Increased knowledge about e-health

With the Canary Islands government as project manager and several universities as partners, Funka has participated in a two-year EU project with the aim of increasing the quality of health information on the web; IC Health. The project is now completed.

There are a large number of websites with more or less reliable health information. How people in different countries and target groups understand and use the information can have a major impact on their lifestyle.

Within the IC-Health project, the focus has been on the target groups

  • children
  • adolescents
  • pregnant and breast feeding women
  • elderly
  • diabetics

The project resulted in 35 online courses in 8 languages ​​on finding, understanding, evaluating and using health information online. The courses that Funka produced were created in creative workshops together with users in different target groups. The courses provided examples of different scenarios where one may need information on health issues, and pointed out that the safest source of accurate information in Sweden is the national health authority service called 1177.

The workshops that were perhaps most interesting were the ones we did with children and young people, says Sara Kjellstrand, project coordinator. We mixed playful activites with  collecting user needs. The children as well as their parents were both curious and interested.

All the courses produced within the project, contain tips on how users can review content to determine whether the information is reliable or not. The course addresses issues that the user can ask during the examination, such as the authenticity of the source, who is behind the information and how updated the information is.

Project website, opens in new window

Improving digital health literacy in Europe

 

Illustration from the Swedish course for children.