The good news about getting health information is that we have
the Internet. And the bad news is . . . we have the Internet. When
you Google something like "heart disease" or "Prozac," you get more
than 30 million hits. Lots of information for sure - but where do
you start? More important (and here's the ugly part), what can you
trust?
It's an important question that makes for a growing problem.
According to studies by the Pew Research Center, the Kaiser Family
Foundation, and others, this problem is even greater for seniors,
those with a low income, and others who aren't particularly
comfortable rattling around on the Web trying to narrow down their
searches for critical information.
Yet despite these challenges, a growing number of people are
going online every day attempting to find the health information
they need and want - although many people quickly give up when their
online search produces millions of possibilities, including many
questionable and irrelevant sites.
The public wants online health information to be reliable, wants
the search process to be quick, and wants to be spared all the
clutter and the pop-up ads pitching oh-so-many questionable drugs,
products, and services of all kinds.
That's why the Soho Center - a nonprofit founded in 1987 to
foster innovative programs and services that benefit children -
created the Virginia Health Information Project (VHIP) with initial
funding from the office of the Virginia attorney general.
The VHIP Web site, www.vahealth.info, is for Virginians of all
ages, all backgrounds, and all income levels. It is a unique,
reliable, and completely non-commercial resource that is deceptively
simple and very easy to use - yet it is loaded with a huge amount of
health-related information.
Now everyone in Virginia can easily find doctors, look up
prescription drugs, and find reputable information about virtually
any disease or health problem. You can get daily health news, sign
up for health newsletters, even watch health-related videos. And
www.vahealth.info can connect you to free state and national health
resources.
If you are a parent, you can go to a special section on
www.vahealth.info to find out about toy recalls, car-seat safety,
childhood immunizations, health guidelines for child care settings,
childhood obesity, prenatal care, insurance coverage for low-income
children and families, even an online medical dictionary for
children.
If you're a senior (or looking up information for an older
person), you can avoid all the links for families with young
children. You can go to www.vahealth.info and - with just a click -
be in a special section for seniors to learn about prescription
drugs and plans, Medicare and Medicaid, doctors and specialists in
every county in Virginia, hospital ratings, diseases and treatments,
and more.
And whether you're young, old, or anywhere in between, you can
quickly and easily get reliable health news, updated daily. You can
also quickly and easily access an extensive health library, doctor-
location services, diet and nutrition information, a health-test
scorecard, lab-test explanations, food safety tips, a body mass
index calculator, information on insurance options, and resources
for low-income families.
You can even find links and information on 14,000 health-related
hotlines, many in English and Spanish.
In building the VHIP site, we've tried to do a lot of the work
for you. We've worked hard to be considerate of your time, spare you
the clutter, and respect your need for important and reliable health-
related information.
And we've avoided any conflicts of interest (or even the
appearance of bias) by supplementing the initial funding we received
from the attorney general's office with ongoing support from the
Virginia National Bank, rather than from the pharmaceutical or
insurance industries.
In other words, the only thing VHIP is "selling" you is a
suggestion to take a look at www.vahealth.info and tell your family,
friends, and colleagues.
Attorney General Bob McDonnell, speaking about the VHIP Web site,
said, "It truly is important for the health and well-being of all
Virginians that our citizens have access to reliable information and
resources regarding health and nutrition. I encourage everyone to
take advantage of this great health resource." I certainly agree.
Jeanna Beker is the director of the Soho Center. She may be
contacted at beker@vahealth.info or www.child2000.org.
ILLUSTRATION: DRAWING
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