Consumer Health Information: A Brief Guide
Consumer Health Information
Consumer health information (CHI) is information on health and medical topics provided in response to requests from the general public, including patients and their families. (CAPHIS, 1996)
UpToDate Patient Info
How to evaluate Health Information online
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The Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode)
The HONcode is the code of conduct of the Health On the Net Foundation and is applied for voluntary health/medical websites. It was initiated in 1995 and has since grown to become the most widely used and best trusted ethical code for health/medical websites. -
Medline Plus: Evaluating Health InformationMedline Plus, from the National Library of Medicine, is the National Institutes of Health's Web site for patients and their families and friends. They offer good resources and tips to find accurate health information on the web.
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MLA GuidelinesThe Medical Library Association offers guidelines for evaluating online health content.
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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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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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.govNIHSeniorHealth makes aging-related health information easily accessible for family members and friends seeking reliable, easy to understand online health information. This site was developed by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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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 on a wide range of diseases and conditions. The Web site is maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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HealthlineHealthline provides health and wellness information as well as health tools such as symptoms checker, pill identifier, and a doctor directory.
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Merck Manual Consumer VersionProvides information on medical topics written in everyday language.
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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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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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Household Products DatabaseThis database links over 16,000 consumer brands to health effects from Safety Data Sheets (formerly Material Safety Data Sheets), provided by manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients.
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Educate before you medicateEducate before you medicate is program offered by the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE). NCPIE is a non-profit multi-stakeholder coalition working to stimulate and improve communication of information on the appropriate use of medicines to consumers and health care professionals.
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Consumer SafetyConsumerSafety.org strives to make information about recalls and safety-related news about drugs, medical devices, food, and consumer products accessible to everyone in a transparent, easily understandable way.
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PatientslikemePatientslikeme is a free website where people can share their health data to track their progress and help others.
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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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CarepagesSimilar to Caringbridge, patients can create free blogs that connect friends and family during a health challenge.
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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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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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HealthReachHealthReach is a national collaborative partnership that has created a resource of quality multilingual, multicultural public health information for those working with or providing care to individuals with limited English proficiency.
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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.