Build skills
Find and Evaluate Health Information Online
Searching for information on the Internet has been compared to "drinking from a fire hose." How can you satisfy your thirst for knowledge without drowning in too much information? Read and follow the tips and suggestions on these web sites:
- Start with a basic checklist. The Consumer Health Web Watch provides one here: http://www.infopeople.org/training/past/2004/consumer/Evaluation_Checklist.pdf
- A more detailed guide is available from the Medical Library Association: http://www.mlanet.org/resources/userguide.html
- When you're ready to tackle clinical research, read this overview from the National Human Genome Research Institute before you start: http://www.genome.gov/11008303
- Finally, be sure to incorporate the advice available from the Harvard School of Public Health's Consumer's Guide to Taking Charge of Health Information: http://www.health-insight.harvard.edu/
Talk With Your Doctor
Did you know that studies have shown that between 40 and 80 percent of all medical information presented at a doctor's visit is forgotten almost immediately?* Having a strategy for talking with your doctor can help you make the most out of the often limited time available during an appointment.
The National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus web site offers a topic page on Talking with Your Doctor, featuring tips, advice and selected, organized links to articles, news, audio-visual materials and more. Information is also available in 10 languages other than English: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/talkingwithyourdoctor.html
*Kessels, Roy. Patients' Memory for Medical Information. JRSM, May 2003; 96(5):219-222.
*Scheitel, Sidna et al. Patient-physician agreements about medical diagnoses and cardiovascular risk factors in the ambulatory general medical examination. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dec. 1996; 71(12): 1131-1137.