Paul Ross

Librarian & information specialist

Access to online information has never been easier, though, finding information that is relevant and trustworthy, can be more challenging. The Internet provides access to various types of information for research purposes, however, as the operators of the Internet, we need certain skills and knowledge (digital literacy) to make the best use of it.

​When using an Internet search engine, your results will likely contain a mixture of online media (social, news, blogs, wiki, videos), governmental, individual, organisational and academic content. Yet which can we trust, and what skills do we need, to have confidence in the decisions we are making from the information found online?

​Digital literacy broadly describes the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to address or solve a problem. It’s about having the skills to make meaning from information found using digital technologies (computers, mobiles, electronic devices). However, a digital divide can occur when unequal access to knowledge due to differences in education, demographics (age, gender, socioeconomic, culture) geographic limitations, skills and access to technology. For all users, especially older people, it can be difficult to keep up with the advances that come with technological development, especially if they require consumers that are ‘tech savvy’ to be able to engage with services such as My Aged Care. To help with this, the Australian Government has created the Be Connected initiative. Individuals working in aged care themselves, can also experience a lack of confidence in using and exploring new technologies, due to a lack of ongoing digital literacy training and support, to support this we have created our free Innovator Training Program.  

​Tips for searching for information online:

1. ​Enquire: Run a basic search with either a question or just the terms (keywords) you currently think are relevant. Visit online search tips for more. 
2. ​Review: Scan the results for relevance to your enquiry, at this stage practice click restraint, create a new folder in your bookmarks, for relevant results you want to save for later. Pay attention to the variety of words that describe your concept and take a note of them. Using frequently used terms for your search can result in more specific results.
3. ​Amend: Go back and amend your original search, with any new terms and rerun the search. To manage your results, use the advance settings if available and limit to region / site (ORG/EDU/GOV) / file types or in the basic settings arrange by date, so you see the most current. Again, use your bookmarks to save content of interest. For more advanced amendments try these.
4. ​Read: Look at what you have gathered, note how the topic is discussed, what other elements are related to it? These might be worth separate searches as you narrow down and continue to educate yourself on the subject.
5. ​Trust: Whatever source you look at, check its integrity by looking at the end of the page, was it updated recently, does the information have references, is it an individual’s option or is it something a government or academic publisher has produced. Neither are full proof, but you need to check quality and credibility of your sources.
6. ​Variation: Try different search engines, or focus down into organisations by using their own site search, to see if they contain the type of research, you’re interested in. For example, search aged care organisations sites for research collections or their publications sections. Check in the help of each search engine for articles or information on how they formulate their search results, to give you the best understanding of how to operate each. Like this Google one.

​Following these steps, no matter what information you’re looking for and remember that a five-minute search, provides five-minutes’ worth of confidence, where a longer search can provide greater confidence in both your knowledge about subject, alongside increasingly the quality and trustworthiness of your results. For more information into finding information online using search engines, try ARIIA’s ‘online searches’ for one-click searches, using Google, on our priority topics, as a possible starting point to your research or try our collection of resources. No matter how you look at it, the Internet provides the capacity to gain knowledge quickly and efficiently from a wide range of sources. However, using search engines are just one part of a wider research process. Therefore, in our next in blog, we will look in more detail at how organisational websites and evidence collections, relevant to aged care, can add value to your research needs.​

To visit our next blog in the series, on the subject of searching online on using organisational sources, visit our organisation sources blog.

*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

​​Domenica Disalvo   BMedSci(Hons), PhD​

​​Centre for Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), ​Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney​

​​Co-design is an emerging methodology in research that acknowledges the value of lived experience and collaborative partnerships in designing services and systems of care. In the co-design process, all stakeholders are regarded as experts, and strategies are implemented to eliminate potential inequalities, ensuring an open, empathetic, and responsive environment. The impact of co-designing on research outcomes, particularly with people living with dementia (PLWD), is substantial. Involving people with dementia and their family carers in the codesign process leads to a better understanding of their needs, preferences, and experiences, resulting in more effective and meaningful outcomes aligned with their lived realities. 

​"Every research initiative involving PLWD should include those people and the services that support them. Not only does this ensure that the initiative is meaningful, desired, and required, but also feasible to deliver." – Dr Tom Morris, Head of Research & Information Excellence - HammondCare 

​Despite these benefits, as an Early Career Researcher, I have encountered the practical challenges of engaging PLWD in the complex and often rigorous approaches required to meet key co-design principles. PLWD may vary in their ability to engage in these research processes due to their emerging cognitive limitations and difficulty expressing preferences. I have learnt the importance of being flexible and creative and exploring alternative ways of communication and engagement with PLWD, to suit the varying needs and participant's abilities. For example, while I had initially only planned to run workshops to allow all stakeholder participants 'a voice,' I learnt that some PLWD did not feel comfortable engaging in research in that way. Instead, providing an additional avenue for people living with dementia to share their voice meant sending a hard-copy questionnaire through the mail so that they could take their time responding, in the safety and comfort of their own home. I then fed their questionnaire responses into the following scheduled stakeholder workshop. 

​"The hesitancy around involving people living with dementia in research is often fuelled by a sense of discomfort in collaborating with someone with reduced cognitive function; this means that those who would like to contribute are often denied this opportunity. The research is poorer without the lived experience input…dementia by its very nature produces unique responses and unique rates of cognitive decline, because each person living with dementia experiences a unique journey." – Imelda Gilmore, Dementia Advocate 

​I have also learnt the importance of family carers, who are often advocates and can contribute to a more respectful and inclusive research process. They have provided invaluable insights into the preferences and care needs of people living with dementia during initial workshops, which have clarified research directions. Family carers also play an important role during interviews with people living with dementia, helping to navigate communication challenges and providing a supportive environment for the person living with dementia to feel safe in collaborating and sharing their voice. To understand the care needs of PLWD, researchers must participate in education and training to develop dementia awareness, collaborate with experts, and foster partnerships with advocacy groups and associated community care organisations. 

​Partnering with people living with dementia in the co-design process means researchers must take their time to respectfully explore all the ethical considerations, including capacity issues and appropriate informed consent procedures, provide clear information, involve family or guardians when necessary while respecting autonomy, and prioritise the comfort and dignity of the PLWD throughout the research. Overall, embracing all stakeholders' diverse perspectives and expertise in co-design processes enriches research and ensures more effective, person-centred outcomes.​

*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.