About Online Health Information

Using health information from the Web

• locate printed information from national, state, regional, and local resources; and,
• connect with people—agencies, organizations, and services in Iowa that can help meet your health information needs.

Keep in mind that the quality of health information found over the Web varies. What you find may be:

• authoritative and trustworthy, based on solid medical evidence;
• earnest, heartfelt, but dangerous advice from well-intentioned people; or,
• lies and exaggerations created by people who want to sell products.

If you have personal health concerns, information found over the Web may be educational. But it cannot substitute for medical advice from a licensed healthcare provider who knows you, your medical history, and your medications. HealthInfoIowa's disclaimer should be considered when using information on our site:

HealthInfoIowa is designed as an education resource for Iowa residents. We do not endorse and are not responsible for information found at sites to which we link. Please consult your personal physician or other healthcare professional for issues related to your own health.

For ideas on making good use of information you find, see:

• Communicating with Your Doctor
• Sharing Online Information with Your Healthcare Provider
  [http://www.healthinfoiowa.org/evaluating/sharing.html]
• Talking with Your Doctor: A Guide for Older People
  [http://www.niapublications.org/pubs/talking/index.asp]
  Although it is published by the National Institute on Aging, the guide offers useful ideas for people of all ages.
• Dictionary of Common Medical Terms
  [http://familydoctor.org/x2671.xml]
• Using Healthcare Information to Help Make Treatment Decisions
  [http://www.ahcpr.gov/consumer/diaginfo.htm]

Evaluating online health information

Once you click beyond HealthInfoIowa, you move into uncharted territory. HealthInfoIowa does not control the information on other sites. You can do your own test for reliability and credibility by using the Health on the Net Site-Checker [http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/HONcode_check.html], a short, interactive questionnaire.

Other useful evaluation tools:

• Discern Online: Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information
  [http://www.discern.org.uk/general_instructions.php]
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  [http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/index.html]
• Evaluation of Information Services
  [http://www2.vuw.ac.nz/staff/alastair_smith/evaln/evaln.htm]
• Quackwatch: Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions
  [http://www.quackwatch.com]
• Fraudulent Health Claims: Don't Be Fooled
  [http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/scams/sc702.htm]
• Buying Prescription Medicines Online: A Consumer Safety Guide
  [http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/buyperscript-online/guide.htm]

Tracking down health information

• take a HealthInfoIowa tutorial [http//www.healthinfoiowa.org/tutorials/];
• visit your local public library or a health sciences library that serves consumers [http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/members/reports/?service=2&state=IA&patron=p]; and
• read the National Library of Medicine Guide to Finding Health Information
  [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/guide.html#six].

Guarding your privacy

• Be cautious!
• Look for a privacy statement [http://www.HealthInfoIowa.org/tutorials/glossary.html#privacy] spelling out the type of information that might be collected during your visit to that website and how it will be used (see the HealthInfoIowa privacy statement).
• Read TRUSTe's Privacy Protection Guidelines
  [http://www.intek.net/Secure/White/Privacy%20Protection.htm].

We'd like to hear from you

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Copyright © 2001 Iowa Consumer Health Project
Disclaimer and Privacy Statement

HealthInfoIowa, a consumer health information resource from
the State Library of Iowa, is funded by the National Library of Medicine
under contract NO1-LM-6-3523 with the University of Illinois at Chicago.