Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.

Community water fluoridation (CWF) is the most effective and equitable approach to preventing dental caries (tooth decay). Yet millions of Americans, especially those at highest risk of caries, do not know what CWF is or its preventive benefits. State health departments are responsible for educating...

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Autores principales:	Catherine Maybury, Matt Jacob, Jessica M Flanders, Alice M Horowitz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e19963a1ea1b4a779698cd387381884e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e19963a1ea1b4a779698cd387381884e2021-12-02T20:03:59ZSeeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0251139https://doaj.org/article/e19963a1ea1b4a779698cd387381884e2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251139https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Community water fluoridation (CWF) is the most effective and equitable approach to preventing dental caries (tooth decay). Yet millions of Americans, especially those at highest risk of caries, do not know what CWF is or its preventive benefits. State health departments are responsible for educating their respective populations. Thus, this study assessed health department websites (N = 50) to determine if CWF content existed, the ease of finding it, and if it was written in plain language and for a consumer audience. We used the web component of the HLE2: The Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers (HLE2) to assess how easy or difficult it was to the navigate a website and find information. Forty-one websites had CWF information; 37 states had content written for a consumer audience. HLE2 scores ranged from 0 to 54 points (60 possible). Only five states had websites with a HLE2 score of 50 or higher. SHDs with higher HLE2 scores were easy to navigate and their content was written for a consumer audience. Study findings suggest most SHDs should improve their website's CWF content and its accessibility to better promote the role of fluoridated water in preventing dental caries.Catherine MayburyMatt JacobJessica M FlandersAlice M HorowitzPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 5, p e0251139 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Catherine Maybury Matt Jacob Jessica M Flanders Alice M Horowitz Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
description	Community water fluoridation (CWF) is the most effective and equitable approach to preventing dental caries (tooth decay). Yet millions of Americans, especially those at highest risk of caries, do not know what CWF is or its preventive benefits. State health departments are responsible for educating their respective populations. Thus, this study assessed health department websites (N = 50) to determine if CWF content existed, the ease of finding it, and if it was written in plain language and for a consumer audience. We used the web component of the HLE2: The Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers (HLE2) to assess how easy or difficult it was to the navigate a website and find information. Forty-one websites had CWF information; 37 states had content written for a consumer audience. HLE2 scores ranged from 0 to 54 points (60 possible). Only five states had websites with a HLE2 score of 50 or higher. SHDs with higher HLE2 scores were easy to navigate and their content was written for a consumer audience. Study findings suggest most SHDs should improve their website's CWF content and its accessibility to better promote the role of fluoridated water in preventing dental caries.
format	article
author	Catherine Maybury Matt Jacob Jessica M Flanders Alice M Horowitz
author_facet	Catherine Maybury Matt Jacob Jessica M Flanders Alice M Horowitz
author_sort	Catherine Maybury
title	Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
title_short	Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
title_full	Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
title_fullStr	Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
title_full_unstemmed	Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
title_sort	seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e19963a1ea1b4a779698cd387381884e
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Seeking community water fluoridation information on state health department websites.

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