¶ … new issues to light in terms of knowledge and information. The Internet, SmartPhones, and technology have increased the ability for information to be both processed and disseminated. However, this is challenging because it requires that the information be vetted, and that individuals can critically analyze sourcing and context. This is particularly true now that almost everyone has access to health information from websites, popular press, and even blogs (Health on the net, 2013).
When we examine sources, though, we need to take into account the vetting (bias, purpose, etc.) but also the robustness and quality of the sources. The core aspect of this trend in analyzing information is to use critical thinking skills to process information. In general, the basic aspect of critical thinking is to analyze the source material and decide upon its veracity and relevance. Certainly, it is not as easy to read, write, and process critically, one has to think about what one says, how one says it, and whether the arguments are made to buttress the argument, but the idea of critical thinking is a great stimulation to one's own brain and learning. In many cases, clients enter the clinical environment having...
The danger in this is that they have not been able to diagnose the issue correctly. Getting a proper diagnosis, though, and then researching for further information is quite different.
Helping clients understand online health information can be challenging. The initial steps are to help them understand how to critically look at a document. . For example, not everything posted on the Internet is true; one must read to establish the sources of the material. A critical thinker also uses other senses to establish their opinion of the stimuli, be that visual, audible, or even body-language (in the case of speech, etc.). Using critical thinking to process information requires that you not only analyze the source material "critically," but that you think about the opinions and views being presented. Ask them to be prepared to ask several questions for each site (or book or article) they read: 1) What are the author's credentials? 2) Is the work edited or endorsed by a hospital or healthcare facility, medical school, or professional organization; 3) Are there sources present in the article? 4) Is the article trying to sell something…
