Many of us use Google to look up health information. Even doctors google. I often use the search engine to show my patients for example images of anatomy or skin problems. As more people become tech-savvy and websites get better, I expect that Dr Google will be even more popular in the near future.
A study published in the Australian Family Physician in 2014 found that 63 percent of patients accessed the internet in the previous month; 28 percent had sought health information online; and 17 percent had obtained information related to problems addressed during a GP visit.
The challenge is of course to find reliable information. To help differentiate the good from the bad, have a look at this post: 6 warning signs that online health information may be unreliable.
It is recommended to check with a health practitioner that the information is applicable to you. Your doctor may be able to recommend some good resources too.
Hello Edwin
What a timely article in light of recent conversations about Dr Google. Your GP and Dr Google can make a great team!
A useful website for people seeking information about hereditary haemochromatosis (aka inherited iron overload) is http://www.ha.org.au
This contains a number of specific patient resources incl a booklet http://haemochromatosis.org.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HYQA_Ed3_2014Web.pdf
and video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPu7gliKuYU
Information on haemochromatosis is available from some other reputable sites too like http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
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Thanks Karin
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Reblogged this on Dr Thinus' musings and commented:
A couple of other interesting handy sites:
http://www.racgp.org.au/your-practice/guidelines/handi/ for non-drug interventions
http://wiki.psychiatrienet.nl/index.php/SwitchAntidepressants a tool to assist GPs when swapping antidepressants
https://ecouch.anu.edu.au/welcome The ECouch system for only Psychology assistance
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Hi Edwin, great article and you’re absolutely right when you say that health information online can be outdated or incomplete. Our site has UK-based medical information which is always kept up to date to reflect the latest guidelines in our country (and European guidelines) and it is always evidence-based. One way to know information is trustworthy if it originates from the UK is to look for The Information Standard logo on websites – a quality mark for health information (which we have) which is supported by NHS England. Our international audience is growing too and we already have a substantial number of visitors from Australia and overseas.
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Edwin, I often refer to Medline Plus. In addition to some general information, there are useful references to follow up.
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Edwin, for the many Dutch in Australia, I recommend http://www.thuisarts.nl . It is an enormous success in Holland.
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