of the currency of the information.
Objectivity:
Most of the health information is factual and reviewed by practitioners in the health field. Any bias of the site is toward womens’ health issues and the advertisements appear to target women although the actual product may be relevant to both genders.
Registration:
Both sites invite online registration to record personal details that are governed by the privacy statements of each site. The use of various software tools may require the collection of other health related data and this is also collected and subject to the privacy statement.
Preference:
At first glance, these sites could be twins; they have similar design (colour, layout, graphics) and provides the same quality of information. Either of these sites could be used as a platform for the next generation of interactive personal health information technologies.
I would choose to use WebMD as my first source because I found it easier as a first time user to browse and locate articles about specific health topics but would expect to use the yourtotalhealth site as it appears to have a greater “entertainment factor” using its multi media resources which may be a significant factor in combating the “Law of Attrition” Eysenbach G. The law of attrition. J Med Internet Res 2005 Mar 31;7(1):e11.
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