The DISCERN website contains an online version of the DISCERN instrument and handbook. The handbook is designed to help you understand and use DISCERN effectively, and can be used to support training. It has been written from the perspective of a health consumer (or patient), but can be used by anyone interested in information about treatment choices.
DISCERN may be used to assess a broad range of consumer health information on treatment in a variety of formats.
The DISCERN on the Internet Project is funded by the NHS Executive Research and Development Programme. More information about the Project can be found in an article which appeared in the He@lth Information on the Internet newsletter , and in:
Charnock, D., Shepperd, S., Learning to DISCERN online: applying an appraisal tool to health websites in a workshop setting. Health Education Research 2004 19: 440-446.
The DISCERN Project is based in the University of Oxford, Division of Public Health and Primary Health Care, at the Institute of Health Sciences, which became the Nuffield Department of Population Health and the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.