About WellCome Care
At WellCome Care, you’ll find clear answers to common self-care questions and free text-based support to stick to your health and wellness goals.
Much of what’s promoted and sold in the name of modern-day wellness has little to no evidence of actually working. In fact, only 1 in 10 medical treatments are backed by high quality evidence. We are setting out to help you find which treatments actually work.
Are you text-based programs actually free?
How we choose topics to fact-check
Our strength of evidence rankings
We do not offer medical advice
Who we are
WellCome Care was founded by Orville McDonald and Touré McCluskey who were frustrated by the quality of health and medical information found online. Our belief is that we would be much better off if we avoided popular health “hacks” & fads and instead followed only solutions that have been proven to work. Medical writers and reviewers round out the WellCome Care team.
Our Approach
We act as fact-checkers for the wellness and self-care industry.
We always begin with a specific treatment or wellness related question. For instance, how to treat oily skin. Our research team then conducts an exhaustive search of the scientific literature, medical studies, medical societies, governmental agencies, and other reputable sources to find out what treatments have proof of working. Whenever possible, we also investigate complementary and alternative treatment options.
Why text messages?
We realize that just reading articles will not magically improve your health. The much harder step is taking action. The most difficult step is staying on a path towards improving your health. If you are anything like us, you could use a little extra motivation or accountability to stay on course. Our text reminders actively help you follow through with the changes or plans you want to make.
Are you text-based programs actually free?
Yes, we don’t charge you for the service. However, your phone carrier may charge you for sent/received text messages.
Our funding
We are 100% self-funded. We do not have any financial interest in any of the companies or products mentioned in our articles and WellCome Care does not allow advertising on our website.
Our Ethics Policy
We will present true and verifiable facts of the efficacy of health-related care and products, unaffected by agenda or biases. As a rule, nobody tells us what to write about or influences our ratings. We do so independently, using the judgment of our writers and reviewers.
How we choose topics to fact-check
Each day, our team looks for popular wellness trends, common health claims, and product statements to fact-check. We read news stories, press releases, watch TV, and scan social media. Readers can also send us suggestions via email to support@wellcomecare.com.
We consider these following questions:
- Is the claim rooted in fact? We don’t fact check opinions.
- Is the claim going “viral” or likely to be passed on and repeated by others?
- Are companies making unverified health claims and promoting “products” based off those claims?
Our strength of evidence rankings
Our research team developed a rating scale to standardize the assessment of evidence for each topic. Included in each article is an evidence rating of A, B, C, D, or F. See below for more detailed definitions:
The above snapshot is intended to help you quickly understand how well the topic has been studied and the overall quality of available research. Our hope with this rating system is to provide a straight-forward translation of a large body of research into a simple “grade” that can help support your health decisions.
Our Sources
WellCome Care publishes a list of sources with every fact-check. When possible, the list includes links to sources that are freely available, although some sources may rely on paid subscriptions. Our goal is to help readers judge for themselves whether they agree with our ruling.
Every article is different, but our reporting process includes:
- a literature review on the topic
- a thorough search of systematic reviews and other synthesized research
- a search of online databases
- a final overall review of available evidence
Some of our favorite sources include:
We emphasize primary medical sources such as government reports, peer-reviewed academic studies, and clinical trials data. It is not sufficient for us to read articles and accept them as fact. We always independently verify the findings for ourselves.
In cases where WellCome Care must cite a news report or claim with no corresponding studies, we will note that we cannot independently verify their reporting.
How we correct our mistakes
Mistakes happen. WellCome Care corrects all errors as quickly as possible and with appropriate transparency. You can bring errors to our attention by emailing support@wellcomecare.com.
- Significant errors of fact – A serious error that results in a new rating or otherwise changes the general outlook of an article receives a mark of correction at the top of the fact-check. The text of the fact-check is updated with the new information, and an archived copy of the previous fact-check is preserved and linked to. Additionally, the link text for the item is marked as updated.
- Updates – On occasion, our editorial team will add additional information to articles after they’ve published. This is to ensure readers have the most up-to-date information as possible. For the sake of readability our policy is to edit the original text to reflect subsequent findings.
We do not offer medical advice
While WellCome Care offers a lot of information, we do not provide medical advice and cannot help you with a diagnosis. If you ever have any additional medical questions or concerns, please talk to a healthcare provider.
How to reach us
The best way to contact us for general questions, complaints, praise and topics to fact-check is through our email account, support@wellcomecare.com.
Last updated: Nov. 8, 2020