Healthy Living

When we consider the abilities and disabilities of ourselves and family members, there are many factors that we cannot control. However, we do have some degree of control of our lifestyle and we can work to make it as healthy as possible. We can also work in many ways to make the communities in which we live healthy environments.

At the same time, when medical conditions arise, we want to find answers. The Internet today has thousands of health sites with an overwhelming amount of information. This page contains annotated links to some of the many quality sites for medical and health information. Of course, no site is a substitute for the personal attention of your physician; however, we hope you can be better informed when you do need to visit a doctor.

Because of the holistic emphasis of Companion Resources on persons living in community, we provide links to sites that emphasize personal health and also include lesser known sites that emphasize community health.

Personal Health

WebMD
WebMD Corporation has become one of the leaders in providing services that help physicians, consumers, providers and health plans navigate the complexity of the healthcare system. The WebMD site itself is consumer-oriented with plenty of personalized options. Also included is the Medscape professional database, one of the leading sources of information for health professionals. Besides the latest medical news on the main site, Medscape features a searchable database of articles in medical journals.

Dr. Koop's Community
Based on the work Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, this site is dedicated to improving the quality of people's lives by empowering them to improve their health. Includes news, personalized page, drug interaction check, newsletter sign-up, message boards, and sections ranging from family health, wellness, and insurance to diabetes, sexual health, and allergies.

Health on the Net Foundation
A wealth of information including support communities, events, a medical search engine, and free access to PubMed/Medline. Also offers a searchable database of medical movies and images which includes x-rays, movies of surgery, articulation and various media of interest to medical professionals and students. Includes the HON Code of Conduct for Medical and Health Web sites.

InteliHealth
InteliHealth features consumer health information from Harvard Medical School, one of the nation's leading medical schools. A companion site, TopicDoc, features a "fast, user-friendly, topic-driven medical literature service offering peer-reviewed articles from the National Library of Medicine. MedCite facilitates the acquisition of high quality medical information for an extensive array of medical topics without the necessity of medical research training or access to a medical library."

Medicine Net
MedicineNet is a network of doctors who produce comprehensive, up-to-date health information for the public. Includes sections on diseases and treatments, first-aid, and a medical dictionary.

Health News and Information Directory
Home pages lists categories of most popular health-related topics. Helpful arrangement of links to many other sites.

CBS Healthwatch
A consumer-oriented medical and health site now integrated into CBSnews.com.

Community Health

American Public Health Association
Although geared primarily to public health professionals, this site has helpful links to many community health resources.

CityNet Healthy Cities
CityNet Healthy Cities is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center in Healthy Cities. Their stated mission is "provide information that will encourage communities to build a safe and healthy environment within urban areas.

National Association of Community Health Centers
The leading membership organization representing the nation's network of front-line community health care centers. Founded in 1971, NACHC provides services and technical assistance to health centers in support of their mission to provide health care services to the poor and medically underserved.

Stanhope & Lancaster: Community Health Nursing
This site accompanies the nursing textbook by the same name and offers additional resources and interaction.