Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives (via Flickr)
A recent national survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation found that:
- 80% of adults who use the Internet have looked online for health info
- 2/3 of the Internet users who sought out health info looked up a specific disease or medical problem.
- 56% have checked for info about a treatment, drug or procedure.
- More than a third of the Internet users have read commentary, blog posts or other accounts of personal health experiences.
- Only 7% have looked for information on end-of-life decisions.
- Most people don’t look for ratings of doctors and hospitals.
The findings come from a national telephone survey of 3,001 adults.
So what are the best sites to look at for health advice?
- CDC The Center for Disease Control and Prevention site has information on diseases and medical conditions, tips for healthy living, workplace safety and health, as well as multimedia tools, and frequent health news updates.
- WebMD has reliable information on common health topics, a children’s health part of their site, a symptom checker tool, and a physician directory.
- Healthcare For You gives detailed information about navigating the healthcare system in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington D.C. The site simplifies the process of finding insurance, locating healthcare clinics, and finding “free” or low-cost services. Their medical experts are available to answer health questions.
- Wellsphere is one of the top rated health blogger networks.
- Mayo Clinic is a source of great doctors and incredible medical services. Their website is also a source for quality medical information.
Ok I have always felt these sites are like a double edged sword…I think that’s the expression.
What I mean is that they can almost bring on hypochondria in a person. SOOOOOOO many things looks similar and of course a medical doctor is the only one who should make a call about any given health ailment.
I am guilty though after surfing around webmd.com for waaay to many hours I found plenty of information and saved some money by not going to the doc.
I definitely agree with you, Charly. It’s nice that a lot of these sites also include physician directories to find a good doctor in your area.