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Health and Medical Research and Resources - Options and Credibility
Smart patients take the time to learn everything they can about their diagnosis and all their treatment options. They know how to assess the credibility of the information they find, the talk to other patients, and they discuss their findings with their doctor. It can be a daunting task! Here are some articles to make all these tasks simpler.
How to Make Sure Internet Health Information is Credible and Useful
Anyone can publish anything they want to on the Internet, no matter how true or phony it is. A wise patient uses these guidelines to determine which health information is truly credible, reliable and objective, and which is not.
What Health and Medical Resources are Available Online?
Once you have reviewed the guidelines for making sure the information you find online is credible, reliable and objective, use the following links and descriptions to find exactly the information that can help you partner with your doctor, take responsibility for your healthcare decisions, and find your best medical outcomes.
How to Find a Doctor Online
There are dozens of websites to help you find a doctor. Which of the sites is credible or useful? Learn how to do a useful search for a physician online.
How to Share Internet Health Information With Your Doctor
Patients sometimes find that their doctors don't like it when they have researched information about diagnoses and treatment options on the Internet. Here is a plan for sharing health information you find online effectively.
HON - Health on the 'Net - Finding Credible Information
HON and the HON Code of Conduct, represent the Health on the Net Foundation which credentials reliable health information on the Internet. Its search engine, called MedHunt, can be very useful to patients who want to learn about their diagnosis or treatment options.
Government Health and Medical Websites
Find a master list of government health and medical website resources patients can use, plus an overview of how they were developed and why not all government health and medical resources can be useful to patients.
Using Blogs and Wikis to Find Health and Medical Information
While most people consider blogs and wikis to be less than credible, in fact a lot can be learned from them when you are trying to learn about your diagnosis or treatment options.
Symptom Checkers and Self-Diagnosis
When we experience unusual symptoms, we are curious about their causes. Even before we see our doctor or have a medical test, we want to know the answers about what could be causing those symptoms. Symptom checker applications are available on many health websites, but how accurate can they be?
Online Support Groups, Forums and Message Boards
Patients can learn from other patients through support groups, forums and message boards on the Internet. Find out what you can learn, and what precautions you should take before participating online.
What Empowered Patients Need to Know about Blood, Organ and Tissue Specimens
The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot raises many questions about biomedical research, and how researchers get the specimens and samples they work with. Those specimens are removed from real people like you and me. Here are some of the issues raised by tissue removal, preservation, donation, sales and distribution.
Learn About Alternative and Complementary Medicine Online
Alternative, complementary and integrative medicine are approaches to medicine, some of which have existed for thousands of years. You'll recognize names like herbals, acupuncture, meditation and Eastern medicine. A smart patient understands what these therapies are and how they can, or can't help improve her health.
Using Medical Journals for Health Research
Medical journals can be useful for reading about current studies that relate to your diagnosis or possible treatment options. Understanding the basics of medical journals can help you find and translate the ones that will be most helpful to you.
Keep Up With Health News - How to Use Yahoo and Google News Alerts
Yahoo or Google News Alerts make it easy for you to keep up with the latest research, treatments, and more about your diagnosis and other aspects of your health. Both services are free, and will deliver the information you're looking for right to your e-mail inbox. Here's how to set them up to work for you.
Cyberchondria and Self-Diagnosing Through Use of the Internet
Are you a cyberchondriac? If you use the Internet to self-diagnosis, you may be just that. Learn about cyberchondria and how you can avoid the problems it may cause.
What are Medicine 2.0 and Health 2.0?
What do those terms mean, Medicine 2.0 or Health 2.0? and how might they affect you?
