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Glossary
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and
products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional
medicine. Conventional medicine is medicine as practiced by holders of M.D.
(medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied
health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and
registered nurses. Some health care providers practice both CAM and
conventional medicine. While some scientific evidence exists regarding some
CAM therapies, for most there are key questions that are yet to be answered
through well-designed scientific studies--questions such as whether these
therapies are safe and whether they work for the diseases or medical
conditions for which they are used. [http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam]
Consumer health information (CHI)
"Any information that enables individuals to understand their health and make health-related decisions for themselves or their families. This includes information supporting individual and community-based health promotion and enhancement, self-care, shared (professional-patient) decision making, patient education and rehabilitation, using the health care system and selecting insurance or a provider, and peer-group support….To be effective, CHI must be tailored to the interests, literacy, language, cultural background, emotional state, and desires of its user." (Patrick and
Koss, 1995 [http://nnlm.gov/train/chi/sws.html]) CHI should not be confused with patient education.
Health fraud
"Articles of unproven effectiveness that are promoted to improve health, well being or appearance. The articles can be drugs, devices, foods, or cosmetics for human or animal use." (Kurtzweil, 1999 [http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_fraud.html]
Health literacy
"The set of skills needed to read, understand, and act on basic health care information. Over 90 million adults with low health literacy skills…have limited ability to read and understand the instructions contained on prescriptions or medicine bottles, appointment slips, informed consent documents, insurance forms, and health educational materials. Poor health literacy skills have profound economic consequences. (National Academy on Aging Society, 1999 [http://www.agingsociety.org/agingsociety/publications/fact/fact_low.html])
Medical research
"Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws." (Webster, 3d ed) For more information about medical research, read the JAMA Patient Page: Navigating the Maze of Medical Research [http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm
?article_ID=ZZZFIEX5YAC&sub_cat=413]
Patient education
"Patient education is a planned activity, initiated by a health professional, whose aim is to impart knowledge, attitudes and skills with the specific goal of changing behavior, increasing compliance with therapy and, thereby, improving health." (The Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association, 1996 [http//caphis.mlanet.org/resources/caphis_statement.html])
Privacy statement
"A page or pages on a Web site that lay out its privacy policies, i.e. what personal information is collected by the site, how it will be used, whom it will be shared with, and whether you have the option to exercise control over how your information will be
used" (TRUST-e Privacy Glossary).
Search engine
Google, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, Infoseek, and Yahoo are all search engines.
They index millions of sites on the Web, so that Web surfers like you and me
can easily find Web sites with the information we want. By creating indexes,
or large databases of Web sites (based on titles, keywords, and the text in
the pages), search engines can locate relevant Web sites when users enter
search terms or phrases. When you are looking for something using a search
engine, it is a good idea to use words like AND, OR, and NOT to specify your
search. Using these boolean operators, you can usually get a list of more
relevant sites. [http://www.techterms.com/definition/searchengine]
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