About HealthInfoIowa

Over fifty possible sites were reviewed and evaluated for inclusion on the general and provider web pages. The factors that were utilized are as follows:

• Meeting the eight principles of the Health On the Net (HON) code of conduct [http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html] an international non-profit group that promotes effective, reliable health information on the Web.
  1. Authority
     Any medical or health advice provided by the resource will be given by medically trained and qualified professionals, unless a clear statement is made that a piece of advice offered is from a non-medically qualified individual or organization.
  2. Complementarity
     The information provided by the resource will be designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a client, patient, or site visitor and his/her existing physician.
  3. Confidentiality
     The resource will respect confidentiality of data relating to individual clients, patients, and visitors. The resource owners undertake to honor or exceed the legal requirements of medical and health information privacy that apply in Iowa.
  4. Attribution
     Where appropriate, information provided by the resource will be supported by clear references to source data. The date when a clinical reference was published will be clearly displayed. Materials will be kept current to meet best practices.
  5. Justifiability
     Any claims relating to the benefits/performance of a specific treatment, commercial product or service will be supported by appropriate, balanced evidence in the manner outlined in principle 4 (Attribution).
  6. Transparency of authorship
     The resource will seek to provide information in the clearest possible manner and provide contact information for clients, patients, and visitors who seek further information or support.
  7. Transparency of sponsorship
     The resource will identify support, including the identities of commercial and non-commercial organizations that have contributed funding, services, or materials.
  8. Honesty in advertising and editorial policy
     If advertising is a source of funding, the resource will include a brief description of the advertising policy. Advertising and other promotional material will be presented to clients, patients, and visitors in a manner and context that facilitates differentiation between the advertising and the original material provided by the resource.

1. The HealthInfoIowa multi-type advisory panel directed that resources listed on the website should address the health issues of people living in Iowa and that they should be of impeccable clinical quality.
2. The training consultant used the Healthy Iowans 2010 report [http://www.idph.state.ia.us/bhpl/healthy_iowans_2010.asp] and interviews conducted with public health personnel; high school teachers, students and nurses; county extension personnel; librarians; and health educators to identify key health issues facing people in Iowa.
3. Using input from the advisory panel and others, the training consultant compiled a preliminary list of possible sites for inclusion on the General Health and For Healthcare Providers pages.
4. The preliminary sites were evaluated by a distinguished health educator with RN and EdS. degrees to arrive at a short list of possible websites. Each site on the short list was entered in a spreadsheet for analysis based on the criteria listed above.
5. Websites listed on the For Students page were selected by an experienced school media specialist/administrator with M.A.L.S and M.S.E. degrees, based on evaluative criteria drawn from the literature.
6. Websites listed on the Iowa Resources page were suggested by members of the advisory panel and evaluated and selected by the training consultant.
7. Websites listed on the bibliographies of resources for specific audiences were evaluated and selected by the health educator and the training consultant.
8. All resources on the HealthInfoIowa site are reviewed by the advisory panel and State Library personnel on an ongoing basis.

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Copyright © 2001 Iowa Consumer Health Project
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HealthInfoIowa, a consumer health information resource from 
the State Library of Iowa, is funded by the National Library of Medicine 
under contract NO1-LM-6-3523 with the University of Illinois at Chicago.