a. Evaluating Health-Related Web Pages
Medical Library Association- Not all websites are created equal. These tips from MLA will help users learn to evaluate health websites.
b. Financial, Legal and Insurance Support
MedlinePlus Health Topic: Financial Assistance- English or Espanol, expansive list of reviewed Web sites that includes interactive health tutorials, medical dictionaries, low-literacy resources, news and directories.
- Virginia Resources -
Department of Medical Assistance and Services- Information about high quality comprehensive health services to qualifying Virginians.
FAMIS- Family Access to Medical Insurance and Security Plan-State program that helps working families provide health insurance to their children.
How to apply for Medicaid in Virginia- Department of Medical Assistance Services.
Instructive Visiting Nurse Association- nonprofit providing comprehensive health care to people in their homes, regardless of their ability to pay.
NeedyMeds.com- provides information about patient assistance programs which provide no costs prescription medications to eligible participants.
Patient Advocate Foundation-nonprofit solving insurance and healthcare access problems for specific patient populations.
Prescription Assistance Programs in Virginia, DMAS- Information for Virginians who need help paying for prescription medications.
Virginia Poverty Law Center-nonprofit concentrating in the areas of law that affect low-income families.
c. Multicultural Health
Find general information written in a variety of languages.
- Minority Sites -
Hispanic Health - Part of a course at Rice University -- statistics about the General Health Status of Hispanics.
Intercultural Cancer Council
Cancer fact sheets from the Baylor College of Medicine. Discusses disparities in services and treatment for medically underserved minorities.
Minority Women's Health
National Women's Health Information Center. Sites for several minorities including African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, and the programs available.
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
D.C. lobbying group, but does have some important links for Hispanic health.
Office of Minority Health
A search engine for databases from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Office of Minority and Women's Health
Up-to-date information on health issues concerning women and ethnic/racial populations and other special populations from the CDC.
Patient Education Materials
Links to excellent sites with foreign language handouts.
- Spanish Language Sites -
Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC en Español)
Spanish language information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Easy to Read
Links to easy-to-read Spanish language health information provided by MedlinePlus.
Health Information Translations
A link to the Spanish language section of this site. Brought to you by three Central Ohio health care organizations. This project hopes to produce valuable resources for health care education in diverse communities.
Latino Cardiovascular Health
Educational materials available in English and Spanish for the Hispanic community. From the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Medical Spanish Sites
Links to Spanish language medical dictionaries and glossaries. Complied by the South Texas Community College.
MedlinePlus en Espanol
A Web portal from the National Library of Medicine with links to reliable Spanish language health information. The "Tutorials Interactivos" are slide shows with sound.
National Center for Farmworker Health
A few easy-to-read Spanish pamphlets. Teens Can Say No To Sex; Planning Your Family; Rules for Healthy Eating; High Blood Pressure; Skin Emergencies;Work Injuries; Alcohol and Children; What is Diabetes; Care of Teeth; Tips to Reduce Stress.
NOAH: New York Online Access to Health Home Page
From the NY Public Library. Entire site is in Spanish as well as English. Searchable.
Virginia Department of Health - Office of Epidemiology
An extensive list of infectious diseases, with fact sheets in English and in Spanish.
- Multicultural Health Care -
Alaska Native Cultural Profile
Description of Eskimo anthropology and health practices. Includes several links.
Asian American Health
An information portal to issues affecting the health and well-being of Asian Americans in the United States. Compiled by the National Library of Medicine.
Assuring Cultural Competence in Health Care
Recommended standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate health care by the Office of Minority Health, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
BC HealthFiles
Easy-to-read one page fact sheets on a variety of health topics. Some are available in Chinese, French, Punjabi, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Cambodian Cultural Profile
From Ethnomed at the University of Washington. Detailed description of health practices and differences with U.S. medicine.
Cross Cultural Health Care Program
A multicultural health project based in Seattle, Washington.
CLAS ACT
Culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services resource guide. Contains general, language, and research resources.
Discover with Diversity Rx
Dealing with diverse patient populations. Standard of practice for medical interpreters.
EthnoMed Patient Education Resources
Culturally sensitive patient handouts in multiple languages.
Health Information Translations
A web site which provides health information in several languages. This is a collaborative project to produce valuable resources for health education in diverse communities.
Health and Literacy Special Collections
Contains a language index and for each language, provides a list of websites that contain health information written in that language. The site also has a link to easy-to-read information.
HICUP:Health Information in Chinese Uniting Patients, Physicians and the Public
From New York University's Medical Center, this site offers health information in Chinese.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Links to Religious Tolerence.org to discuss the use of blood transfusion, among other medical issues.
Mexican Cultural Profile
From Ethnomed, this profile contains societal and religious beliefs that influence health practices.
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
Health fact sheets are available in English and Spanish. The Alliance is the foremost national resource on Hispanic health issues. This
organization is the Nation’s oldest and largest network of Hispanic health and human service providers.
NSW Health - Multicultural Communication
Over 450 publications available in many languages.Sponsored by the New South Wales (Australia) Health Department. They promise to produce a new publication each month.
SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages
This site provides access to health information in several Asian languages: Chinese, Hmong, Khmer, Laotion, Thai and Vietnamese. It also contains links to a variety of Asian and Pacific Islander health resources. This site in a joint project of the Tufts University Health Sciences Library and South Cove Community Health Center.
Patient Education Materials
Links to excellent sites with foreign language handouts.
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
Information on topics such as HIV, STDs, cold, flu, TB, smoking, diabetes, heart disease obesity, pap tests, mammograms, menstrual cycle, patient's rights, and emergency rooms in a variety of languages including Arabic, Karen, Somali, Burmese, Kirundi, Vietnamese, English, and Russian.
24 Languages Project
Health education brochures in 24 languages. Topics include infectious diseases, dementia, mammography. The site is maintained by the Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah.
d. Special Needs
Links to resources that are easy to read and resources for low vision users. Also, there are links to resources on health literacy.
Easy to Read from MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/easytoread/easytoread_a.html
Health Literacy-
Beyond the Brochure: Alternative Approaches to Effective Health -An 80 page booklet about different ways to communicate with low-literacy clients such as posters, fotonovelas, drama, games and audiovisual materials. From the AMC Cancer Research Center in Colorado.
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/bccpdfs/amcbeyon.pdf
How to Create and Assess Print Materials
Help for designing and assessing printed health materials from the Harvard School of Public Health.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/materials.html
Literacy and Health Outcomes
A report from the U. S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released in January 2004 which concludes that low reading skill and poor health are clearly related.
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/litsum.pdf
Materials Development and Assessment
A list of resources to help with writing and assessing easy to read health information. From the Health and Literacy Compendium.
http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/comp/Materials/development.html
Partnership for Clear Health Communication
A coalition of national organizations that are working together to promote awareness and solutions around the issue of low health literacy and its effect on health outcomes. They suggest that patients should ask 3 questions of their health care providers - What is my main problem? What do I need to do? Why is it important for me to do this?
http://www.npsf.org/askme3/
Preparing Patient Education Materials
People at all literacy levels prefer written materials that are simple and attractive. This fact sheet is one in a series of nine developed for providers who are designing materials for consumers. It details how to develop materials that are easy to understand. From the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. http://www.chcs.org/usr_doc/Health_Literacy_Fact_Sheets.pdf
- Low Literacy -
Food and Drug Administration Easy-to-Read Publications
Easy to read health brochures in both English and Spanish.
MedlinePlus: Easy-to-Read: English or Espanol
Links to easy-to-read health information.
National Center for Farmworker Health
Eleven low-literacy handouts available in English and Spanish, on Teens Say No To Sex, Family Planning, Healthy Eating, High Blood Pressure, Skin Emergencies, Work Injuries, Heat Injuries, Alcohol and Children, What is Diabetes, Care of Teeth, Tips to Reduce Stress.
Quality of Health Care: "Q-Pack"
Patient handouts written for people with limited literacy. Available in English and Spanish. Provided by the the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The materials will help patients choose wisely when it comes to their health care.
- Low Vision or Blindness -
Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired, Commonwealth of Virginia
The mission of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired is to enable blind or visually impaired individuals to achieve their maximum level of employment, education, and personal independence.
Do You Have Low Vision? - English or Espanol
A quiz from the National Eye Institute. Links to Related Topics provided.
Low Vision Aids
Macular Degeneration Partnership
MedlinePlus: For Low Vision Users
Health information with large fonts, easy-to-read language, and audio to listen to on each page.
National Library Service for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
Information about laws (Americans with Disabilities Act), equipment that is available, Braille readers, articles about assistive devices, Bibles for people with low vision, Braille embossers, national organizations. From the Library of Congress.
