Article type
Year
Abstract
Background:
About half of the Austrian and German population looks for health information on the internet. However, many health information websites are not evidence-based. According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, two out of three Germans find it difficult to tell whether the information they find is reliable. The situation is similar in Austria.
Objectives:
We aim to enhance health literacy in German-speaking countries by checking the evidence behind claims in advertisements, the media and on health topics in which the general public is interested. Therefore, in 2012 Cochrane Austria founded www.Medizin-transparent.at.
Methods:
Readers can send in questions about medical information they hear in the media, in advertisements, or find online. These questions are researched by our scientific team. We conduct ultra-rapid reviews based on a systematic literature search. Our methods are published on our website. We attach importance to framing the text in a way that is easy for lay people to understand, and follow the German 'Good practice guidelines for health information'. We publish the answers on our website. Since 2017 our content has also been available via the mobile app MedBusters, which we co-founded.
Results:
Since 2012, Medizin-transparent.at has published around 500 evidence-based fact-checking articles. Approximately two new or older, updated articles are published per week. The website has around 100,000 visits per month and has favourable coverage in the mass media. Content providers for the MedBusters app include Medizin-transparent.at and other high-quality health information providers from Germany (Gesundheitsinformation.de by IQWIG – Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen; fact boxes by Max Planck Institute for Human Development).
Conclusions:
With Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app, we have successfully established two online platforms aimed at increasing health literacy in German-speaking countries.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:
Healthcare consumers shape the content of Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app because they can send in requests for topics that should be covered next.
About half of the Austrian and German population looks for health information on the internet. However, many health information websites are not evidence-based. According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, two out of three Germans find it difficult to tell whether the information they find is reliable. The situation is similar in Austria.
Objectives:
We aim to enhance health literacy in German-speaking countries by checking the evidence behind claims in advertisements, the media and on health topics in which the general public is interested. Therefore, in 2012 Cochrane Austria founded www.Medizin-transparent.at.
Methods:
Readers can send in questions about medical information they hear in the media, in advertisements, or find online. These questions are researched by our scientific team. We conduct ultra-rapid reviews based on a systematic literature search. Our methods are published on our website. We attach importance to framing the text in a way that is easy for lay people to understand, and follow the German 'Good practice guidelines for health information'. We publish the answers on our website. Since 2017 our content has also been available via the mobile app MedBusters, which we co-founded.
Results:
Since 2012, Medizin-transparent.at has published around 500 evidence-based fact-checking articles. Approximately two new or older, updated articles are published per week. The website has around 100,000 visits per month and has favourable coverage in the mass media. Content providers for the MedBusters app include Medizin-transparent.at and other high-quality health information providers from Germany (Gesundheitsinformation.de by IQWIG – Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen; fact boxes by Max Planck Institute for Human Development).
Conclusions:
With Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app, we have successfully established two online platforms aimed at increasing health literacy in German-speaking countries.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement:
Healthcare consumers shape the content of Medizin-transparent.at and the MedBusters app because they can send in requests for topics that should be covered next.