Ways of knowing on the Internet: A qualitative review of cancer websites from a critical nursing perspective

Abstract

People diagnosed with cancer typically want information from their doctor or nurse. However, many individuals now turn to the Internet to tackle unmet information needs and to complement healthcare professional information. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the content of commonly searched cancer websites from a critical nursing perspective, as this information is accessible, and allows patients to address their information needs in ways that healthcare professionals cannot. This qualitative examination of websites is informed by Carper's fundamental patterns of knowing and complemented with the critical view to technology espoused by the philosophy of technology. We conducted a review of 20 websites using a two-step interpretive descriptive approach and thematic analysis. We identified the dominant discourse to be focused on empirical information on treatment, prognosis, and cure, and a paucity of sociopolitical, ethical, personal, and esthetic information. In place of holistic, nuanced, and accurate knowledge nurses may provide, patients find predominantly empirical and biomedical information online. Discussion explores and critiques online cancer content, gaps in information, and the importance of information diversity. Implications focus on needed discourse around pervasive technologies and the nursing role in assessing and directing patients to holistic information.

Assessment of the use of the Internet and social media among people with bladder cancer and their carers, and the quality of available patient‐centric online resources: a systematic review

“…Overall, only very limited evidence, with a lack of methodological consistency, is available with regard to the use and impact of the Internet on people with BCa. With the Internet and online social spaces now an important source of health information, clinicians face the challenge of understanding how Internet information impacts on patients’ decision‐making and whether patients have the ability to appraise it critically . There is evidence of a mismatch between the visibility and the quality of most of the cancer information websites, leading to false information and suboptimal decisions .…”

Scandinavian Online Cancer Information as Expressions of Governmentality

“…The paternalist approach in the Norwegian online cancer information is not in line with the recent cancer strategy in Norway, 23 in which patients participate more and influence their treatment. However, Haase et al 42 found that the dominant discourse in online patient information focuses on treatment, prognosis, and cure, with a lack of sociopolitical, ethical, and personal information. Technology-mediated platforms might lead to static attention and less social feedback in patients' interpretation and handling of information by health care professionals.…”

New nurses apply only basic source evaluation criteria but realize their skills are lacking: More sophisticated approaches to teaching evaluation skills are required

“…Evaluation or critical appraisal is what bridges finding information and using that information in clinical practice (Carter‐Templeton, 2013). Practicing nurses need the skills to determine what is good information, not only for clinical application but also to help patients who increasingly turn to the Internet for information to learn about their health conditions (Cader, 2013; Gilmour et al, 2012; Shiferaw et al, 2020), even though that information is not as holistic as what nurses can provide (Haase et al, 2018). Yet, Miller et al (2010) established in the abstract of their study that “nurses are challenged to find and use reliable, credible information to support clinical decision‐making and to meet expectations for evidence‐based nursing practice.” This finding was echoed by Carter‐Templeton (2013) who found that the critical appraisal process is not well understood and that nurses mainly rely on other nurses for information.…”