Everyday Health RRLC Library Assistants Group

Spring Workshop

April 23, 2013

MaryAnn Howie, Wellness Librarian Stabins Wellness Information Center, Rochester General Health System

wellness@rochestergeneral.org Barbara Ciambor, Outreach Librarian, RRLC, bciambor@rrlc.org

Everyday Health

• Realities of Health Care today: Health consumers are asked to make decisions about their own health.

• Do they have the tools to make these decisions?

• Many consumers use the internet to locate health information, but is this information reliable?

• If consumers are to make informed decisions regarding their health they need to have the capacity to locate, evaluate and understand the information they find.

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How will what you learn today help

you answer your common, everyday, consumer health questions?

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• You will learn how to evaluate a consumer health website.

• You will become aware of reliable web sites that you can use to answer common, “everyday” health questions.

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• You will learn about local area resources (CLIC-on-Health, Stabins Wellness Information Center, URMC) that will help you with your research.

• You will have the chance to practice answering “everyday” health questions using the resources discussed today.

• Our purpose today is to provide you with information, not medical advice. Always consult a health professional to discuss specific health concerns.

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What sorts of questions are being asked by health consumers online? All sorts!

Here are some of the frequently asked health questions as reported by Ask.com:

• What is autism? • What are the symptoms of swine flu? • What do Chicken pox look like? • What causes nosebleeds? • How much should I weigh? • When is the best time to get pregnant? • How do I get pregnant?

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A new report, OnlineHealth 2013, from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that many searchers begin their searching using a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo.

Search engines are easy to use, but are results consistent, reliable, correct? Not always!

Look at the results of my Google search for palmetto and prostate health…

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Here are results from a Google search for palmetto and prostate health:

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Where’s a health consumer to turn for help?

The National Library of Medicine provides a great 16 minute lesson on how you can evaluate online health information.

Find it at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval.html

A useful checklist on evaluating health websites is included.

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Evaluating websites: watch for these “red flags”:

• Sensationalized content

• Buzz words

• No date

• No author credentials or lack of sources

• Unverified patient testimonials

• Products for sale

• Website is listed on QuackWatch http://www.quackwatch.com

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Remember the ABC’s of evaluation

• Accuracy

• Authority

• Bias

• Currency

• Coverage

and don’t forget user friendliness, ease of use.

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Now that you know about the tools you can use to evaluate health websites, here are some reliable websites that we recommend for your common, everyday health questions:

MedlinePlus Includes health topics, diseases and conditions, drug information, clinical trials, alternative medicine, directories of doctors and hospitals, health information in Spanish, and the latest health news. Updated and reviewed daily. From the National Library of Medicine.

Let’s take a short tour of MedlinePlus…

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MedlinePlus Herbs and Supplements

Browse dietary supplements and herbal remedies to learn about their effectiveness, usual dosage, and drug interactions.

• Aloe (Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database) • Aloe Vera (National Center for Complementary and

Alternative Medicine) • Black Cohosh (National Center for Complementary

and Alternative Medicine) • Black Cohosh (National Institutes of Health, Office

of Dietary Supplements)

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Here are some other great websites that we recommend for answering your everyday health questions:

Family Doctor.org National Cancer Institute Lab Tests Online Skinsight NLM Drug Information Portal Clinical Trials.gov Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Merck Manual Home Health Handbook Household Products Database For more links to reliable websites check out CLIC-on-

Health.

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• CLIC-on-Health, administered by the Rochester Regional Library Council, includes a website which acts as a gateway to free, full text health information for health consumers and health professionals.

• CLIC-on-Health can be used by anyone with internet access. All the websites are vetted by the CLIC-on-Health Steering Committee made up of Rochester area librarians.

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The CLIC-on-Health website is arranged by general categories:

• Health Information: Diseases & Wellness, Drugs & Medications, Life Stages, Local Health Professionals, NOVELNY.

• Healthcare in Rochester, NY: Finding Healthcare, Local Support Groups, Paying for Healthcare, Public Health Departments.

• Health Information Training: Seniors, Tutorials for Local Health Professionals.

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CLIC-on-Health • Under Disease & Wellness you’ll find a

number of quality websites that you can use to answer common health questions, questions about nutrition, and more.

• Under Drugs & Medications you’ll find drug identification sites, medication information, paying for medication.

• Under Life Stages you’ll find websites specific to Kids Health, Teens Health, Seniors Health.

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CLIC-on-Health • Under Finding Healthcare you’ll find

information about Doctors which includes links to the Rochester Health HealthCare Directory, NYS Physician Profile, NYS Dept of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct.

• You’ll also find information about Health Facilities which includes Nursing Home Compare, WNY Rochester Region Hospitals and AboutHealthQuality.org

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CLIC-on-Health also includes the category of Paying for Healthcare which includes information about EPIC, the Affordable Care Act, Prescription Drug Prices in NYS and more.

Health Information Training for Seniors and Local Health Professionals is also included.

www.cliconhealth.org

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Need help from a medical librarian?

• CLIC-on-Health Ask a Medical Librarian

• University of Rochester Medical Center E.G. Miner Medical Library Ask a Librarian

• Rochester General Health System Ask a Medical Librarian & Stabins Wellness Information Center

Ask a Medical Librarian

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Stabins Wellness Information Center

Medical Library

Rochester General Hospital

Contact Us with Your Health Questions

• 585-922-WELL (922-9355)

• 855-922-WELL (855-922-9355) Toll Free

• wellness@rochestergeneral.org

• www.rochestergeneral.org/library/wellness

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• For additional information about reliable health websites go to the Medical Library Association’s Consumer & Patient Health Information CAPHIS page.

Everyday Health Some useful websites CLIC-on-Health cliconhealth.org MedlinePlus www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus FamilyDoctor.org http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en.html Lab Tests Online www.labtestsonline.org Skinsight www.skinsight.com NLM Drug Information Portal

http://druginfo.nlm.nih.gov/drugportal/drugportal.jsp National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov Clinical Trials.gov www.clinicaltrials.gov Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov Merck Manual Home Health Handbook www.merckmanuals.com/home/index.html Household Products Database www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov Rochester Health http://www.rochesterhealth.com Nursing Home Compare http://www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare/search.aspx Prescription Drug Prices in NYS

http://www.rx.nyhealth.gov/pdpw/SearchDrugs/Home.action

Everyday Health • What is cholelithiasis? • Find a video for caregiver support of Alzheimer’s Disease. • Is there any evidence that ginger is effective for treating arthritis? • My friend needs to find a nursing home for her father within 10 miles of Ithaca, NY. • What is a normal blood pressure reading? • Are there any current clinical trials for alternative treatment of fibromyalgia? • My husband burned his hand on our outdoor grill and thought he heard that he should put

butter on it. What is the best thing to do for a minor burn? • What will the creatinine lab test test for? • There was a recent news report that said the Mediterranean diet can ward off heart disease.

Can you find it? • What does rosacea look like? • How can I compare the cost of the drug abilify in Livingston County? • My Mom was just diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Where can I find some factual

information that is written for the patient?

Everyday Health • What is cholelithiasis? MedlinePlus, FamilyDoctor • Find a video for caregiver support of Alzheimer’s Disease. MedlinePlus, Rochester

Health • Is there any evidence that ginger is effective for treating arthritis? MedlinePlus • My friend needs to find a nursing home for her father within 10 miles of Ithaca, NY.

NursingHome Compare, MedlinePlus Directories • What is a normal blood pressure reading? MedlinePlus, NIH Guide to Healthy Heart • Are there any current clinical trials for alternative treatment of fibromyalgia?

ClinicalTrails.gov • My husband burned his hand on our outdoor grill and thought he heard that he should put

butter on it. What is the best thing to do for a minor burn? MedlinePlus, FamilyDoctor, MerckManual

• What will the creatinine lab test test for? Lab Tests Online • There was a recent news report that said the Mediterranean diet can ward off heart disease.

Can you find it? MedlinePlus/News • What does rosacea look like? Skinsight • How can I compare the cost of the drug abilify in Livingston County? Prescription Drug

Prices in NYS • My Mom was just diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Where can I find some factual

information that is written for the patient? National Cancer Institute

Everyday Health RRLC Library Assistants Group

Spring Workshop

April 23, 2013

MaryAnn Howie, Wellness Librarian Stabins Wellness Information Center, Rochester General Health System

wellness@rochestergeneral.org Barbara Ciambor, Outreach Librarian, RRLC, bciambor@rrlc.org