Survey: Do you use the Internet as a resource for patient education materials?

[Brian]

Here are the results of last months survey question

Do you use the Internet as a resource for patient education materials? :

Please feel free to read and post any comments that you have right here in this discussion thread by clicking the "Post Reply" button.

Thanks

[danu3]

Does anyone know of any sites that are specifically (sp?) for patient education?

Thanks so much!

There are a number of them as you know.

Try http://www.medlineplus.gov (our tax dollar actually at work). It even have a Spanish version.

Also try http://healthlibrary.stanford.edu/

This Stanford site, you can also email them questions and they have access to internal Stanford healt related databases.

-Dan

[SarahKim]

I work with cardiac patients who are frequently in and out of the hospital in less than 24 hours. I regard reputable websites as an invaluable resource for patient education. Doctors have very little time to do good teaching, and some days it isn't much better for nurses. Even when you do very good teaching, patients aren't always learning. They are frequently anxious, and have difficulty hearing and assimilating the teaching in the hospital--looking at information at their pace in the comfort of their own home allows more effective learning, and encourages them to take more responsibility for their own health. Also the patient teaching materials at my hospital are boring, ugly, and hard to read. Good websites are clear, interesting, and frequently interactive. I have seen one on radiology that shows videos of thallium stress tests and cardiac caths. The American Diabetes Association has an interactive learning program for newly diagnosed diabetics.

I usually encourage people to check out the sites of the major organizations involved in their disease process, for example, the American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org) or the American Heart Association (http://www.americanheart.org). Also reputable medical centers like the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com). I also use government sources like MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov/).

When patients are doing their own searches, I tell them to look for something on healthcare sites called "HONCode Accreditation". HON stands for Healthcare on the Net, and was started by organizations concerned about the accuracy of information on the internet. The Health on the Net Foundation uses peer review to evaluate and assess sites, and if they pass, they get the HONCode accreditation. You can find out more about them at their website, and they are well-respected and with no competing interests. (http://www.hon.ch/HomePage/Home-Page.html)