Online Resources

We encourage you to take advantage of the online resources below to help address your care needs, or to find out more about ACHS.

ACHS Related Resources

The Ammonoosuc Amble: http://www.ammonoosucamble.org

Healthcare related Resources

National Institutes of Health
http://health.nih.gov
The National Institutes of Health provides an excellent, up-to-date, accurate and extremely well-organized patient health information "online catalog". Visitors may choose a variety of ways to browse and search for information on diseases, conditions and symptoms. Simple list type navigation reduces distractions. This Web site is a great place to quickly find links to disease-specific topics at a variety of authoritative Web sites elsewhere on the 'Net.

familydoctor.org
http://familydoctor.org
The patient education content at the Family Doctor Web site is written and reviewed by physicians and patient education professionals at the AAFP. Content is available in both English and Spanish and covers a wide variety of topics. The site is user-friendly and organized in a way that makes it possible for your practice Web site to link directly to "landing pages" that act as overviews for specific conditions, populations, and topics. Rather than simply providing a link to the main site homepage, we recommend linking users directly to targeted content, so for your convenience, we have provided direct links to the main areas.

WebMD
http://webMD.com
WebMD provides quality, comprehensive health resources for consumers, physicians, nurses, and educators. The site includes news, chat forums, health quizzes and consumer product updates, as well as an online Personal Health Record accessible by authorized providers and approved by some health plans. Accredited by both Health on the Net (HON) and the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission's (URAC), webMD is the patient education side of medscape.

Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com
Another great health Web site for consumers, The Mayo Clinic serves up clear and accurate information in useful categories: diseases and conditions, drugs and supplements, treatment decisions, and healthy living. The site has a particularly useful "Drugs and Supplements" area [ http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DrugHerbIndex ] that allows users to search or browse alphabetically (very useful when a user's not sure how to spell a word) for prescription and OTC drugs in the Micromedex database, and herbs and supplements in the Natural Standard database. (www.naturalstandard.com) A variety of calculators, self-assessments and easy-to-understand treatment decision guides are available for common ailments and injuries. Prominent links allow users with poor eyesight or presbyopia to increase the type size with a click. Editors of this HON-accredited site include more than 2,000 physicians, scientists, writers, and educators at the Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit with over 100 years experience in patient care, medical research, and education.

American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org
While the main "Diseases and Conditions" navigation may be too difficult for beginning users or users lacking precise dexterity, the content is on-target and in plain English. A variety of targeted monthly newsletters offer the latest news and advice on all aspects of heart health, including heart attack, cholesterol, blood pressure, arrhythmia, peripheral artery disease, healthy diets and much more. Heart Profilers is a confidential online heart treatment decision tool that allows users to input personal information and receive a report reviewing treatment options, possible side effects, success rates and questions to ask the doctor. Links to medical journal articles and research studies written in an easy-to-understand format are also provided. Do note that the site does feature many context-driven pharmaceutical advertisements.

The New York Times Health Guide
http://www.nytimes.com/health
The New York Times offers a comprehensive online compendium of medical topics, including thousands of in-depth articles on diseases, conditions, tests, symptoms, injuries and surgeries. Frequently updated, this reference is reviewed by doctors, medical writers and editors. Within the guide are extensive links to The Times's archive of news and features. The Times Guide also includes articles by reporters for The New York Times highlighting the latest news on the most common diseases and conditions.

PRIMED Patient Education Center
http://www.patientedu.org/
PRIMED Patient Education Center provides health information written by Harvard Medical School and targeted to consumers. Of particular note are the many excellent, accessible brochures that educate about common diseases and conditions. These are readily available via clear navigation and are offered in any easily downloadable and printable PDF format. PRIMED Patient Education Center also offers glossaries, links to other resources and interactive tools for patients to assess their knowledge and risk. The site does include advertisments for pharmaceuticals.

Discovery Health
http://health.discovery.com/
Discovery Health, a companion Web site to the Discovery Health television channel offers engaging and accessible information on most diseases and conditions. Learning areas include Diseases and Conditions, Fitness and Nutrition, Healthy Living, Mental Health, Pregnancy and Parenting, and Sex and Relationships. The site offers a variety of expert blogs as well as assessment tools and calculators for many conditions and health goals. Discovery has partnered with a variety of respected organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association, however Discovery's privacy policy may not suit all patients.

NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://nccam.nih.gov/health
Thumbnails by Thumbshots.org

The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine offers information on dietary supplements, alternative treatments and therapies, as well as fact sheets on the basics of complementary, alternative and integrative approaches. Also available in Spanish.

WholeHealthMD
http://www.wholehealthmd.com
WholeHealthMD was developed by a team of board- certified doctors and CAM specialists who practiced in integrative medicine centers previously operated by American WholeHealth. These doctors worked with chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbal medicine advisors, nutritionists, and massage therapists to provide integrative health care solutions using a patient-centered approach to wellness. Users can browse via "Healing Centers" to find quite specific, actionable information on a variety of supplements and integrative practices-- including WholeHealthMD doctors' recommendations for specific vitamins, herbs, and nutritional supplements --with dosages, how-to take instructions, and other tips. A healthful diet is emphasized in the "Healing Kitchen".

Lab Tests Online
http://www.labtestsonline.org
Peer-reviewed, non-commercial, patient-centered information on a huge variety of clinical laboratory tests that is browse-able by tests, conditions/diseases and life stage screening. Provided in English, Spanish, German and Polish with several other languages in development.

Vaccine Information
http://www.vaccineinformation.org
This site is published by the not-for-profit Immunization Action Coalition and provides comprehensive, easy-to-understand vaccination information and mandates in English and Spanish. Prominent links on the home page address public concerns about vaccine safety.

Baby Center
http://www.babycenter.com
This site is a 2006 Webby People's Voice Award winner. While rather more openly commercial than some other health information Web sites, this site offers very good tools and useful information on pregnancy, birthing and parenting in an engaging "pop culture" format and style.

KidsHealth
http://www.kidshealth.org
KidsHealth provides doctor-approved, age-appropriate health information for parents, kids and teens. Created by The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, KidsHealth provides families with culturally relevant, accurate, up-to-date, and jargon-free health information, in English and Spanish.

Medline Plus: http://www.medlineplus.gov

A great place to start; health topics, drug information, slideshows with sound, and much more.

AAP Parenting Corner: http://www.aap.org/parents.html

This website is a great source of information for parents and parents-to-be. It includes health topics, immunizations (shots), care seat safety, growth & development, and more.

Family Doctor Pregnancy and Childbirth: http://familydoctor.org/x5054.xml

Your source of information on the basics of pregnancy. Includes complications, labor & delivery, breastfeeding, postpartum depression, as well as many other related topics.

National Diabetes Information: http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/intro/

An excellent source for Diabetes information, including an A-Z topic list, information about pre-diabetes, Types 1 and 2, treatments, clinical trials, and more.

Senior Health: http://nihseniorhealth.gov

This is a good website for older adults. It includes many topics of relevance including Alzeimer's, prescription drug coverage, cataracts, diabetes, arthritis, and more. The website can be viewed in large print.

Nutrition and Fitness resources

The following links provide valuable information on living a healthy lifestyle:

http://www.healthynh.com - Comprehensive site for Foundation for Healthy Communities. Provides health information, resources, and links to other NH physical activity and nutrition programs like Walk NH, and 5-2-1-0 HealthyNH

www.bwanh.org - Statewide bicycling/pedestrian advocacy and education programs

www.lightenupnh.org - A comprehensive web site of New Hampshire-specific resources and formation of a statewide Lighten Up NH! alliance of organizations and health professionals interested in reducing obesity in the Granite State.

www.nhptv.org/livefitnh - LiveFIT NH is a community engagement project encouraging healthy eating and physical activity in adults and children. this is demonstrated using television segments, education and outreach and online resources.