Randomized Controlled Trial of Citizen-targeted Evidence-based Resources

Participants who consent to participate in the study will be randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group.

Once logged into the website, participants in the intervention group will navigate health information through an annotated structured guide to health evidence (see Appendix 2) which is designed to inform participants where to find specific health information but it will also provide information to understand why such content is more valuable than other content. This structured annotated guide to evidence will also outline the value of pre-appraisal and will help them navigate to products produced for them. These products have been produced by the research team and include a collection of web resource ratings, evidence summaries and blog posts modelled after those developed and presented on the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal.

Once logged into the website, participants in the control group will navigate health information through a structured one-page guide (see Appendix 1) that does not include pre-appraisal information. Instead it will list the main organizations in the field that produce citizen content with descriptions of the type of content they produce with links to their individual websites. This will be presented to participants when they login to the platform. None of the citizen content produced specifically for the study will be provided to them prior to crossing-over.

All participants will receive periodic reminders to access the content in the form of an email sent every two weeks.

Both the intervention and control groups will continue for three months. After three months, the control group will be sent a message highlighting some additions to the content provided to them. From his point forward when they login to the system they will be presented with the same content that was previously only available to the intervention group. Providing those in the control group access to the same material as the intervention group for a period of the study will allow for direct within- group comparison as well as a direct comparison between groups. Both groups will continue in this manner for an additional three months.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients, caregivers or family members
• Aged 18 and above
• Have lived experience with, and are seeking information about, any of inflammatory bowel disease (i.e. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), or irritable bowel syndrome

The study may also include, but will not initial target/recruit, patients, caregivers or family members, aged 18 and above, who have lived experience with, and are seeking information about all other gastrointestinal conditions and their symptoms (including abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, cramping, diarrhea, fatigue, gas, loss of appetite, nausea, and stools with mucus), microbiome and metabolomics, and celiac disease.