Evaluating Consumer-Oriented Web Sites for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Abstract

Consumers and healthcare professionals need to exercise caution when seeking health care information of any type on the Web, but they need to exercise even greater caution when seeking nonstandard medical advice through complementary and alternative medical (CAM) web sites. The Health on the Net (HON) Foundation certifies web sites, but CAM information seekers need to engage in their own critical appraisals in addition to seeking out sites which enjoy HON certification. The web sites of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the Mayo Clinic are evaluated as sources of information about CAM.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative medicine
• complementary medicine
• critical appraisal
• Health on the Net Foundation
• Mayo Clinic
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• University of Maryland Medical Center, web sites

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas E. Phillips

Thomas E. Phillips, MLS, PhD ([email protected]) is the Director of the library at Arapahoe College in Littleton, CO. Lisa Grabowski, MLIS, is the coordinator of the learning commons at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO. Michelle Svendsen is a MLS candidate at the University of Denver, Denver, CO.