Appraising your information

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Appraising your information
Working to maximise public confidence in health
information
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Jane Shaddock Project Manager Centre for Health
Information Quality Part of the Help for Health
Trust www.hfht.org/chiq
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Summary

• Background
• Why appraise consumer health information?
• Appraisal instruments and quality standards
• The accreditation process

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Background to CHIQ

• Founded 1997
• Based within an independent charity
• Working with NHS and non-NHS sources of
  information
• Striving to improve the quality of health
  information

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Consumer health information

• Involves information about prevention wellness,
  diseases conditions, treatments and
  definitions, and alternative medicine
• Is for patients, carers and consumers
• Encompasses information that is oral or recorded
  in any format or medium

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Consumer health information is NOT

• About individual patients (medical records)
• Commercial health advice and advertisements
• Health informatics
• Instructions and commands

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Definition of appraisal
To evaluate, to judge, to estimate the quality
Definition of health information appraisal
To measure information against quality criteria,
or standards
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Why appraise consumer health information?

• Consumer confidence
• Professional confidence
• Safety
• Consistency
• Patient empowerment
• Accessibility

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Why make health information accessible?

• Disability Discrimination Act - to make
  reasonable adjustments to ensure people with
  disabilities can access your service.
• Making information non-discriminatory gives
  everyone the opportunity to make decisions about
  their health

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Best possible health information

• is safe
• is consistent
• imparts confidence
• empowers patients

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Constraints

• Funding?
• Budget?
• Local/national?
• Why is it being produced?
• Subject area?

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Appraisal Instruments

• CHIQ Guidelines http//www.hiquality.org.uk/
• POPPI Guide http//www.kingsfund.org.uk/
• RNIB Guidelines http//www.rnib.org.uk/
• Flesch
• Plain English Campaign http//www.plainenglish
  .co.uk/
• Sword Readability Tool http//www.sharpe-resear
  ch.co.uk/
• Locally produced guidelines

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A GOLD standard
In order to achieve good quality information
there must be a gold standard against which to
measure it.
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CHIQs Standards

• Communicate clearly
• Evidence-base
• Involve consumers

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CHIQ Guidelines for Health Information Appraisal
Accurate Consistent Continuity Current
Relevant Accessible Appropriate
Involves patients Reliable
Clear Appearance Presentation Content
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Accurate

• Consistent information does not contradict
  itself
• Continuity presented in context with other
  resources
• Current up-to-date

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Clear

• Appearance of text typeface, size, colour
• Presentation layout, diagrams, navigation
• Content jargon and abbreviations, language

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Relevant

• Accessible does information meet patient
  needs?
• Appropriate to the target group
• Involving patients throughout
• Evidence based sources, experts, bias,
  opinion

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The Information
Questions to ask

• Where does it comes from?
• Is it up to date?
• Is it relevant to that specific patient group?
• Does it detail the risks and benefits?
• Have consumers been involved?
• Are there opportunities for users to offer
  feedback?

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Accreditation
Definition of accreditation The act of
certifying that suitable standards are being
maintained.
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Accreditation
Aims of accreditation

• Common standards for public information are
  adopted across health services
• Communicators of health information are
  accountable for information they provide
• Performance of information services is measured
  and feedback given to workforce

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Accreditation
Objectives

• To identify standards for information services
• To train and support producers, reviewers and
  communicators of health information
• To monitor information services and give feed-back

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What accreditation isnt about

• Censorship
• Egg-sucking
• Big brother
• Cost over value

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Accreditation
Accreditation in context

• Improving communications
• Patient experience
• Patient empowerment
• Patient and public involvement
• Clinical governance
• Public perception of health services
• Patient safety

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Benefits to health services

• Improved patient communications
• Reduction in complaints
• Increased efficiency in service
• Local information services reflecting national
  information strategies
• Increased public confidence in health information

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Benefits to the consumer

• Accessible information
• Consistent messages
• Less likelihood of misinformation
• Key to empowerment
• Increased confidence

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Benefits to producers/communicators

• Clear guidance
• Support
• Training

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Accreditation of information
January 2003 Awarded by CHIQ
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Be careful about reading health books you may
die of a misprint! (Mark Twain)
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Training

• Supporting effective production and
  communication of information
• Communications training
• Information production
• Dedicated courses
• National programmes

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Appraising your information
Working to maximise public confidence in health
information
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