1. FINDING HEALTH INFORMATION
ON THE NET
Vasumathi Sriganesh
QMed Knowledge Foundation
info@qmedkf.org.in

2. DO SHARE WITH US…
• How many of you do use the Internet to seek health
information?
• What is your approach when you search?

3. TODAY’S TALK – FOUR PARTS
• Background / scope / importance of searching
correctly
• Types of information resources
• Examples of very important resources
• Foundational principles of searching

4. PART I - BACKGROUND
• Context
• Right kinds of resources – the importance
• Searching – what is right and wrong

5. WHEN DO WE NEED HEALTH
INFORMATION?
• “Health” related queries – “Are bananas good for our
health”?
• “Condition” related queries – Pregnancy, Bringing up
kids, Posture, Obesity…
• “Disease” related queries – Back pain, Diabetes,
Cancer…

6. WE NEED TO
• Understand diseases / conditions
• Find professionals / institutions
• Make the right decision

7. BEFORE WE SEARCH
We need to know…

8. ABOUT RESOURCES
Authenticity
• Who is responsible for the resource / website?
Recency
• Is it updated regularly / is the information current?
Purpose
• Purpose of the resource / site - is there scope for
bias?
Organization
• Organization of the resource / site – is it easy to find
what you need

9. RESPONSIBILITY
Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval_start.html

10. EVALUATING…
“About Us”
• PABH: Doctors & Cardiologists; mission – to educate
public; contact details provided
• IHH: “Select” group of individuals and businesses
concerned with heart health.
– Site supported by a company that produces vitamins
and other medications
– Link for buying medicines
– Contact details – only “webmaster”

11. SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION

12. OUR QUESTION
• Bananas for our health…. Good / Bad?
– Do they make us put on weight?
– Or do they *really* help us burn fat?

13. RESEARCH SHOWS THAT…..

15. SO…
• What do we believe?
• How many pages of search results do we go through?

16. USING INTERNET RESOURCES
It IS possible to use
“the right methods” to search!

17. STEP BY STEP APPROACH
Learn:
• “About” resources
• How to search correctly and/or consult
librarians / specialists
• How to understand research results and consult health
professionals
• To….Accept limitations of research results and
methods and make correct personal decisions

18. PART II - TYPES OF
RESOURCES

19. ABOUT RESOURCES
Categorize them… and
understand where to go

20. THREE CATEGORIES
Medical Information Resources – three main categories
• Background information / Factual information
• Results of all “reported research”
– What works
– What does not work
– We don’t know yet
• Reported research
– In labs
– On people
• (Large studies)

21. WEBSITES
Can be
• Single type
• Combination types
Learn to identify what type of information
each website provides!

22. PART III - EXAMPLES:
VERY IMPORTANT RESOURCES

23. WEBSITES FOR
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

24. MEDLINEPLUS.GOV

25. Authentic?
Purpose?
Ease of
organization?

28. Information about
updates?

29. WEBSITES FOR
RESULTS OF RESEARCH

30. Cochrane Summaries
PubMed Health

31. summaries.cochrane.org

32. summaries.cochrane.org

34. COCHRANE COLLABORATION
• Experts from different medical fields
– Eg: “Pregnancy and childbirth group”
ALSO:
• Cochrane Consumer Network
http://consumers.cochrane.org/

36. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/

37. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/

38. PART IV: SEARCHING:
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES

39. SEARCHING CORRECTLY
Research Articles
www.pubmed.gov
(Database of 20 million journal articles)

44. SEARCHING CORRECTLY
• Word search – presence of the word
• Field search – Where do you want your word to be?
• Combinations: AND, OR, NOT

46. TAKE HOME MESSAGE
• Searching is a structured art and science
• Know where to go
– Authentic resources – updated regularly
• Search correctly
• Evidence may/may not exist
• Take your decision with your doctor, based on
“best available evidence”

47. QMED KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION
• Conducts programs on correct searching for health
professionals
• Developing plans to help consumers, with the help of
doctors
• People involved
– Librarians specialized in medical information
management
– Trustees – two doctors

48. REAL LIFE STORIES
• HELP – Doctor – son – rare condition
…my son had a rare disease- agenesis of corpus
callosum. Your information helped me a lot. Taking the
cue, I went to Boston to meet someone who ran a
NGO on this disease. I still receive a newsletter from
that group. Now my son works in _____All thanks to
you.

49. REAL LIFE STORIES
• Family friend – rare disease
….The entire credit of my miraculous recovery from a
seemingly incurable disorder, goes to my visit to your
place, when I came to know about pubmed!! I am
trying my bit, to spread awareness about the cure …..

50. www.qmed.org.in

51. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU
• Fact sheet – now
• Searching for specific needs
– “I am 37 and wish to have a baby now. How safe is it”
– “My doctor has given a choice of two chemotherapy drugs for my
mother. How do I choose”
– Consulting sessions to help you
• Search and discuss with your doctor – but NOT
• Medical advice – which your doctor will give you

52. QMED IS
• A not for profit Trust
• No government or agency funding
• We crowdsource funds and ask for donations for any
professional help we provide

53. QMED KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION
Helping patients & their caregivers to seek
reliable information and participate
responsibly in health care decisions