MedlinePlus Tutorial 3: Searching for Health Information on MedlinePlus

Welcome to the video tutorial: "Searching for Health Information on MedlinePlus." This video is for you, the community health worker. It shares how you can search for health information on a great reliable website. When you use this one website you can be confident that you are sharing health information that is accurate and reliable. They have already done the research for you, And pulled together the information you need. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, some of the top chronic health conditions include heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Your clients may have these conditions. They may ask you questions about health conditions, like symptoms, treatment, or why they have a disease, and you want to make sure you give them information that is reliable. MedlinePlus provides quality health information from a number of resources, and it has to meet a strict list of standards before being included. So, you and your clients can use MedlinePlus to find health information that you can trust. Searching for health information can take time. It can require searching different websites, and then you have to figure out if what you found is information you can trust. You can do an internet search through a browser, like Google. Or visit a website, like Mayoclinic. And then, search the American Cancer Society. And then, search another website. Or, you could go to MedlinePlus.gov. Going to MedlinePlus makes it so much easier. That's because they've already done the work for you. MedlinePlus is the health information resource for the public from the National Library of Medicine. It includes information on over 1000 diseases, illnesses, and health conditions. Let's say you have a client who was diagnosed with high blood pressure. That client comes to you because they want to understand more about blood pressure. Let's say you go to MedlinePlus.gov to find information for them. A lot of us might think to start by going to the search box to find health information we are looking for. But that can be overwhelming. Look what happens when we enter "high blood pressure" into the search bar. Over 3700 pieces of information! The easy way to find health information that will save you time is to start with the "health topics" feature. You can find it at the top menu bar, As well as about halfway down the webpage. Click on "Health Topics." You can search for health topics alphabetically. Another option is viewing this list of health topics, like disorders and conditions. We are going to look up "high blood pressure" alphabetically. So let's click on "H" for "high blood pressure." The health topics under "H" are in alphabetical order. Now we are going to scroll down until we see "high blood pressure." And now we are going to click on "high blood pressure." Notice at the top what looks like a table of contents. You can click on the specific information you want, and be taken there directly. Here I will click on "Diagnosis and Tests." And it will take me directly to "Diagnosis and Tests." Or, you can scroll down and browse the information. The summary could be helpful for your client. It includes information about what high blood pressure is, how it is diagnosed, and the different types of high blood pressure. If you scroll down to "Start Here" you can see a few more options for basic information about high blood pressure. As you scroll down the webpage you can see specific information about high blood pressure, like "Diagnosis and Tests," "Prevention and Risk Factors," "Treatments and Therapies," "Living With," and more. Each section includes links to information. Take a look at each link. Notice that it tells you where the information is coming from. And that you are taken directly to that website. For example, in the "Start Here" section, you'll see "What is High Blood Pressure?" (American Heart Association) This tells you that the information about high blood pressure is coming from the American Heart Association. It is always good to know where the information is coming from. Click on the words "What is High Blood Pressure?" And it will open up a new tab on your computer, and take you right to the information on the American Heart Association website. It is important to remember that each person is different. Health issues present differently for each person. The health information on MedlinePlus is general. So it is important for you to encourage the person you are sharing this information with to take it to their doctor and talk with them about it. Remember, going to MedlinePlus.gov, and then clicking on "Health Topics" can save you time, and you can trust the information you get.