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Navigating Health Information

UIC Office of Health Literacy | Posted on December 18, 2025
Navigating Health Information Fact Sheet.

Navigating Health Information

Personal Health Literacy means how well people can find, understand, and use basic health information and services to make good decisions about their health.

Low health literacy is linked to poor health outcomes, including less use of preventative care, difficulty managing chronic disease, and costly, preventable hospitalizations.

Health information is readily available at our fingertips, but it can be challenging to decide what information is trustworthy and dependable. Strong health literacy skills enable individuals to make more informed decisions about their health and avoid harmful practices.

Fast Facts

  • 80% of people search online for health information
  • Less than 20% of students can find trustworthy sources

Signs of Trust 

  • Credible Organizations
  • Relevant Author Credentials
  • Supported by Evidence
  • Peer Reviewed or Published
  • Current and Updated
  • Clear Data and Visuals
  • Balanced Language

Signs to Beware 

  • Unknown, Commercial Sources
  • Irrelevant Author Credentials
  • Emotional Stories
  • Self-Published and Unreviewed
  • Old and Outdated
  • Misleading Graphs and Statistics
  • Flashy, Exaggerated Claims
  • Promotional Marketing

CRAAP Test

Ask yourself the following questions:

Currency

  • Is this information current and up to date?
  • When was it written or last updated?

Relevance

  • Does this information make sense?
  • Does it match what I already know?

Authority

  • Who is giving this information?
  • Do they have the right credentials?

Accuracy

  • Is this information based on science?
  • Does it match what I have learned from reliable sources?

Purpose

  • Is this information meant to teach me?
  • Are they trying to sell me something?
  1. Institute of Medicine. (2004). Health literacy: A prescription to end confusion. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10883
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. Washington, DC. https://odphp.health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Health_Literacy_Action_Plan.pdf
  3. Sobel, T. (n.d.). Why Media Literacy Now Supports Digital Wellness and Media Literacy in Health Education. Media Literacy Now. https://medialiteracynow.org/why-media-literacy-now-supports-digital-wellness-and-media-literacy-in-health-education/
  4. Dissen, A., Qadiri, Q., & Middleton, C. J. (2021). I Read It Online: Understanding How Undergraduate Students Assess the Accuracy of Online Sources of Health Information. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 16(5), 641–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827621990574
  5. Barron, M. (2022). How to Spot and Combat Health Misinformation. American Society for Microbiology. https://asm.org/articles/2022/september/how-to-spot-and-combat-health-misinformation
  6. San Diego Circuit. (2023). Avoid Health Information. https://libguides.sdsu.edu/health/avoid-misinformation
  7. UChicago Library. (2025). Evaluating Resources and Misinformation: CRAAP Test. https://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/c.php?g=1241077&p=9082343
Modified on January 09, 2026