Government
Resources for
Health
Care Information for Older Americans
As the population of the United States is aging,
so is their need for reputable information increasing. This page offers
links to U.S. Government organizations and services that may be helpful
to older Americans or their caregivers who are seeking health information.
This list is not exhaustive, but hopefully it will be a good starting point.
Administration on Aging
This site
is designed to serve older Americans, caregivers, professionals in the
field of aging, members of our national aging network, the media, or anyone
with an interest in our nation’s large and growing aging population.
Fact Sheets
These fact sheets are designed for professionals
in the field of aging, service providers and policymakers as well as for
use by older Americans and their family members. Topics include Age Discrimination,
Disaster Services and the Elderly, Grandparents as Caregivers, Health Promotion
Programs for Older Americans, and much more.
Resource Directory for Older People
A Cooperative
Effort of the National Institute on Aging and the Administration on Aging.
This page contains links to many agencies offering services to Older People.
Includes links for information on Arthritis, Balance Disorders, Health
Research, Medical Care, Occupational Therapy, etc.
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality
AHRQ is a lead U.S. federal government agency responsible
for health care system research. It focuses on how the health care system
is working, quality and costs of care,access
and use of services, and on health care outcomes. Their site provides links
to clinical information as well as links for consumers and patients.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to protect the health
and safety of people in the U.S. and abroad by providing credible information
to enhance health decisions and promoting health through strong partnerships.
The CDC’s site offers links to services and programs that may be of interest
to the aging population, including the ones listed below.
Information
Networks and Other Information Sources
http://www.cdc.gov/other.htm
Compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, this list includes key government agencies, plus links
to state and local health departments.
The
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/injweb/websites.htm
The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compiled
an extensive list of sites related to the prevention of injuries.
Department of Veterans Affairs
The goal of the Department of Veterans Affairs is
to provide excellence in patient care, veterans' benefits and customer
satisfaction. Their site houses links to many of the services that VA has
to offer. Several links that may be of interest to older Americans are
listed below.
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Services
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E)
is the VA program that assists veterans with service-connected disabilities
to achieve employment or enhance their ability to function independently
at home and in the community. From here, one can find information about
program services and how to apply for them.
Veterans Health Administration
http://www.va.gov/About_VA/Orgs/vha/
The mission of the Veterans
Healthcare System is to serve the needs of America's veterans by providing
primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support
services. From here, one can access information about health benefits and
services, health programs and initiatives, consumer health information,
integrated service networks, and a VHA facilities locator.
Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health
of Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those
who are least able to help themselves. Their site contains links to agencies
and organizations affiliated with the HHS. Several of these may be of interest
to aging Americans, including those listed below.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion
ODPHP works to strengthen the disease prevention
and health promotion priorities within the collaborative framework of HHS
agencies.
National Health Information
Center (NHIC)
http://www.health.gov/NHIC/
NHIC is a health information
referral service. NHIC puts health professionals and consumers with health
questions in touch with appropriate organizations for answers. NHIC was
established in 1979 by the Office
of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office of Public
Health and Science, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
Healthy People
2010
http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/
Healthy People 2010 challenges
individuals, communities, and professionals to take specific steps to ensure
that all people enjoy good health and a long life. This site offers information
for how to achieve this goal.
healthfinder®
Healthfinder®
is a gateway consumer health information portal from the United States
government. It leads to selected online publications, databases, Web sites,
and support and self-help groups, as well as government agencies and not-for-profit
organizations that produce reliable health information for the public.
The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned
Corps
The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
is the uniformed service of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. Surgeon General provides its leadership. Since 1871, the Surgeon
General of the United States has been the nation's leading spokesperson
on matters of public health. From the Surgeon General’s Office Site at
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/sgoffice.htm,
searchers can find information on numerous health related topics.
Food
and Drug Admnistration (FDA)
From
the FDA’s Web site, one can access consumer and professional information
on foods, drug, biologics, cosmetics, devices, toxicology research, and
regulations and reporting data.
Health
Care Financing Administration
http://www.hcfa.gov/coverage/8f.htm
This site contains links to sites dealing with assessment
of emerging health-related technologies. It also has information about
Medicare coverage for various treatments.
National
Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/
The
National Cancer Institute provides cancer information for health professionals
and patients. From here, one can access the database CANCERLIT for clinical
trials information and patient education handouts.
National
Council on Disability
http://www.ncd.gov/
The National Council on Disability
(NCD) is an independent federal agency that makes recommendations to the
President and Congress on issues affecting millions of Americans with disabilities.
NCD's overall purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and
procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities,
regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and to empower
individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent
living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society. The
site provides links to information about the organization, news releases,
resources, and links to other agencies.
National Guideline Clearinghouse
The National Guideline Clearinghouse™
(NGC) is a comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines
and related documents produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research), in partnership
with the American Medical Associationand
the American Association of Health Plans. Their site allows users to use
the National Guideline Clearinghouse™ Disease/Condition Browse to find
guidelines linked to terms derived from the National Library of Medicine's
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) classification.
National Institutes of Health
The NIH home page provides easy access to the
organization's constituent agencies and scientific resources. The NIH Health
Information Index at
http://www.nih.gov/health/InformationIndex/HealthIndex/Pubincov.htm
may be particularly useful to people researching health topics. This page
offers links to numerous health topics and their corresponding agencies. Some
of the agencies that may be of interest to older Americans are listed below.
National
Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
http://www.nih.gov/niams/
NIAMS
offers information for health professionals and patients, consensus conference
reports, health statistics, brochures, and research support.
National
Institute on Aging
http://www.nih.gov/nia/
The
National Institute on Aging offers publications on health and aging topics
for health professionals and the public with on-line ordering, training
opportunities, press releases and media advisories.
National
Library of Medicine (NLM)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
Interfaces
to MEDLINE and other bibliographic information, health services research,
toxicology and environmental health, telemedicine, National Center for
Biotechnology Information, Visible Human project, and MEDLINEPlus for consumer
health information.
MEDLINEPlus
MEDLINEPlus is a service
of the National Library of Medicine. It has links to general health information,
as well as links to clinical trials, diagnosis/symptoms of orthopaedic
problems, rehabilitation, specific conditions and treatment, and physician
directories. In addition, there are links to law and policy, and health
care organizations.
PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
This database allows for
searching by MeSH and field restrictions. It provides links to participating
publishers' Web sites for full-text journals. PubMed also provides a clinical
query form with search filters for diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis.
National Science and Technology Council
http://www.ostp.gov/NSTC/html/dei/about.htm
This cabinet-level
council is the principal means for the President to coordinate science,
space, and technology policies across the Federal Government. NSTC acts
as a “virtual” agency for science and technology. The site contains links
to recent developments posted by various agencies. There is, for example,
a link to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs at http://www.ostp.gov/NSTC/html/dei/dova.htm
where one can find links to recent developments of the Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Centers in Health Care.
Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor
This agency offers technical
assistance materials for a variety of disability related topics, including:
information on rights in the workplace, provisions of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, effective interviewing techniques, recruiting and hiring
workers with disabilities. This site is also the location for the Job Accommodation
Network, Employer Assistance Referral Network, and the Small
Business and Self Employment Service
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission produces
publications about a variety of topics of interest to older Americans.
From their Publications page at
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/pub_idx.html,
one can search by subject, title or general category. An example of one
of the documents of interest to an active senior can be found at
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/grand/aging/703.html.
This is a publication about staying active. It discusses ways to prevent
orthopaedic injuries, especially those common to older individuals.Compiled by
Denise Shereff
Graduate Student
College of Library
and Information Science
University of South
Carolina
drshereff@yahoo.com
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