The websites selected for this critique include; U.S. Pain Foundation, Premier Health, and Practical Pain Management.
Author
The articles from all three sites are on complementary and alternative treatment for headaches. Whereas the U.S. Pain Foundation and Practical Pain Management have provided the names of the authors for their articles, Premier Health does not give a name for the author. The U.S. Pain Foundation article was authored by Katie Golden based on a publication review of Dr. Robert Cowan, "CAM in the Real World: You May Practice Evidence-Based Medicine, But Your Patients Don't." Practical Pain Management's article was co-authored by Soma Sahai-Srivastava, MD, and Andrew Joyce, MD. The site sponsor for both Premier Health and Practical Pain Management is an institution as can be identified from the respective URL, which denotes .com. However, U.S. Pain Foundation is sponsored by an organization as can be identified from the URL, which indicated .org.
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Credibility of Authors
The U.S. Pain Foundation author, Katie Golden, lacks prior medical experience. Katie prescribes medicine for migraines based on a publication. The lack of professional medical training and expertise renders Katie Golden and the article on U.S. Pain Foundation as untrustworthy. The Practical Pain Management article can be identified as trustworthy. The co-author, Dr. Andrew Joyce, is a practicing physician with a specialty in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Andrew is a graduate of the University of Southern California and a former resident of Harvard Medical School in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Purpose
The article on Practical Pain Management is educational. This can be determined from the medical research data provided within the report and the in-text citation of other medical authors. The article is informative as it explains the significance of alternative medicine in chronic migraine. The U.S. Pain Foundation article is inspirational. It provides a narration of an individual struggling with pain and trying out various suggested medical options. The Premier Health article is entirely commercial. The website contains embedded links to promote other medical service providers. This strategy aims to sell by influencing the reader’s choice through persuasion.
Accuracy
The U.S. Pain Foundation and Premier Health websites cannot be classified as accurate resources. The two articles lack medical professional reviews and academic references. The U.S. Pain Foundation provides a disclaimer at the end of the report insisting that the organization does not recommend any of the therapy suggestions highlighted in the article. The article on Premier Health is a replica from The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine. The Practical Pain article can be classified as accurate. The article is written by two practicing physicians from Neurology and Physical Medicine. The research also encompasses thirty references from credible medical publications.
Currency
The U.S. Pain Foundation page was created on July 24, 2018, while the Premier Health page was created on March 11, 2016. The two websites have not been updated or revisited ever since their creation. Practical Pain Management was created in 2014 and was last updated on May 19, 2015. In Medicine and Healthcare, timeliness is crucial due to advancements in medicine. Websites need to keep updating their articles since medical publications that are over five years could be considered obsolete.
Audience
In both The U.S. Pain Foundation and Premier Health, the target audience is people seeking help for disease-related pains while Practical Pain Management targets researchers and medical practitioners. According to Anderson & Jacobson (2003), the U.S Pain Foundation website is identified with the history and faith grid. The grid for the Premier Health website is science and wholism, while the grid for the Practical Pain Management website is science. The article from Practical Pain Management is filled with medical terms and data from previous medical research. The Premier Health article is easy to read, understand, and comprehend. It is suitable for any individual with reading ability since it was set up for commercial implications.
Conclusion
The evaluation and critique of the websites determine that both U.S. Pain Foundation and Premier Health cannot be trusted as academic sources for research purposes. Although Practical Pain Management passes most tests for a credible resource, it fails the timeliness test having been last updated over five years ago.
References
Academic Writer. (2020). Research . https://academicwriter.apa.org/learn/browse?group=TUT
Golden, K. (2018, July 24). Complementary and alternative medicines for migraine s. U.S. Pain Foundation. https://uspainfoundation.org/blog/complementary-and-alternative-medicines-for-migraine/
Anderson, N., & Jacobson, M. (2003). ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE THE BIBLICAL GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE. Journal of Christian Nursing , 22 (2), 328. https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=725393&Journal_ID=642167&Issue_ID=725367
Indiana Wesleyan University. (n.d.). Evaluating information sources -- OCLS (800)521-1848 . -- Off-Campus Library Services (OCLS) 800.521.1848. https://ocls.indwes.edu/WebEvaluation.html
Premier Health. (2016, March 11). 10 complementary therapies that might ease headache pain . https://www.premierhealth.com/your-health/articles/women-wisdom-wellness-/10-complementary-therapies-that-might-ease-headache-pain
Purdue University. (n.d.). Evaluating digital sources // Purdue Writing Lab . Purdue Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/evaluating_sources_of_information/evaluating_digital_sources.html
Sahai-Srivastava, S., & Joyce, A. (2015, May 19). Alternative medicine in chronic migraine: What clinicians need to know . Practical Pain Management. https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/nutraceutical/alternative-medicine-chronic-migraine-2014-what-clinicians-need-know
