MAHSLIN Expert Searcher

Expert Searching: Consumer Health

Page created by Michelle Eberle

Databases

  • AltHealthWatch
    This database focuses on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. It offers libraries an immediate resource of full text articles, from 140 international, and often peer-reviewed, reports, proceedings and association & consumer newsletters. In addition, there are hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, special reports, original research and book excerpts. Some full-text.

  • Health Source: Consumer Edition
    This resource provides access to nearly 300 full text, consumer health periodicals. This database also includes searchable full text for more than 1,000 health-related pamphlets and more than 140 health reference books, including books published by the People’s Medical Society. Additionally, Health Source: Consumer Edition contains 7,000 Clinical Reference Systems reports (in English and Spanish); Clinical Pharmacology, which provides access to 1,100 drug monograph entries and 2,700 patient education fact sheets; and Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. This full text database covers topics such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, drugs & alcohol, aging, fitness, nutrition & dietetics, children’s health, women’s health, etc.

  • Health & Wellness Resource Center
    This resource answers the need for a fully integrated, ever-growing electronic resource center for all levels of health research. Rely on the Health & Wellness Resource Center for instant access to carefully compiled medical reference and periodical materials that your users can trust.

  • Health Reference Center– Academic
    How can you easily provide current, reliable health information for your patrons -- including your nursing and allied health students? Give them access to Health Reference Center -- Academic on InfoTrac® Web. This multi-source database provides access to the full text of nursing and allied health journals, plus the wide variety of personal health information sources in InfoTrac's award-winning Health Reference Center™ plus 40 full-text nursing and allied health journals.
    Gale Health Reference Center–Academic is searchable with a public library card through your Massachusetts public library’s databases online.
  • Well-Connected
    WELL-CONNECTED is a library of about 100 reports on common diseases and wellness issues. Each report is an in-depth discussion of the latest information on treatments, risk factors, causes, diagnostic tests, and preventative measures. All reports are written by experienced medical writers and reviewed for accuracy and relevancy by a board of physicians at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

  • Yoursurgery.com
    YourSurgery.Com® provides easy to understand information for common and specific surgical procedures. YourSurgery.Com® organizes the information so that you and your family can understand each procedure and help you ask your physician questions. Below is a list of the topics that will be explained for each procedure:
  • Anatomy of the operative site
  • Alternative surgical solutions
  • Pathology of the Illness
  • Possible complications of surgery
  • Symptoms associated with the condition
  • Post Operative Care
  • Methods of diagnosis
  • Innovations in surgical technique
  • Concise description of each surgery
  • Rare Disease Database
    A rare or "orphan" disease affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. There are more than 6,000 rare disorders that, taken together, affect approximately 25 million Americans. One in every 10 individuals in this country has received a diagnosis of a rare disease. Some have familiar names (Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS) and some have unusual names (Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis). This database contains reports for thousands of rare diseases and includes a general discussion of each disease as well as symptoms, affected populations, standard and investigational therapies and associations or organizations to contact for additional information.

  • Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
    This database provides access to evidence-based information about herbals and other natural medicines. This is the most comprehensive, scientifically-based, and practical database on natural medicines available anywhere. Patient Ed version available.

    Search Strategies/Tips

  • To search consumer health publications in PubMed, click here
  • Do your own consumer health searches in PubMed by:
  • Entering "jsubsetk" into the search box. Jsubsetk limits the results to consumer health journals.
  • A sample search possibility: jsubsetk AND exercise AND diet.
  • Find patient education materials in PubMed:
  • For articles from 2002 to the present use the search strategy: patient education handout [pt].
  • For articles prior to and including 2002 use the search strategy: (patient* [ti] AND page [ti]).
  • Sample search: patient education handout [pt] AND heart.
  • Sample search: (patient [ti] AND page [ti]) AND diabetes.

    Webpages strong in searching this subject

  • CAPHIS – Top 100 web sites you can trust
  • Clinical Trials.gov
  • DIRLINE
  • Genetics Home Reference
  • HealthFinder-NIH
  • Household Products Database
  • JAMA: Patient Page
  • MedlinePlus
  • NOAH: New York Online Access to Health
  • NN/LM’s “Looking for Health Information?"
  • Hazmap – Occupational health
  • NIH Senior Health

    Journal articles about searching in this specialty

  • Calabretta N. Consumer-driven, patient-centered health care in the age of electronic information.J Med Libr Assoc. 2002 Jan; 90(1): 32-37. (Full text available
    at PubMed Central, PMCID: 64755)
  • White PJ. Evidence-based medicine for consumers: a role for the Cochrane Collaboration. J Med Libr Assoc. 2002 Apr; 90(2): 218-222. (Full text available at
    PubMed Central, PMCID: 100767)

    Subject specialists/librarians who will offer search assistance to other librarians

  • Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region
  • Nancy Harger, University of Massachusetts Medical School Library
  • Cara Helfner, Program Manager, Kessler Health Education Library, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Martha Stone, Treadwell Library, Massachusetts General Hospital (subject specialist for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender issues)
  • Ming Sun, ARCH, Massachusetts General Hospital