Surf's Up - Internet sites of interest
Anthea Sutton
Information Officer (Reviews and Special
Projects)
ScHARR
Email:
Compiled [5th February 2008]
NEW WEBSITES/RESOURCES
Ask Boots
http://www.askbootshealth.com/
Boots the chemist, in partnership with the
British Medical Journal (BMJ), has a new website aimed at the public,
providing health information on a number of conditions, operations and
tests. The information is based on the BMJ’s “Clinical Evidence”
series of systematic reviews. The “Ask Boots” website also provides
links to health news.
The Big Quit
http://www.thebigquit.co.uk/
NHS Smokefree has launched a microsite “The Big
Quit” as part of a campaign to encourage people to give up smoking for
good. The site includes tips, information on local
NHS Stop Smoking Services, and resources to download such as the
Smokefree Wallchart.
BioMed Central
Open Access and
the Developing
World Portal
http://www.biomedcentral.com/developingcountries/
BioMed Central has launched an information portal
which aims to provide resources about open access
and internet technologies in the developing world. The portal includes
research articles from relevant journals such as Malaria Journal,
AIDS
Research &
Therapy, BMC Infectious Diseases, BMC Public Health and the
International
Journal for Equity in Health. The portal also offers profiles of
BioMed Central authors who work in
developing
countries, newsfeeds and a blog.
British Heart Foundation Blog
http://www.britishheartfoundation.blogspot.com/
The British Heart Foundation has launched a blog
which contains news relating to heart health.
CONSORT: Transparent Reporting of Trials
http://www.consort-statement.org/
CONSORT, which stands for
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials, encompasses various
initiatives developed by the CONSORT Group to alleviate the problems
arising from inadequate reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
The main product of CONSORT is the CONSORT Statement, which is an
evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting RCTs.
The CONSORT Statement website contains access to the statement and
associated documentation, related tools, and the evidence underpinning
it.
Department of Health RSS Library
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/RSSLibrary/index.htm
The Department of Health has created a library of
their RSS feeds including CMO Updates, Consultations, Publications,
and Recent Stories.
Doubt Kills
http://www.bhf.org.uk/doubtkills/
The British Heart Foundation has launched a
website for their “Doubt Kills” campaign which aims
to raise awareness of heart attack symptoms, and to encourage people
to call 999 if they experience them. The site includes advice for the
public, including a free downloadable podcast, and a Factfile for
health professionals.
EBM Page Generator
http://www.ebmpyramid.org/home.php
Medical
librarians from Dartmouth College and Yale University in the USA have
announced the development of a freely available form-based tool that
enables the quick creation of an annotated Web page of locally
available evidence-based (EBM) resources. Using the EBM Page
Generator, resources for the Web page can be selected from a database.
These existing resources can be edited and additional resources can be
added. After selecting titles, the created page can be previewed and
edited. Finally its code can be exported and posted to your chosen
Website.
EPG Patient Direct
http://www.epgpatientdirect.org/
EPG Patient
Direct is a healthcare portal for patients and the general public in
Europe. Sanctioned by the European Medical Association, the website
includes “Quick Guides” to medical conditions and links to heath
news. Content is available in English, French, German, Spanish and
Italian.
Equality and Human
Rights Commission
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
The Commission
for Racial Equity, the Disability Rights Commission, and the Equal
Opportunities Commission have merged into the new Equality and Human
Rights Commission.
The EQUATOR Network
http://www.equator-network.org/
The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health
Research) Network project seeks to improve the quality of health
research reporting. The project has launched a web based resource
centre that provides a collection of reporting guidelines.
The EQUATOR Network is funded by the NHS National
Knowledge Service and National Institute for Health Research.
Food,
Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global
Perspective - Online
http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/
The World Cancer
Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)
have launched a website containing
reference and resource
material associated with the WCRF/AICR Expert Report: “Food,
Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global
Perspective”.
Health Inequalities
Intervention Tool
http://www.lho.org.uk/HEALTH_INEQUALITIES/Health_Inequalities_Tool.aspx
The Association of Public Health Observatories in partnership with the
Department of Health has launched the Health Inequalities Intervention
Tool to support Spearhead Primary Care Trusts with their Local
Delivery Planning and commissioning. It is designed to help achieve
the Department of Health Public Service Agreement target for life
expectancy. The tool can be downloaded from the London Health
Observatory website.
Health Protection Agency Information on Norovirus
http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/norovirus/menu.htm
The Health Protection Agency has a section of
their website on Norovirus which includes general information,
epidemiological data, detailed guidance and laboratory information.
King’s Fund Library Toolbar
http://kingsfundlibrary.ourtoolbar.com/
The King’s Fund Library has created a toolbar
that can be downloaded to your Internet browser. The toolbar offers
RSS feeds, hand-picked links, a Google-powered search box and King’s
Fund Information and Library Service news alerts.
Look Up
http://www.lookupinfo.org/
Look Up is an information
service focusing on eye care and vision for people with learning
disabilities. It is a collaboration between SeeAbility and RNIB
operating across the UK, building on the work previously undertaken
RNIB Multiple Disability Team.
National Chlamydia Screening Programme
http://www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk/
The National Chlamydia Screening
Programme has launched a new website to provide information on
chlamydia screening to both sexual health professionals and to the
under 25s.
“Netting the Evidence” Customised Search Engine
http://decenturl.com/google/nettingtheevidence
The “Netting the Evidence” Customised Search
Engine, created by Andrew Booth, searches 107 evidence based sites for
materials on the methodology of EBP. This search engine replaces the
former “Netting the Evidence” Resource List.
NLH Neurological Conditions Specialist Library
http://www.library.nhs.uk/neurological/
The Neurological Conditions
Specialist Library aims to provide access to the best available
evidence within neurological conditions to NHS healthcare
professionals. Although targeted at health professionals; patients,
carers and the general public may also find useful information on the
site.
NLH Patient and Public Involvement Specialist Library
http://www.library.nhs.uk/ppi/
The Patient and Public Involvement Specialist
Library is run by the King’s Fund for the National Library for
Health. Its aim is to support the
implementation
of patient, user, carer and public involvement in health care by
providing access, in one location, to the best information available.
NLH Public Health Specialist Library
http://www.library.nhs.uk/publichealth/
The National Library
for Public Health is being developed by the North East Public Health
Observatory as a specialist library within the National Library for
Health. Currently in the early stages of development, it aims to
support all those interested in public health.
Resources for the three priority areas of tobacco,
obesity and alcohol are currently available. Resources for the other
“Choosing Health” topic areas and other public health categories will
be added.
NLH Stroke Specialist Library
http://www.library.nhs.uk/stroke/
The Stroke Specialist Library
is being developed to provide high quality, evidence-based information
on all of aspects of Stroke. This site is aimed at health
professionals with an interest in Stroke.
The Stroke Specialist Library team has drawn
on the expertise of a steering group comprising representatives from a
wide range of stakeholders including the Department of Health, Stroke
Association, British Association of Stroke Physicians, UK Stroke
Nurses' Forum and NHS Institute, together with colleagues from the
Neurological Conditions
and Later Life Specialist Libraries, to bring together key, high
quality resources that aim to help NHS staff and patients work
together to improve care, complementing the Department of Health’s
National Stroke Strategy.
PARR Case Finding Tool
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/current_projects/predictive_risk/patients_at_risk.html
The King’s Fund has released a software tool PARR++
(Patients At Risk of Re-hospitalisation) that helps PCTs use routine
data to predict the risk of emergency re-admission to hospital. The
tool was commissioned by the Department of Health and developed with
New York University and Health Dialog. It is free to download or can
be ordered on CD.
Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Newsletter Online
http://www.pro-newsletter.com/
The PRO Newsletter edited by the Mapi Research
Trust aims to encourage and facilitate rapid dissemination and
exchange of information relevant to patient reported outcomes within
the scientific community. As of Autumn 2007, the PRO Newsletter will
be published online. It is also possible to sign-up for “newsflashes”
to receive the latest information from the website via email.
Positively Professional
http://www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/health/events/training/positivelyprofessional.htm
CILIP Health Libraries Group (HLG) has created a
webpage “Positively Professional” where health library and information
professionals can share their experiences of a
range of different methods of meeting their learning and development
needs. Methods include short courses, informal learning and
reflection, managing a project, and visiting other libraries.
Contributions to this resource are welcomed.
Quest for Quality and Improved Performance (QQUIP)
http://www.health.org.uk/qquip/
The Quest for Quality and Improved Performance (QQUIP)
is a research initiative of the Health Foundation which aims to help
answer the following three questions about healthcare in England:
-
What is the current state of
quality and performance?
-
What works to improve
quality and performance?
-
Are we getting value for money from what is spent
on the NHS?
The QQUIP website provides
independent data and commentary relating to these three areas.
Saferhealthcare
http://www.saferhealthcare.org.uk/ihi
Saferhealthcare is an online resource produced by
the National Patient Safety Agency in association with the BMJ
Publishing Group and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The
resource is for healthcare workers and managers and aims to provide
evidence, information, tools and solutions to improve patient safety
in all healthcare settings.
“Show Me The Money” Customised Search Engine
http://decenturl.com/google/showmethemoney
“Show Me The Money”, created
by Angie Rees, an Information Officer at ScHARR, is a health economics
search engine for users and producers of Health Technology
Assessments, Systematic Reviews, Economic Models and Measures of Cost
Effectiveness.
Strategic Health Asset Planning and Evaluation
http://shape.dh.gov.uk/
The Strategic Health Asset
Planning and Evaluation application (SHAPE) has been developed by the
Department of Health for SHAs and PCTs. SHAPE is a web enabled,
evidence based tool designed to support and inform strategic
planning. The toolkit brings together existing national data sets of
clinical activity, human geography and healthcare estate assets
supported by Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology.
Tobacco Age Change
http://www.tobaccoagechange.co.uk/
The Department of Health has launched a website
to accompany the campaign to inform retailers and the public that the
selling of tobacco products to under 18s is now illegal.
UPDATED/REVISED WEBSITES
Clean Your Hands Year Three
http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/cleanyourhands
The National Patient Safety Agency’s “Clean Your
Hands” campaign is now in its third year. There is new range of
materials and information to support the campaign, available from the
“Clean Your Hands” website at:
http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/cleanyourhands/in-hospitals/year-three/.
Department of Health
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/News/DH_081610
The Department of Health is being upgraded with a
new design and improved content structure in order to better reflect
the Department's work and priorities, and to aim to make information
easier and quicker to find.
Department of Health Leaflets, Booklets and Posters
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/DH_074279
The Department of Health has grouped their most
popular leaflets, posters and booklets into subject categories on
their website.
EBLIP4 Conference
http://www.eblip4.unc.edu/
The full papers from the 4th
International Evidence Based Library & Information Practice Conference
are now available from the conference website.
European Gateway on Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction
http://www.addictionsinfo.eu/
The Elisad (European
Association of Libraries and Information Services on Alcohol and Other
Drugs) gateway on alcohol, drugs and addiction is a
free online service providing access to European web resources on
drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling and related topics. All the
resources have been evaluated and a description of each website is
given. The gateway can be searched using free text or by browsing the
subject categories.
Internet Pharmacist
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/pharmacist
A new edition of
the Internet Pharmacist online tutorial has been released on the
Intute: Virtual Training Suite. The interactive tutorial teaches
Internet research and information literacy skills and is aimed at
students and staff in UK universities and colleges. It is free to use
and takes around an hour to complete.
The tutorial recommends key Internet resources for pharmacy studies,
offers advice on Internet searching and website evaluation, and has a
new section called "Success" to illustrate how the Internet can be
used to support education and research in a variety of
pharmacy-related scenarios.
Local Alcohol Profiles for England
http://www.nwph.net/alcohol/lape/
The North West
Public Health Observatory has published new alcohol profiles for each
local authority in England. The profiles, first produced in 2006,
have been updated to include 22 different indicators and contain for
the first time measures of numbers of people drinking at hazardous and
harmful levels.
NHS Choices
http://www.nhs.uk/
The NHS Choices
website has been updated with new features, expanded content, and
enhanced navigation. The homepage has been redesigned and information
has been added on topics such as maternity services, places to
exercise, and drug and alcohol services. A new feature of the site is
“Behind the Headlines”, a service provided by the NHS Knowledge
Service, which
presents an unbiased and evidence-based analysis of health stories
that make the news. For full details of the changes, see the
Department of Health NHS Choices Update at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Bulletins/nhschoicesbulletin/DH_080120.
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