1. Speak Up for Health! Resources for making informed healthcare decisions Sheila Snow-Croft, Outreach Education Coordinator NN/LM Southeast Atlantic Region Health Sciences and Human Services Library University of Maryland Baltimore November 2009

2. Where do Consumers Start? General search engines - Google.com sites, such as WebMD Other? Why? More importantly, what are the implications of this search behavior?

3. Why Do Consumers Use Google or WebMD First? Name recognition Advertising and marketing Satisfied with “pretty good” results

4. Some Implications Trust and confidence in name brand Missing higher quality, lesser-known sources Incorrect or incomplete information Information overload Bad information can be harmful Information from the best resources will help you make informed decisions about health.

5. Where to Start medlineplus.gov

7. Navigating from the Home Page On the Home Page, the main sections are shown on the left hand side.

8. Navigating Inside MedlinePlus The navigation bar shows across the top each page inside MedlinePlus; with the same topics as the Home Page

15. Uses Based on Evidence

17. Medical Encyclopedia & Dictionary Encyclopedia includes over 4,000 entries on health topics, and an extensive library of illustrations. Medical Dictionary

19. Current Health News News from Reuters and HealthDay Searchable by date or topic Archived for 3 months Email Announcements – very useful!

20. Sign up for news from the link - Daily, weekly and specialty topics available

21. MedlinePlus Magazine Quarterly Also available as a.pdf file

22. Directories Page Doctors and Dentists Hospitals and Clinics Specialists Other Healthcare Facilities & Services Libraries

23. Interactive Tutorials New Titles: –Avian Flu –Pneumonia –Back Exercises –Newborn Screening –Retinal Tear and Detachment

24. Household Products Database This database contains information about thousands of brand name household products and their potential health effects http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov

25. WD40

29. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov

30. Genetics Home Reference provides: Consumer-friendly summaries of genetic conditions FAQs and overviews Handbook titled “Help Me Understand Genetics”

31. Tox Town An interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic chemicals, your health, and the environment Search by –Location –Chemicals http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov

32. ToxTown Farm Page

33. LactMed: The Drugs and Lactation Database Part of the TOXNET suite of databases

34. valium http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov

39. Questions? Contact us: National Network of Libraries of Medicine Southeastern Atlantic Region http://nnlm.gov/sea (800) 338-7657 ssnowcro@hshsl.umaryland.edu

40. Thank you!