Research Guides: Patient Education: Consumer Health Web Resources

Intro

Your patients and clients may ask for additional information about prevention, diagnosis, treatment, support, and options for themselves or a loved one. These sites are intended for the non-practitioner and provide links to a wealth of information about a variety of diseases, conditions, and health and wellness issues.

Consumer Information Sites

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- CDC
Alphabetized health topics, traveler's health, immunization, news alerts, journals.
Choosing Wisely: Patient Resources
Informative and patient friendly, these resources can be used as supplemental materials when discussing care options with your patient.
The materials were developed in partnership with medical specialty societies.
Connecticut Clearinghouse Library
Connecticut Clearinghouse is a statewide library and resource center for information on substance use and mental health disorders, prevention and health promotion, treatment and recovery, wellness and other related topics. Materials from our specialized library and resource center are available to Connecticut families, teachers, students, professionals, communities and children. Funded by the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
DrugFreeCT
Free materials from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Everyday Health
Reliable information and useful tools, e.g. to manage chronic health conditions.
Go Ask Alice
Health question and answer service by the Health Promotion Program at Health Services, Columbia University.
Healthfinder
A gateway consumer health information site from the US government. Provides links to databases, websites, publications, government agencies, support groups. Content is available in English and Spanish.
Health on the Net
Provides links to reliable sources of medical and health information for consumers and practitioners.
Healthy People 2030
Healthy People provides 10-year, measurable public health objectives — and tools to help track progress toward achieving them. From the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Health Source: Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window
Consumer health information providing access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference books, including searchable full text for current health pamphlets. Covers a wide variety of subjects, including information on specific diseases as well as overall health topics. Subjects include fitness, nutrition, diabetes, aging, women's health, children's health and more. View and search for images found in articles.

Lab Tests Online
This site is managed by clinical lab professionals for patients or caregivers to better understand the many clinical lab tests that are part of routine care as well as diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of conditions and diseases.
Mayo Clinic
Alphabetical health topics, information about treatment decisions, drugs and supplements, assessments, calculators for BMI, calories and target heart rate.
MedlinePlus
Consumer health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to MEDLINE and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. You can also view Medline Plus's content in other languages. Note: topics vary by language.
New York Online Access to Health -- NOAH
Provides links to high-quality consumer health information created by New York Libraries.
Rx List: The Internet Drug Index
RxList is an online medical resource dedicated to offering detailed and current pharmaceutical information and images on brand and generic drugs.

Special Populations & Topics

Medline Plus: Women's Health
Found under the "Health Topics" tab on the central toolbar. You can also search within the demographic group for women for specific diseases and conditions.
Office of Women's Health
Features women's health information resources, with alphabetical health topics, in both English and Spanish, calculators, immunization information, information for on-line screenings, and more.
The National Women's Health Information Center
Provides information on over 800 topics relating to the health of women and girls. Provides tools, health calculators, quizzes and checklists for health promotion.

Pregnancy

March of Dimes
Provides answers to questions about pregnancy (before, during and after pregnancy) with extensive information about birth defects and genetics and premature births. This is an excellent website for expecting parents and parents of newborns.
American Pregnancy Association
The American Pregnancy Association is a national health organization committed to promoting reproductive and pregnancy wellness through education, support, advocacy, and community awareness.

Family Doctor
The American Academy of Family Physcians' website provides health information for the whole family with clear and concise patient handouts written and reviewed by physicians and patient education professionals about common medical concerns and conditions.
Healthy Children
Includes general information related to child health, more specific guidance on parenting issues, information regarding the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) programs and activities, policies and guidelines, publications and other child health resources.
Kid's Health
Content written for kids, teens and parents. Includes information on child development, nutrition and fitness, preventive health care, and diseases and conditions.
Medline Plus: Children's Health
Found under the "Health Topics" tab on the central toolbar. Includes health information on children' physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
Medline Plus: Children's Page
Includes materials about health and safety specifically designed for children.
Medline Plus: Children and Teenagers
View all health topics for the children and teenagers demographic group.
Medline Plus: Teen's Page
Includes materials about health and safety specifically designed for teens.

Medline Plus: Senior's Health
Found under the "Health Topics" tab on the central toolbar. You can also search within the demographic group for older adults for specific diseases and conditions.
NIH: National Institute on Aging
This website includes information on health topics of interest to older adults such as he science of healthy aging, and Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD).

Medline Plus: Health Information in Multiple Languages
Browse health information in multiple languages, arranged by language. You can also browse this information by health topic.
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
This information portal leads to health resources from across NIH for selected priority health areas. The languages for each condition are chosen to reach populations with particular health disparities.
Consumer Health Information in Many Languages -- Resource List
Created in collaboration of the NNLM Consumer Outreach Librarians. Offers a wide range of resources including those that are available in multiple global languages or singular, specific non-English languages.

Spanish

Epocrates
A good portion of their Patient Resources are available as handouts or posters in Spanish.
Medline Plus in Spanish
View content from Medline Plus in Spanish.
Family Doctor
You can easily switch the website language to Spanish by selecting the ESPAÑOL box, located on the top right side of the page
Kids Health
Information is available in English and Spanish.

East Asian Languages

SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages
Access to Asian-language health information for consumers and health care providers
more...less...
Includes:
Cambodian Khmer
Chinese 简体中文/繁體中文
English
Hmong Hmoob
Japanese 日本語
Korean 한국어
Laotian Lao
Thai ภาษาไทย
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Sign Language

SignHealth: The Deaf Health Charity
SignHealth is a UK-based charity dedicated to making sure Deaf people get the same sort of access as hearing people to healthcare and health information. Their Health Information pages provides information about major illnesses, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in British Sign Language.

Patient Education