HEALTH INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR CONSUMERS

Georgia Perimeter College recognizes the health care needs of students in our community and has established the Student Health Center on the Clarkston campus, and a mobile unit visits other campuses periodically. You can find relevant health sources — books, CDs, and DVDs — at any campus library or eBooks, articles, and films through GALILEO databases. If you want to get general information about particular health concerns, however, many reliable consumer health resources are freely available online.
Need medical care and want to learn more about the doctor or hospital that may provide that care? Look for information at Healthcare.gov. Not sure about your health care provider? The Joint Commission certifies programs or services of health care organizations such as cancer, kidney disease, depression, heart failure, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Been told that you may have a medical condition and you want to know where to turn for reliable information? Want to better understand the symptoms for different diseases, disorders, or disabilities? These and many other consumer health concerns are addressed through excellent resources on government sites, especially at MedlinePlus; the web sites of medical care facilities, such as the Mayo Clinic site; and other sites, such as FamilyDoctor.org from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) provides resources about diseases, conditions, other topics arranged alphabetically, and recommendations for travelers worldwide. Several health resources, like the CDC site, offer information in Spanish.
Anyone needing to know more about the two diseases accounting for nearly two out of every three deaths will want to access either the American Heart Association, an advocacy organization providing information for all aspects of heart disease and stroke, or the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer.gov, which provides information on cancer topics, including news, clinical trials, statistics, and more.
Interested in learning more about transplants or organ and tissue donation? In addition to searching Medline Plus and other general resources, you might look at the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), the non-profit organization that manages the nation’s organ transplant system, the Georgia Transplant Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation, Donate Life, and the Donate Life Georgia Registry.
One of the most reliable guides for online consumer health resources for Georgia is the one developed by Terri Ottosen, the Consumer Health Coordinator of the Southeastern Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. She has included links to web sites for general health resources in Georgia, non-state specific health resources for specific populations (men, women, LGBT, seniors, and others), and Emergency Preparedness Resources.
GPC’s own Consumer Health Resources for Georgia is among the online research guides developed by GPC Library. It’s accessible by selection of the appropriate link in the left column on the library page for GPC. Our guide focuses on general trustworthy web resources as well as some for particular health concerns. We have posted a list of information resources for veterans. And besides many of the sites mentioned in this blog, we recently added links to basic information about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. The Consumer Health Resources for Georgia guide is continually being revised and suggestions for improvement are welcome. Thank you.