The information book - Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service

4. Freshness of content – sites with content that is updated regularly are likely
to be ones which are best managed, and most up to date. Beware of sites
where nothing changes!
5. Disclosure of conflicts of interest – conflicts of interest should either
be obvious or clearly disclosed.
6. Price of information – So far, very few medical web resources are charging
for information. While this may change in the future, we believe that open
access to information with minimal fees should be the rule. If you are being
charged for the information, make sure it is not information others are
providing for free.
7. Confidentiality – most medical web resources will not respond to direct
medical inquiries by users. This is, in part, due to concerns over patient
confidentiality, accuracy of information either sent from or to the patient.
It is important to make sure sites which require registration are not releasing
contact data without permission.
8. Reputation – Resources run by reputable institutions are more likely
to provide timely, accurate, and unbiased information.
9. Look and feel – Resources must be attractive and able to provide the
best possible information to users. Content rich in graphics is attractive,
but if it is poorly organised, or if it takes a long time to download, it may
not be serving its primary purpose.
10. Navigation and searching – make sure the site is well organised, easy
to navigate and has a good search engine.
The domain name can give you an idea of the type of website. Sites that have
addresses with .org .edu or .gov are often better than commercial sites that
have .com in the address.
Some web sites that families find useful are:
www.rch.org.au / ccc
The web site for the RCH Children’s Cancer Centre.
www.curesearch.org
The combined website for the National Childhood Cancer Foundation and
Children’s Oncology Group in North America. The Children’s Cancer Centre
is a member of this group.
www.cancerbacup.org.uk
The United Kingdom’s national cancer information service.
www.cancersourcekids.com
A good site for children with links to information for parents.
More support Sec.5:13
Updated March 2011