The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.dhhs.gov/) contains 11 different agencies, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  Its mission is “To improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans.” 

AHRQ’s web site is filled with excellent resources for a range of audiences. Some of my favorite picks include:

-Effective Health Care Program (http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm). This section of the AHRQ web site contains information for consumers about a range of health conditions and procedures.  I reviewed the summary guide about treating prostate cancer, and found it full of helpful and easy to understand information.  Many of the summary guides are available as audio files, too.  There is also a useful glossary of medical and statistical terms.

-Technology Assessments (http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/techix.htm) and Evidence-Based Practice reports (http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epc/epcseries.htm).  These documents represent massive literature reviews, and they often contain tables with detailed descriptions of related literature.  It’s worth browsing through the lists of reports to see if there are any available on topics of interest to you. 

The AHRQ’s web site is rich and deep.  These are just a few of my favorite spots–please feel free to let me know if there other areas that I might like to explore.

A few months ago, I subscribed to a free, weekly, electronic newsletter from the Mayo Clinic.  It’s appropriately (and funnily!) called Housecall.  Each issue has a featured topic, like Lung Cancer, Stress, Long-Term Care, and there are links to information about the featured topic on the Mayo Clinic web site.  In addition, each issue of the newsletter has links to:

-Health-related stories written by Mayo Clinic staff

-Healthy recipes

-”Ask a Specialist” forums

-Podcasts

I always find at least one or two items of interest in each of the Housecall newsletters. Plus, the Mayo Clinic web site has nifty features that allow you to increase the text size of web pages and email articles to other people.   Even though it is heavily-branded by Mayo, the information is consistently strong and written in accessible language.  In fact, MedlinePlus (a previous Caralyn Pick!) will often link to information from the Mayo Clinic’s website.

Here’s the link to use if you’d like to subscribe to Housecall (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/housecall/HouseCall).

Happy reading and learning! 

I think it’s appropriate to start off my series of Caralyn’s Picks with one of my all-time favorite resources: MedlinePlus! MedlinePlus is an online clearinghouse of health related information that is maintained by the National Library of Medicine (http://medlineplus.gov). This is a rich web site with lots of helpful information. I use it all the time as a way to get started on my research.

If you want to learn about something quickly, I’d recommend the interactive health tutorials they have available (http://www.nlm.gov/medlineplus/tutorials). I watched the tutorial about burns after a wee accident with a hot pan in my kitchen, and it provided very helpful information that allowed me to calm down.

So, pick a tutorial and let me know what you think!