Trust It or Trash It? Tool
What is the Trust It or Trash It? tool?
Trust It or Trash It? is a free online tool that serves two purposes: to encourage critical thinking as people encounter health information and to add to the existing volume of high-quality genetics materials. The tool is available in two versions, one for people who are developing educational materials and one for people assessing the quality and completeness of health information. The version for judging the quality of health information starts with three basic questions: Who said it, when did they say it, and how did they know? These questions help the reader think about the information critically. The second version, for developers, provides additional guidance for choosing appropriate content and presenting information effectively.
Who made the Trust It or Trash It? tool?
The tool was created as part of the Access to Credible Genetics Resources Network. Condition-specific advocates, healthcare providers, genetics professionals, and health educators contributed to the tool’s development and pilot testing.
Why is the Trust It or Trash It? tool needed?
Health information is available from a wide variety of sources, some of them trustworthy and some of them not. Determining which pieces of information to believe can be very difficult, especially when the information is new to you. While guidelines exist to determine the quality of some medical treatments, no similar guidance is available to help people judge whether information is good or bad. This tool helps fill that gap.
What is the Trust It or Trash It? widget?
Trust It or Trash It? is now available for purchase as a “widget.” Organizations can place a button on their websites that expands into the Trust It or Trash It? tool. The tool will then stay open along the bottom of users’ screens as they read through materials on that site so that they can evaluate the information as they read.
Why is the Trust It or Trash It? widget needed?
The widget allows individuals to evaluate health information as they read it. The widget gives users the ability to open a website and the tools to evaluate the information on the site simultaneously. This eliminates the hassle of switching between computer tabs or screens and creates a user-friendly way to evaluate health information electronically. Trust It or Trash It? widget will allow visitors to assess the quality of the information posted on your website.
What is the cost?
Genetic Alliance aims to make the Trust It or Trash It? widget accessible to all organizations and companies by offering it for a one-time fee on a sliding scale. These prices include the code for installing the widget and a lifetime subscription to tool updates.
| Annual Organizational Operating Budget | Cost of Widget |
|---|---|
| $10K-100K | $50 |
| $100K-250K | $100 |
| $250K-500K | $150 |
| $500K-1M | $250 |
| $1M-2.5M | $500 |
| $2.5M-5M | $1,000 |
| $5M+ | $5,000 |
How do I get more information?
For more information or to order a widget, contact us at 202.966.5557 or info@geneticalliance.org.
Want to see the Trust It or Trash It? widget in action?
For printer-friendly fact sheets and demonstration videos, visit our Get Started page.
This web page is supported by cooperative agreement #5U10DD525036-05 with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The content of this webpage is solely the responsibility of Genetic Alliance and does not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.
