Health and Medical News and Resources

General interest items edited by Janice Flahiff

National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness

National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness

From the press release:

The National Prevention Strategy includes actions that public and private partners can take to help Americans stay healthy and fit and improve our nation’s prosperity. The strategy outlines four strategic directions that, together, are fundamental to improving the nation’s health.  Those four strategic directions are:

  • Building Healthy and Safe Community Environments:  Prevention of disease starts in our communities and at home; not just in the doctor’s office.
  • Expanding Quality Preventive Services in Both Clinical and Community Settings: When people receive preventive care, such as immunizations and cancer screenings, they have better health and lower health care costs.
  • Empowering People to Make Healthy Choices:  When people have access to actionable and easy-to-understand information and resources, they are empowered to make healthier choices.
  • Eliminating Health Disparities: By eliminating disparities in achieving and maintaining health, we can help improve quality of life for all Americans.
Related articles

June 23, 2011 Posted by | Health News Items | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harnessing The Power Of Open Data

From the 9 June 2011 Medical News Today article

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Institute of Medicine (IoM) today co-hosted their second annual event focusing on innovative applications and services that harness the power of open data from HHS and other sources to help improve health and health care.

The Health Data Initiative Forum featured more than 45 new or updated solutions that harness the power of HHS and other federal data to help serve the needs of consumers, health care providers, employers, public health leaders, and policy makers.

“The Health Data Initiative Forum demonstrates our strong commitment to promoting innovative uses of data to advance health and health care in America,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “This initiative is helping consumers take control of their own health and health care by putting the right information at their fingertips, helping doctors and hospitals deliver better and safer care, helping employers promote health and wellness, helping mayors and county commissioners make better-informed decisions that improve the health of communities.”

The forum also featured panel presentations from leaders in information technology development, privacy, venture capital financing, health care delivery systems, state and local government, and public health. Other federal cabinet secretaries participated in the promotion of the use of their agencies’ data, including Environment Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson, who announced her agency’s new effort to encourage innovators to leverage EPA data to help power useful solutions for the public.

The forum included nearly a dozen announcements of major new initiatives being launched using federally supplied health data. Among these announcements were the public and private sponsorship of new “challenges” to develop data-powered solutions that help improve health, including challenges issued by Walgreen’s Pharmacy, Aetna Foundation, Sanofi-Aventis, and the National Cancer Institute.

Additional key announcements made at the forum included the University of Michigan’s debut of the nation’s first graduate program to focus on consumer health informatics; the launch of Start Up Health, a new seed accelerator/entrepreneur academy in New York City aimed at developing new health and wellness startups; ESRI’s release of a new public community health analytics tool called Community Analyst; and an upcoming “invent-a-thon” focused on developing nursing homes of the future, hosted by Johns Hopkins University and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.

June 14, 2011 Posted by | Medical and Health Research News | , , , | 1 Comment

Natural Resources Defense Council: Smarter Living

Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is environmental action group of 1.3 million members including more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals.

The home page tabs provide access to News, Issues, Policies, Smarter Living options, and more.

The Smarter Living sections  include a wide range of resources and information, including

Related Resources

  • Household Products Databases – This database links over 8,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provided by the manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients
  • ToxNet – Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases
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May 1, 2011 Posted by | Consumer Health | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mount Carmel Opens New Consumer Health Library

From the April 2011 Cornflower posting (online newsletter of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/ Greater Midwest Region)

The Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library has opened a new Consumer Health Library on the campus of Mount Carmel West Hospital.  One of the first of its kind in central Ohio, the library is designed to provide in person and virtual health and wellness information to central Ohio residents.

“The Consumer Health Library offers a wide spectrum of resources to meet the health information needs of our community,” says Stevo Roksandic, Director of Library Services. “With our personal assistance and guidance through the vast resources of this new library and todays’ informational abundance we can assist consumers in understanding disease and treatment options as well as exploring areas of prevention, health and wellness.”

Located on the Mount Carmel West Hospital campus, the Consumer Health Library sits adjacent to The Nursing Center for Family Health, a nurse managed health center which is a partnership of the Mount Carmel College of Nursing and Lower Lights Christian Health Center.  Roksandic anticipates many visitors from the Nursing Center, as well as through physician offices and other regional health providers. “The library provides a reading area, computer work stations, selected Consumer Health periodicals, books, audio visual materials and a children’s play area. Reference services, customer support and personal information assistance are provided by professional library staff.”

The Consumer Health Library offers access to a specifically designed Consumer Health website,http://www.mccn.edu/consumerhealthlibrary, to meet the customers’ information literacy skills and reading levels of those served. “It’s a wonderful service to our community”, adds Roksandic, “Whether it’s via e-mail, live chat or in person, the Consumer Health Library is the ‘go to’ resource for health and wellness information.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Consumer Health, News from the Region. 

Links at the Consumer Health Library include Recommended Consumer Health Links, as

    • Health Information Translations (quality translations in multiple languages)
    • MedlinePlus
      • Locate information on health topics, drugs and supplements, medical procedures, and alternative medicine.
      • Watch videos, take health quizzes, and use different health calculators.
    • Healthfinder
      • Find information and tools to help you and those you care about stay healthy.
    • Guide for Healthy Web Surfing
      • If you explore the internet for health information on your own, use this guide for tips and strategies to locate the best resources for your health needs.

April 21, 2011 Posted by | Consumer Health, Finding Aids/Directories | , , | Leave a comment

A Consumer Health Toolkit for Library Staff and the Rest of Us

From the Fremont Libraries WordPress announcement

Consumer Health Toolkit

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by juilanliu

While it is intended for library staff, consumers can certainly find a wealth of valuable information in this toolkit.  For instance, in the Health Resources section, there are Directories of Health Organizations and Physicians, Health Information for Special Populations (e.g., American Indian Health, Arctic Health and Asian American Health).

Advice is available on fitness, nutrition and environment in the Healthy Living section.  The Stages of Life  section breaks down into Children & Adolescents, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding, Newborn Care, and Seniors and Healthy Aging.

Moreover, an assortment of chronic conditions is featured in the Preventing and Living Well with Chronic Conditions section, e.g., Alzheimer ’s disease, asthma, HIV/AIDS, Cancer  and what not.

Treatment and Care section consists of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Herbs and Supplements.

Evaluating Health Information section would be of particular interest.

The Consumer HealthToolkit  can be found in the Toolkit section on our Health and Medical Information Page at:

http://www.library.ca.gov/lds/docs/HealthToolkit.pdf#search=consumer%20health%20toolkit&view=FitH&pagemode=none — 2010-09-27

April 18, 2011 Posted by | Consumer Health, Finding Aids/Directories, Librarian Resources | , | Leave a comment

Free Online/Print US Government Publications

From a US General Services Administration news release

WASHINGTON — Through a partnership among GSA, the U.S. Government Printing Office, and Google, 100 of the most popular government publications are now available to download for free online. This partnership will allow for greater access to these documents and contribute to an open and transparent government. As more documents become available online, it will eventually reduce the number of documents that GSA’s Federal Citizen Information Center prints while reducing costs and the environmental impact.

To shop for these free government publications, click here

These publications encompass areas as cars, consumer action, education, employment, family, food, and housing.

A sampling of the health titles

  • Antibiotic resistance
  • Dietary supplements
  • Health scams
  • My medicines

 

Related Resources

Related Articles

April 14, 2011 Posted by | Health Education (General Public) | , , | Leave a comment

Atlas of the Human Body from the American Medical Association & Additional Anatomy Links

Atlas of the Human Body from the American Medical Association

Includes simple and clearly labelled diagrams of the circulatory system, the brain, the torso, the female reproductive system, and others.  Summaries of systems and related information. Each diagram and rendering contains a brief discussion of the system in question, along with a selection of related information on the left-hand side of the page. The section titled “Effects of Stroke” is quite effective, and this site will be a useful resource for the general public, medical professionals, and others working in related fields.

Side view of the torso


Other Online Human Body Atlases***

GetBodySmart – An Online Textbook about Human Anatomy and Physiology

“Visually Learn About the Human Body Using Our Interactive Animations”
Meant to supplement McGraw Hill Higher Education physical textbooks. Includes interactive animations and additional resources as quizzes and fact sheets. IPad compatible versions

BioDigitalHuman

A virtual 3D body that brings to life “thousands of medically accurate anatomy objects and health conditions in an interactive web-based platform.” Hundreds of interactive features and customized views that look through all of the body systems .Annotated Screenshots area save and share these powerful tools for use in a range of settings. While the Basic version is completely free, there are other levels of functionality available for a fee

Gray’s Anatomy 

The classic illustrated text of human anatomy (20th edition, 1918) is now available online. It is fully searchable by keyword, table of contents, or subject index containing 13,000 entries. From Bartleby.com.
InnerBody: Your Guide to Human Anatomy Online ***

“The place for fun, interactive and educational views of the human body.” You can explore human anatomy through illustrations, animation, tutorials, and descriptions.

Human Anatomy On-line 

“Human Anatomy On-line, the place for fun, interactive and educational views of the human body. This program contains over one hundred illustrations of the human body with animations and thousands of descriptive links.”

Google Body Browser

“layered, interactive, high resolution experience allows users to zoom, pan, rotate, the human body, and to visualize its organs, systems, bones, and muscles.”[From Google launches Body Browser/joycevalenz]

Human Anatomy

http://www.upstate.edu/cdb/education/grossanat/

Designed for first year medical students, useful for others taking biology related courses. Material arranged in  six sections ranging from extremities to the head and neck. Each area contains a variety of detailed anatomical charts, glossaries, and images.  Each section includes many radiology resources for different perspective of the human body through x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. Other helpful resources include fact sheets, quizzes, teaching materials, and other freely available course materials offered from other medical schools.  State University of New York-Upstate Medical University [KMG]

Animated Anatomies 

“Animated Anatomies explores the visually stunning and technically complex genre of printed texts and illustrations known as anatomical flap books. These publications invite the viewer to participate in virtual autopsies, through the process of unfolding their movable leaves, simulating the act of human dissection. This exhibit traces the flap book genre beginning with early examples from the sixteenth century, to the colorful “golden age” of complex flaps of the nineteenth century, and finally to the common children’s pop-up anatomy books of today.”

A collection of  games, videos, and other multimedia excursions. Created by Australian science teacher Ben Crossett. Games here include jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, word searches, and the catch all Just For Fun.

Anatomy Resources (American Association of Anatomists) includes these and many more

Human Anatomy Learning Site 

From the Dartmouth Medical School, the Human Anatomy Learning Web Site is a work in progress, focusing on the needs of first-time students of human anatomy. Its aim is to help students learn clinically relevant anatomy with maximum efficiency.

Anatomy and Physiology Learning Modules

From the University of Minnesota.A collection of study aids for entry-level anatomy and physiology students. Self Tests … Inquiry, Ideas, Thoughts, Learning, Curriculum.

Pocket Body iPhone app (Google Chrome Biodigital Human)

The BioDigital Human is a 3D platform for the understanding of anatomy, disease and treatments.Interactive tools for exploring, dissecting, and sharing custom views, combined with detailed medical descriptions.

*** There are only a limited number of free comprehensive online human body atlases online.
If these do not fit your needs, consider going to a nearby public, academic, or medical library.

Many academic and medical libraries are open to the public (all libraries receiving state funding are open to the public). Don’t forget to ask for a reference librarian if you would like professional assistance!

Many academic and medical libraries provide at least some reference assistance to the public. Call ahead and ask about library services to the public. You may be pleasantly surprised.

As always, feel free to contact me by leaving a comment ( it will not be posted). Or email me at jmflahiff, currently residing at her yahoo dot com account.

I would be happy to search for an image or information meeting your needs. Will reply within 48 hour.

 

December 18, 2010 Posted by | Educational Resources (High School/Early College(, Health Education (General Public), Librarian Resources, Professional Health Care Resources, Public Health | , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Radiation Oncology Patient Web Site earns Web Health Award

From the December 15, 2010 Eureka news alert

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has received a 2010 Web Health Award for its patient-geared website, www.rtanswers.org.

The Web Health Awards is a national competition that recognizes high-quality electronic health information. Over 500 entries were submitted for the 2010 competition from a variety of health care professionals nationwide. The winners were selected by a panel of national electronic health information experts. [A complete listing of the winners may be found here ]

This year, ASTRO received a bronze award for RT Answers, a site designed specifically for cancer patients and their families, friends and caregivers. RT Answers began in 2004 as a way to explain to cancer patients and their families and friends how radiation therapy is used to treat cancer safely and effectively. Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be frightening and confusing, so physicians and other members of the radiation therapy treatment team created RT Answers as a one-stop site where patients can receive radiation therapy information.

Here are some highlights from the RT Answers Web site

Among other winners in the medical/health care fields for Summer 2010

(Flahiff’s note: I was disappointed in a few awardee sites [not listed below] some had pages with no content, some did not have an about page; keep in mind there is an entry fee of $58.00 for submissions)

  • The Recovery Month (US Health and Human Services)”aims to promote the societal benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers, and promote the message that recovery from alcohol and drug disorders in all its forms is possible.”
    Includes Recovery Resources for the public (they are also on Facebook, YouTube,and Twitter)
  • Home Safety Council has information on how to maintain a safe home in formats as fact sheets, guides, quizzes, videos, and interactive media
  • Iowa Health System has links to health information (as an online health library and health videos) and a newsroom (with health care reform summaries)
  • National Diabetes Education Program includes publications, resources, and fact sheets. One may do a tailored search with drop down menus (age, ethnicity, language, and diabetes status)

 

 

December 16, 2010 Posted by | Consumer Health, Health Education (General Public), Librarian Resources | , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Summaries for Patients” and other plain language summaries help patients and others understand medical studies and guidelines

Heard or read about research on a medical topic but not sure if the news is reliable? Looking for trusted information on a treatment or drug carefully reviewed by experts? Do scientific articles seem to contain good information, but they are hard to understand?

Not sure where to go next?  You are not alone.

These plain language summaries are great places to start for medical and health information that has been rewritten for those of us who are not scientists or health care professionals. Much of the information is free, and often there are great links to reliable Web pages for additional information.

                    These summaries will help you
    • Discover how researchers did the published study and what they found, including
      • What the problem was and why it is studied
      • Who was studied and why the study was done
      • What the scientists found and what the limits of the study were
    • Find overviews about clinical guidelines -official recommendations for doctors in treating patients
To locate a specific summary

These summaries are provided to help patients or their caregivers more fully understand  research results. They also provide links  to the full text of  many research articles.
Some full text articles are free. Others require a reduce-fee payment (much less than ordering from the publisher!).
(Always check to see if you can get the article for free or at even lower cost from your area public, medical, or academic library – most libraries will try to help anyone who contacts them directly)

Cochrane Summariesbeta

Independent high-quality evidence for health care decision making

  • Cochrane Collaboration provides well researched reviews of the strongest evidence available about healthcare interventions (as drugs, medical tests,  and medical procedures).  Every available treatment/test has not yet been reviewed. However each review is conducted in depth by experts.            

              To find plain language  and audio summaries of Cochrane Reviews

    • Go to the Cochrane Reviews Home page and scroll down to Browse Free Summaries
    • Click on a topic OR scroll down and click on All Summaries
    • The All Summaries page will allow you to
      • Search by entering words and short phrases (as headache, multiple sclerosis drugs, asthma acupuncture
      • Browse by Health Topics (left column)
      • Include only these in the search results
        • Podcasts – audio summaries
        • PEARLS – guidance and advice for real time decisions

Related Blog Items 


Cannot find a plain language summary with the above resources?

Consider asking a reference librarian for help at your local public, academic, or hospital library. Many academic and hospital libraries provide at least limited reference service to the public.
Call or email them for information about their services.

You may also contact me at jmflahiff@msncom.  I will do my best to reply within 48 hours.


November 6, 2010 Posted by | Consumer Health, Librarian Resources | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Authoritative, Current Health Information Available on Mobile Devices

Looking for health information while at the doctor’s office, pharmacy, or elsewhere when all you have is a mobile device?

The following mobile Web sites & resources from the US National Library of Medicine may just provide the information you are looking for.

**MedlinePlus Mobile provides information on over 750 diseases, conditions, and wellness areas. It also provides drug information and links to health news items.

**PubMed® for Handhelds Web site is a website for searching MEDLINE® with the web browser of any mobile device.
MEDLINE® is the largest database of  scholarly biomedical citations/abstracts in the world. Links to the full text of most articles are by subscription only. Check with your local library on how to get full text of articles not available at PubMed®.

**Wireless System for Emergency Responders (WISER)****** is a software program for Palm Powered or Pocket PC devices to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents.

**NCBI Bookshelf downloadable versions of books from the NCBI Bookshelf for any mobile device.
From the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

******March 22 2011 WISER update from the National Library of Medicine (via their NLM-TOX-ENVIRO-HEALTH-L listserv)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) 4.4 is now available. It can be downloaded to the WISER Windows, Pocket PC, and SmartPhone platforms from the WISER Web site.   http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/

The updated online version, WebWISER, is available at  http://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/getHomeData.do

Highlights of this version include:

1) A new, interactive Chemical Reactivity capability (WISER for Windows); users can
a) Create their own mix of chemicals.
b) See an overview of the resulting potential hazards
c) Delve into the detailed reaction behind each hazard or gas produced.

2) 19 new substances and mixtures of substances, including Crude Oil and the Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527 dispersants.

Find more information at http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/whats_new_4_4.html
WISER for iPhone/iPod touch 1.1 is now available from Apple’s App Store.

All WISER platforms now include:

1) The 19 new substances and mixtures of substances.

2) Data updates based on the latest information from the NLM Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs).

3) Many usability improvements and fixes.

You can follow the activity of the National Library of Medicine Specialized Information Services Division via Twitter (NLM_SIS). http://twitter.com/NLM_SIS

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May 14, 2010 Posted by | Consumer Health, Professional Health Care Resources | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment