GREAT Health Sites

The HealthLink staff have compiled a list of websites that should help you in your search for information on various topics related to health. Click on any of the topics below to view a list of selected sites.

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Try our HealthLink Search Engine! Search only the best health sites on the web. We've selected them, now you can search them. Just enter your keywords! It's that EASY.

Top 3 Starting Points

Starting your search on any health topic from one of the following sites will help you find good quality health information on the internet.

MEDLINEplus
Searching in MedlinePlus will direct you to authoritative health information which has been compiled and evaluated by the staff at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The MedlinePlus site has an excellent encyclopedia, you can search for drug information and the interactive patient tutorials are definitely worth a look.

MayoClinic.com
At the Mayo Clinic in the United States doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients. This joint effort is evident on their searchable site that provides quality, reliable health and medical information.

Health Source - Consumer Edition
Health Source is a subscription database (searchable, online, information resource) designed as a one-stop access point to authoritative health resources. This database is purchased by KPL for the use of Kitchener residents. It contains a goldmine of health information from health magazines, medical journals and other reliable sources. You can easily access this database from home, or in the library using your KPL Library card.

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Alternative Health - Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Alternative Health Watch Database -Online, searchable, alternative health resource from KPL.
Bandolier - Complementary and Alternative Therapies - UK
CAM Online & on PubMed -Search for alternative medicine information on the National Library of Medicine's PubMed site (medical journals) or the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine U.S.A.
Homeopathic Medcial Council of Canada
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (U.S.A.)

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Children's Health

**About Kids Health - This site from Sick Kids is rated as one of the Top 10 Health Websites by Consumer Health Librarians. Great Canadian health information for parents and kids. Be sure to checkout the site designed specifically for kids and How the Body Works, an interactive site on children's physiology).
Caring for Kids -Children's Health Information from the Canadian Pediatric Society.
Caring for the Next Generation - Dr. Greene -Dr. Green, respected pediatrician, has a site filled with topical down to earth information on babies and children.
*Kid's Health (separate sites for Parents, Kids and Teens) -The Kids site is geared for children to use and explore with health information that is fun and age appropriate. The parent's site includes both health and general parenting information.

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Older Adults

Community Care Access Centre of Waterloo Region - This site covers community and long term care for all ages including seniors. It also lists long term care facilties and home care offered in the region.
Finding Health Care Resources for Seniors - Ontario - This site is hosted by the government of Ontario and includes a listing of provincially recognized health care resources and information pages for seniors.
**Merck Manual of Geriatrics -This is the online version of the print book. It is a comprehensive resource for older adults. Browse the tabel of contents or search for your topic.
National Institutes of Health - Senior's Health - Includes health information on a variety of topics related to older adults.

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Health Information in Other Languages

Healthy Roads - Print, audio and video health care information in a variety of languages
Ethnomed - 20 languages and cross-cultural medicine information - University of Washington.
Health Education Brochures in Multiple Languages
Health Information in Chinese
NSW Health - Choose Resources by topic or Resources by language on the left.

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Health Professionals & Students

British Medical Journal
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Free Books 4 Doctors (free online medical textbooks)
**Health Reference Centre - Academic - Available to KPL cardholders: health information for medical professionals, students and the general public from nursing and medical journals, general interest health magazines, pamphlets, and reference books.
Journal of the American Medical Association
Merriam-Webster Online Medical Dictionary
PubMed/Medline - Free search for biomedical journal articles. Some fulltext is available.
**PubMed Books -Search for free online text books on an array of topics in science and medicine.

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Healthcare Services & Physician Information

**Find a Doctor - Ontario -Search to locate a doctor by city, town or postal code and limit to those accepting new patients.
Local Area Hospitals - List of hospital websites and telephone numbers for the local area.
Region of Waterloo Public Health - Resource Centre - Information about the services available from the Public Health Resource Centre including videos, educational kits and pamphlets. Services are available to all citizens of Waterloo Region.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (locate a specialist) - Locate specialists in particular cities, check credentials for specialists, view list of physicians for specific specialties.

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Mental Health

Canadian Mental Health Association - Covers all aspects of mental health including facts and support resources.
Canadian Mental Health Association - Waterloo Region - Local branch of the CMHA provides local education and support for mental health.
National Institute of Mental Health - U.S. government site, includes a great deal of valuable information on all aspects of mental health.
Surveys & Psychological Tests - An interesting list of tests from the BBC (more for fun than research).

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