Georgia Consumer Health Information Guide
Welcome Citizens, Residents, and Students in Georgia! Click on the tabs above for help finding information in database articles, web sites, and other resources; citing your sources; getting passwords and PINs, and useful research tips.
A PowerPoint Presentation - "Powerful Untapped CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION" - delivered at Georgia COMO on Thursday, October 6, 2011, is available, accessible in five parts.
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. In addition to information on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of disease, CHI encompasses information on health promotion, preventive medicine, the determinants of health, and accessing the health care system. (National Institutes of Health - NIH)
This research guide, which is primarily focused on providing Web sites for health information, contains this introduction page and references to health information databases for locating subscription-only resources, such as journals, magazines, newspapers, ebooks; to general trustworthy web sites for health information and specific sites for heart and cancer health, for organ transplantion, and for seniors, parents and children, teens, and veterans, and their families; to drug (medicine) and nutrition information, to complementary and alternative medical treatments and practices; to information about health care providers and health insurance; and for effective internet search strategies for seeking additional reliable information on the web.
NOTE: Hover cursor over each top main tab to see additional tabs for more consumer health resources.
A large percentage of people use a search engine when looking for health information online. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports, "Online Health Search 2006" and "The Engaged E-patient Population" found that most Internet users start at a search engine when looking for health information online. Librarians can share reliable information on the Web and can assist people in performing the most effective searches that will yield the most reliable health information.
This article describes how a librarian is to sensitively and ethically perform a reference interview with someone who has health questions.
Eberle, Michelle and Terri Ottosen. "Reference Interview," from the course Beyond an Apple a Day: Providing Consumer Health Information. Funded by the NN/LM – NER and SEA region. Provided by Terri Ottosen.
This guide was originally created by Wesley Stewart and Eugenia Abbey in advance of a presentation at Georgia COMO in Octboer, 2011.
