Consumer Health Information: A Brief Guide
Consumer Health
Consumer health information (CHI) is information on health and medical topics available to the general public at the lay person level. Not all information on the web is credible, timely, or accurate. This guide contains consumer health websites with quality information.
How to evaluate Health Information online
- Medical Library Association (MLA) Guidelines For Good Health InformationThe Medical Library Association offers guidelines for evaluating online health content.
- Medline Plus: Guide to Healthy Web SurfingMedline Plus, from the National Library of Medicine, offers links to reliable consumer health resources, and tips to find accurate health information on the web.
- Health Information on the Web from FamiilyDdctor.orgWritten with the layperson in mind by American Academy of Family Physicians, Familydoctor.org highlights things to consider or ask yourself when evaluating consumer health websites.
- The Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode)
The Health On the Net symbol (HONcode) is issued to consumer health websites that meet the code of conduct criteria of the Health On the Net Foundation. It is one of the most widely used and best trusted ethical codes for consumer health websites. Note: HON ceased to update certificates for websites as of December 2022.
Levy Library Guide to Patient Education
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Levy Library Patient Education GuideInformation on Health Literacy; library databases with Patient Education handouts, E-books, and more.
MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health's Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free.
Online resources
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MedlinePlusNational Institutes of Health's consumer health website. Find information on health conditions, tests, drugs & supplements, genetics, and more.
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Mayo Clinic Diseases and ConditionsComprehensive guides on hundreds of medical conditions.
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FamilyDoctorFamilydoctor.org is operated by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), a national medical organization representing more than 124,900 family doctors, family medicine residents, and medical students.
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Merck Manual: Consumer VersionThousands of topics in all medical fields. Information that is clear and easy to understand on thousands of medical topics
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KidsHealthKidsHealth is part of The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media. They provide health information through four difference sections, for parents, for kids, for teens, and for educators.
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NIHSeniorHealth.govDeveloped by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) NIHSeniorHealth makes aging-related health information easily accessible for family members and friends seeking reliable, easy to understand online health information.
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MentalHealth.govMentalHealth.gov provides one-stop access to U.S. government mental health and mental health problems information, resources and websites.
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LGBTQ+ Health (MedlinePlus)Information on specific health concerns of LGBTQ+ individuals and resources to better understand gender identity and sexual orientation.
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Medical Tests (MedlinePlus)Learn about medical tests, including what the tests are used for, why a doctor may order a test, how a test will feel, and what the results may mean.
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Lab Tests OnlineLab Tests Online is an award-winning health information web resource designed to help patients and caregivers understand the many lab tests that are a vital part of medical care.
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ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov is a Web-based resource that provides patients, their family members, health care professionals, researchers, and the public with easy access to information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies.
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Medical Library Association's list of consumer health websitesThe Medical Library Association's (MLA) list of consumer health websites, including mental health, LGBT, diabetes, cancer, rare diseases, vaccines, parenting, senior health, complementary and integrative medicine, more.
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MyHealthFinderFrom the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, MyHealthfinder provides personalized recommendations for clinical preventive services, and includes nearly 100 prevention and wellness topics.
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MedlinePlus Drug InformationLearn about your prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Includes side effects, dosage, special precautions, and more. Search by drug name.
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DailyMedDailyMed is the official provider of FDA label information. The website contains 93427 drug listings as submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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Drug Information PortalThe portal covers 70,679 drugs from the time that they are in clinical trials, through their U.S. FDA approval, and then on to the marketplace.
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Dietary Supplement Label DatabaseThe Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) is a joint project of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and National Library of Medicine (NLM). The DSLD contains the full label contents from a sample of dietary supplement products marketed in the U.S.
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ConsumerMedSafety.orgConsumerMedSafety.org is provided to you by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). This unique website is designed to help you, the consumer, avoid mistakes when taking medicines.
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BeMedWise.oegBeMedWise Mission: Promote the safe use, storage and disposal of medicines for better health.
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Patients Like MePatientslikeme is a free website where people can share their health data to track their progress and help others.
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DailyStrengthDailyStrength is a subsidiary of Sharecare, Inc. Sharecare, created by WebMD founder and Discovery Communications' Chief of Global Digital Strategy Jeff Arnold, along with America’s Doctor, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and is the first truly interactive healthcare ecosystem giving consumers the ability to ask, learn and act on the questions of health.
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CaringbridgePatients can create their own free caringbridge website to share their health journey with family and friends.
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Family Caregiver AllianceThe mission of Family Caregiver Alliance is to improve the quality of the life for family caregivers and the people who receive their care.
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Medline PlusMedline Plus offers Health Information in Multiple Languages.
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EthnomedEthnoMed is Harborview Medical Center's ethnic medicine website containing medical and cultural information about immigrant and refugee groups. Information is specific to groups in the Seattle area, but much of the cultural and health information is of interest and applicable in other geographic areas.
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SPIRALSPIRAL stands for Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages. SPIRAL is a web resource that connects people to authoritative health information in Asian languages that is freely available on the World Wide Web.
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Health Information TranslationsHealth Information Translations provides education resources in multiple languages for health care professionals and others to use in their communities. Resources are easy to read and culturally appropriate.