The Rationale for Website Selection - Essay Sample

Sources of data are essential in health care since they provide information that aids in better understanding the disease paradigm. The Canadian Kidney Foundation website was selected for critique since it contains information on the subject matter of my studies. Specifically, I spend much of my time working on a nephrology floor, and hence it contains the information I need. Thus, the website can be a handy tool to recommend to patients who are newly diagnosed with kidney disease with the required information. The website is rich with excellent information that would enrich the patients understanding more about the disease.

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Summary of the Intended Audience

Every information on a data source is intended for certain groups of people that find it significant. The Canadian Kidney Foundation website contains information about kidney disease. In this regard, the information contained is essential for patients suffering from kidney-related diseases. Besides, the website provides research information about the disease, and this is also important to healthcare providers who would like to enrich their knowledge about the disease. Therefore, the website contains research-based information used to make people aware of kidney disease to reduce its prevalence. The information is also essential to sick people.

Website Evaluation Tool

The website aims to conduct research and raise awareness about kidney disease to those suffering from related illnesses and their families. The foundation was founded in 1964 as a charity organization to help eliminate the kidney disease burden for patients and their family members. As a result, the foundation assists the patients by creating awareness about kidney disease, serving patients, funding research, and advocating for better and improved healthcare. The start of the foundation was triggered by Morty Tarder, who was a young Montreal architect who died of kidney disease. The Tarder family started the foundation to raise money for use in research aid to understand the disease better.

The Canadian Kidney Foundation website has a team of researchers (research council), a biomedical scientific committee, an Allied health scientific committee, and KRESCENT peer reviewers. The website provides the names of the committee members, which indicates openness to disclose the key participants. Despite having teams of individuals participating in various committees, the qualifications and areas of expertise are not indicated.

The organization provides contact information such as email addresses, physical addresses, and social platforms, namely Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. To verify the organization's information, the foundation has provided the registration number as a charitable institution, logo, and trademark. Besides, it provides an option to join the mailing list and get updates. The name of the website creator and the organization powering it is also provided.

The foundation also provides the programs' names and partnerships such as the Can-Solve KCD, Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, and KRESCENT. The information enables one to gauge the type of research conducted and its credibility. It further ensures the accuracy of the information.

Summary of Assessment

The website contains essential information necessary to ascertain that the foundation is credible. For instance, it provides information about the founders and the reason for starting the organization. Kidney Foundation sponsors research and provides awareness to people with kidney and their families. The website has clearly stated contact information in social media, email, and physical address. The individuals running the charitable organization are also provided. It is also easy to realize that it is a non-profit organization that depends on donations from well-wishers. The donate icon is placed strategically, revealing the nature of the foundation.

In the About Us section, the website states the source of the information it uses to create awareness. Majorly, the organization sponsors research through various programs and partnerships, namely Can-Solve KCD, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, and KRESCENT. The research council is also provided, indicating that it depends on research rather than opinion. Disclosing the partners and the programs the foundation cooperates offers the authenticity of the information provided.

The foundation failed to include the criteria for review that the KRESCENT uses to approve quality information. Hence, there is a need to provide the criteria that the review board uses to determine the quality of information and priorities. The area of expertise for each of the committee members is also not provided. It is not easy to know the area of expertise of the research council, the peer review board, and the other commutes. Therefore, it becomes impossible to deduce if the members possess the required qualifications and if those qualifications are relevant to the subject area.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada website contains relevant information regarding the purpose and mission of the foundation. The website strictly sticks to providing information about and related to kidney disease. Whatever information is provided links and connects to the subject matter.

The website provides foundation policies such as privacy policy, complaints policy, and terms of use, which shows how it uses personal information and other information provided by the users and partners. For instance, it states that the information provided cannot be used without consent or for any other purpose rather than the one stated. The circumstances under which the information is disclosed to third parties are provided on the website.

The Rationale for Recommending the Website

I recommend the website as a source of information for use by patients with kidney-related diseases. The foundation has well and articulated information about what it does, the committee members involved, the review board. The foundation also provides information about the various researchers that have been sponsored, the title of the study, the person conducting the study and the affiliated university, the date, and the progress. Hasan and Abuelrub (2011) state that a website must provide excellent and verifiable content. By providing information about the researchers, the foundation ensures transparency and articulates the quality of work conducted.

Besides, I recommend the website since the foundation provides information based on research rather than the opinion of individuals whose credentials are questionable. The foundation provides the teams of experts involved in the research and review of the quality of research information. The information shows the quality of the content.

The website also provides relevant information to the purpose and target group of the foundation. According to Tao et al. (2017), a website's credibility is determined by its ability to provide relevant information. The website fulfills the condition and can hence be termed as accurate and of good quality with relevant information to the subject matter.

References

Hasan, L., & Abuelrub, E. (2011). Assessing the quality of websites. Applied Computing and Informatics, 9(1), 11-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aci.2009.03.001

Tao, D., LeRouge, C., Smith, K., & De Leo, G. (2017). Defining information quality into health websites: A conceptual framework of health website information quality for educated young adults. JMIR Human Factors, 4(4), e25. https://doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.6455