Doc, I've Been Looking at Some Web Sites--So What Should I Believe?  

Because anyone, from nationally renowned physicians to your next-door neighbor, can post health information online, readers need to be selective when taking advice from medical web sites. Several non-profit and government agencies have developed guidelines to help readers as they evaluate health and medical information online. Some researchers have also begun to study the ways that readers actually judge the credibility of web sites. Recommendations from heuristic guidelines and recent empirical research have been distilled into a list of guidelines for writers and editors.

Freeman, Krisandra S. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Biomedical>Online

An Examination of Factors That Affect the Credibility of Online Health Information    

The study reported in this article examined the effect of street address and external links on perceptions of credibility of a Web page. The study attempted to determine how readers process these cues by drawing on key theories in both technical communication and psychology, including the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The article includes a review of relevant literature on which the experiment reported here was based, hypotheses concerning the expected outcomes of the experiment, the methodology, the results, and a discussion of the results. Finally, conclusions and implications for future research are discussed.

Freeman, Krisandra S. and Jan H. Spyridakis. Technical Communication Online (2004). Design>Web Design>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Health and Safety Information for Specialized Vocational Audiences  

Using examples from commercial fishing and farming, this article shows how models of health beliefs and risk communication can inform the creation of health and safety materials and campaigns for specialized vocational audiences. These models state that risk communication efforts must balance strong statements of risk with equally strong statements of ways to reduce or avoid risk if they are to motivate change. Audience research can help communicators address attitudes that impair workers’ perceptions of risk, as well as workplace practices, norms, and conditions that the limit the methods that can be used to reduce risk.

Freeman, Krisandra S. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Writing>Biomedical>Risk Communication

Health and Safety Information for Specialized Vocational Audiences  

Using examples from commercial fishing and farming, this article shows how models of health beliefs and risk communication can inform the creation of health and safety materials and campaigns for specialized vocational audiences. These models state that risk communication efforts must balance strong statements of risk with equally strong statements of ways to reduce or avoid risk if they are to motivate change. Audience research can help communicators address attitudes that impair workers’ perceptions of risk, as well as workplace practices, norms, and conditions that the limit the methods that can be used to reduce risk.

Freeman, Krisandra S. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Communication>Scientific Communication>Risk Communication

Latino Culture and Health Communication  

Many Latinos face barriers to receiving health care in the U.S. These barriers can include lack of English and literacy skills, as well as cultural differences in the communication styles used by Latino patients and non-Latino health care providers and communicators. Simply translating health materials into Spanish may not be enough to overcome these communication barriers. However, research has shown that oral forms of communication such as Spanish-language radio broadcasts, lectures in English-as-a-second-language classes, or small-group discussions led by Spanishspeaking leaders can be very effective in disseminating health information to Latino audiences.

Freeman, Krisandra S. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Scientific Communication>Ethnic>Biomedical