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Who uses health and social care information?

  • Last modified date:
    3 July 2007

This is a summary of research with end users of health and social care information, and with health and social care professionals.

When surveyed, end users said:

  • 77% have looked up some form of health or social care information in the past 12 months suggesting that the scheme will have a high degree of relevance for the population as a whole
  • 75% find it hard to work out what information is trustworthy or not when it comes to health and social care information
  • 91% think that there should be some way that the public can tell whether or not information is from a trusted source
  • 88% feel that the IAS as described would be a good idea
  • 87% claimed it would make them trust the information more
  • 78% stated that they would either show a preference for information from organisations approved by the scheme (41%) or only use information from organisations approved by the scheme (37%)
  • 80% believe that some organisations are producing biased information for their own gain
  • 82% believe it would improve the general standard of information being produced.

In focus groups:

"There’s so much to choose from, you just take everything and try and make sense of it for yourself"

  • people felt that often the information generally available currently was overwhelming, often contradictory, often badly written or too reliant on jargon, unreliable (i.e. sources of information usually had an ‘angle’ or vested interest, which it was often hard to determine) and unproven in expertise
  • focus groups highlighted  the intrinsic appeal of the IAS - some sort of ‘seal of approval’ scheme was spontaneously suggested within all groups
  • people in the focus groups felt that the difficulty in identifying trustworthy information was particularly problematic because of their typical emotional state when seeking information: i.e. they felt vulnerable, anxious and under stress.

Health and social care professionals

"We must give information that facilitates the client's own choice"

Professionals are more aware than ever of the potential consequences of poor information for people who use information on their own, for their carers and for their own relationship with their patients and users.

Health and social care professionals say that people are increasingly asking for or require more support, particularly when it comes to understanding what information they should rely on. They strongly felt that the information accreditation scheme can be a very useful tool, especially if it:

  • is simple to use
  • is easy to understand
  • is trustworthy
  • delivers results consistently - in terms of quality of information and its presentation
  • is open and accessible to all.

Health and social care professionals said that they welcome the scheme as a means of guiding end-users to better, more appropriate information sources. They see that the scheme could simplify and improve the efficiency of their work and service provision to end-users. The scheme could:

  • support their daily role as information providers
  • save them a lot of time
  • give confidence when providing less familiar information
  • serve as a guide through more ambiguous, controversial areas.

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