MHST 601 Week 2 Learning Activities

Curation of Health Information Audit

1. Currently, if I need information about something I’m more likely to google it or reach out to a trusted colleague first. If it’s something that directly relates to what we’re doing, I will ask because I want to know if they have past experience or know the answer. If they are unsure or it’s a new topic, I typically use Google or go to a trusted health website, I very often access the Public Health Agency of Canada or Health Canada’s websites, or I will check across Canada in other jurisdictions to see what they are doing or if they suggest resources.

Because of the nature of the work, I do I am every aware of the fact that the info I use needs to be evidence based and backed by fact. I am also aware of the fact that due to Right to Information laws people can access the information I put in emails with the right paperwork. If I have a sensitive topic or I feel something is unclear and I can’t express in an email what I need, I’ll use Microsoft Teams and ask a colleague. In the past two and a half years of my work in my current role I’ve built a good base of people that I go to from many different departments and community agencies. When I do Google something I make sure that the results I use are from a peer reviewed journal or a sound medical based website that I know would be endorsed by my employer.

2.The quality of the information I find depends on the topic or subject I’m looking to define. Often times if I’m looking for something related to a communicable disease there is a ton of good information that is credible and user friendly. If I’m doing research on the topic of harm reduction or looking at a more recently discovered communicable disease, I find that I often spend longer or have to be more critical of what I’m finding. Sometimes this is related to the age of the information and other times there just isn’t enough evidence to support the topic yet and what exists is a lot of speculation based on current trending.

3. I have personal files for information but as an organization we have been told we should be storing our data and files on SharePoint sites in a cloud-based format. I will often bookmark website and save PDFs and other important documents in the file related to the relevant topic. I have files on my personal computer too, but I have been trying to do a good job at also putting the files in the cloud-based format. It’s very easy to get to, as long as I sign into my user account on my computer I click on the bookmarked link and I’m in viewing the content in seconds. We used to have to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), but it’s no longer required because of upgrades to our system.

4. As far as tools I use, I mentioned SharePoint related to my work files. For the past year and a half, I took courses through UNB, so I was also using the library services for work in the course and using databases like CINAHL and EBSCO to find peer reviewed content. When I search on Google or Bing, I will sometimes filter what I’m looking at and if I find something I really like I often check the references to see if there might be other valuable content I can access from there.

Social Media Plan

Over the years of being a nurse and professional, my ideas of an appropriate social media presence have certainly evolved. Candice of 2007 would have told you what she had for supper and described the colour of her socks. Candice of 2025 might have many handles on many platforms but most of her social media presence is feeling out what people are doing and looking for a laugh, a recipe, or a used item to buy.

When my children were younger, I often posted photos of them for family who lived in a different part of the country or were away at work. Since then, I have become less comfortable with sharing that type of content as often as I did. I try to avoid making posts about being away from home or going on vacation. I have dialed back any content that would include discussion about work and if I view a post or see something on social media related to work, I do not comment, whether it’s related to my duties to my role as a role as a nurse or as a Councilor. Unfortunately, I’ve learned there are too many ways your content can be taken out of context and used against you, and that many people feel very entitled and angry and only want to engage in aggression rather than constructive conversation.

As a professional I think if you decide that you want to have social media, the best approach is being cautious, and using it only to promote successes. I can easily say that you could look at my social media and I would not be concerned to have you see it. I lock down all my profiles and make them private, and I recognize as I said before that once I share content, or opinions whether related to my personal life or professional, they are fair game for anyone to steal and alter.

I know that as a nurse I have a code of ethics, and that as an employee of the department of health there are policies that I am expected to adhere to. Part of my response regarding appropriate social media presence comes directly from the policy and legislation related to my profession. In fact, my employer and my professional body regulators have created e learnings and virtual education because of the increased incidence of issues related to the inappropriate use of social media. Because social media is an evolutionary development it seems that professionals had to learn through the errors of other what should and should not be done by those who are in certain professional capacities.

In the role that I currently work in, and in my role as a municipal councilor I am actively discouraged from responding to requests for information about my work from the general public. My role at the department of health has me creating content that is used to respond to media requests and to answer public enquiries, but they are always vetted and approved through leadership and comms. Even when I worked for the local health authority, I couldn’t speak on behalf of my employer. I had to meet with comms and privacy and review questions if I was asked to be part of an interview or provide information.

The same goes in my role as councilor. I have info related to events and meetings etc., but I don’t make social media posts that ask questions or invite discussion. The mayor is the spokesperson for the community and if there are media or formal public enquiries, they go through him or through the official process of being received into our council meeting and responded to by staff. Essentially my social media plan so far has been to balance needed with too much. Knowing my boundaries and who to turn to within my workplace roles has been helpful when trying to find that place.

Curation Plan

I don't know that I realized how many tools there are to look for things that I need. I will try the Ubersuggest platform and Answer The Public as well as the advanced Google searches. I often use the library platform during my time in school as well because I appreciate that it has scholarly articles that are peer reviewed and safer than some internet content. One of the recommended articles for this course by Bryn Mawr College also suggests this website to help sift through the internet websites and content and be sure you're finding something credible. Here are a few screenshots of these sites:

For more information and to keep up with my collection of curation tools check out my Tools for Learning Page.