Web Sites by Category

There are hundreds of patient education and consumer health Web sites. Listed here are select sites to help you locate credible materials on the Internet to support your patient teaching.

Before using any material for patient teaching, please critically review them for accuracy, cultural appropriateness, and readability.

Guidelines for Evaluating Health Information on the Web

Some things to keep in mind when using the Web to find out information about your health or illness:

· It should be clear who is providing the medical data; their names and qualifications should be posted.

· Find out who owns the site and consider possible biases.

· Make sure there is a way to contact the site owner(s). If you use the site and need to contact them, keep track to see if they respond in a timely manner.

· Look for sites with recent postings; health information gets outdated.

· If you have questions about something you find on the Web, ask your doctor or health care provider.

· Be aware that as you click-and-link through sites, you may be linked to another site and may need to re-evaluate the source.

For more information about evaluating Web sites, please visit University of Washington Medical Center’s Health Information Resource Center Web site:

· http://depts.washington.edu/healthed/healthwebsites.htm

Selected Health Sites

American Academy of Dermatology, 888-462-3376, www.aad.org
Offers a wealth of dermatology related patient education information, as well as information for health care professionals.

American Cancer Society, 800-227-2345, www.cancer.org
Provides information on prevention (including diet, smoking, exercise, alcohol, hormones), risk factors, mammograms (with tips on how to get a good mammogram), BSE, and treatment options. There is a directory of resources, including books and organizations. There is an on-line order form for obtaining materials from ACS (click on the "Publications" link on the home page).

American Diabetes Association, 800-342-2383, www.diabetes.org
Includes an on-line postgraduate course for health care professionals. There is little patient education material. You can search by state for local diabetes foundations, research, and resources. Some of these foundations have patient education material. For example, the Washington affiliate’s page has information on diabetes and sex, pregnancy, nutrition, fitness, etc.

American Heart Association, 214-706-1220 (or call 800-242-8721 for local chapter), www.amhrt.org
Includes an index to nearly 300 subjects from the American Heart Association. Information on children, nutrition, exercise, and support groups is included. There is a listing of books and cookbooks available for purchase, and a toll-free number for placing orders (click on the "Home, Health, and Family" link on the home page, then click on the "Other AHA Publications" link).

American Lung Association, 800-586-4872, www.lungusa.org
Contains patient education materials on lung health and disease. There are links to many local chapters. When brochures or other items are available for order, they are listed at the end of the information on a particular topic. For example, a search for "girls and smoking" brings you to the "Pregnancy and Smoking" page. At the bottom of this page are items related to pregnancy and smoking that one can order.

American Social Health Association, 800-227-8922, www.ashastd.org
Provides a sexual health glossary, and information about STDs, women’s health, and education materials.

Arthritis Foundation, 800-283-7800, www.arthritis.org
Comprehensive site covers causes for and treatment of arthritis, links to a couple hundred local chapters, as well as information on ordering video and audio tapes and other materials. There are free brochures available (go to "Resource Room" link; then go to "For Health Professionals" link).

Brain Injury Association of America, www.biausa.org
From the home page, click on “About Brain Injury” for a complete list of brain injury related topics, detailed information on the topics listed, publications, and fact sheets. This site also covers information on research, living with brain injury, policy and legislation, and links to topics ranging from case management to education.

Cancer Care, 800-813-4673, www.cancercareinc.org
Contains practical help and tips for people with cancer, along with information for professionals. There is also information on support groups and links to on-line support groups. On-line articles are provided: click on the "Library" link from the home page.

EthnoMed, www.ethnomed.org/
Provides information about cultural beliefs and medical issues pertinent to the health care of patients from East Africa and Southeast Asia. The profile of each ethnic group covers cultural topics, symptoms, health and illness, community resources, and patient education materials, as well as further reading and links to other Web sources.

Gaining and Growing: Assuring Nutritional Care of Preterm Infants, http://depts.washington.edu/growing/
Designed to provide information to community health professionals who work with premature infants, especially those with very low birth weight (1500 g) in hopes that assuring adequate nutritional status will improve outcomes and family life for these children. Topics include: Nutrition Assessment, Nourishing the Very Low Birth Weight Infant After Discharge, Feeding the Very Low Birth Weight Infant at Home, What Parents Say About Feeding Preterm Infants, Decision Trees for Clinical Services, Case Studies, and Resources for Nutritional Services. Also provided is a Gaining and Growing Brochure in pdf format. This site was developed by University of Washington Nutritional Sciences Program and the Pediatric Pulmonary Center, with funding from the Maternal Child Health Bureau.

Internet Resources for Health Education and Health Promotion, http://www.gwumc.gwu.edu/library/eresources/inetres.cfm/
subject/Health-Education-Health-Promotion
Contains a selected bibliography of Internet resources on health education and promotion. It was compiled by the George Washington University Medical Center.

National Cancer Institute, www.nci.nih.gov
From home page, click on CancerNet for patient education materials for patients, health professionals, and basic researchers.

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information, 800-729-6686, www.health.org/index.htm
The information service of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. NCADI is the world’s largest resource for current information and materials about substance abuse. From the home page, click on "Resources and Referrals" and then click on either "Documents Available On-line" or "Publications Available from NCADI" for patient information resources.

National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse, 301-907-8906 (Fax), www.niddk.nih.gov/
Includes information for patients and health care professionals on diabetes, digestive diseases, endocrine diseases, kidney diseases, nutrition and obesity, and urologic diseases. There are links to other sources of government information.

National Eye Institute, 301-496-5248, www.nei.nih.gov
There is little patient education material at this site. However, clicking on the "Publications" link on the home page will lead you to resources available to order from NEI.

National Guideline Clearinghouse, 800-359-9295 (Publication Clearinghouse), www.ahcpr.gov
Consumer information on specific health conditions, surgery, prescriptions, heath plans, and other health care issues. From main page, click on "Consumer Health."

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 301-251-1222, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Contains information about sleep disorders and cardiovascular, lung, and blood conditions. Click on the "Educational Materials Catalog" link to see brochures, posters, audio and video resources that can be ordered.

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 301-496-8188, www.nih.gov/niams
Contains information on fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, lupus, psoriasis, Raynauds phenomenon, vitiligo, and other skin, arthritic, and muskuloskeletal diseases.

National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov
Comprehensive site provides information on mental health topics, including getting help, research, funding, publications, and mental health information and organizations. Available in English and Spanish and with options to view text in various sizes.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, 800-424-8567, www.lcweb.loc.gov/nls
Although you cannot order materials through this Web site, you can search the online NLS Union Catalog for materials in Braille or large print, audio materials and listening equipment. All of the materials can be requested for free loan through participating NLS libraries. There is also an FTP site where visitors can anonymously download NLS materials.

National Prevention Intervention Network, 800-458-5231, www.cdcnpin.org/
Material on many aspects of AIDS and HIV. There are hundreds of items available to order from the CDC and many other organizations. From the home page, click on "Available Information."

National Organization for Rare Disorders, 800-999-6673, www.rarediseases.org
A brief description of each of several hundred rare disorders is provided, along with links to other sites about that disease.