I just finished a big piece of a project for a client that designs web-based health risk assessments and wellness tools for employer groups. One of the components of this project was producing a series of responses to questions about health, nutrition, lifestyle, etc. Fairly standard stuff for the health risk assessment market.
However, one of the things this client wanted was evidence-based research for every health recommendation or guideline described in the responses. All said and done, it required 400 unique references to journal articles, medical research universities, and health-related organizations.
Fortunately, having a few key health resources at my fingertips made this project a lot easier. I use these five health-related resources on the web dozens of times every day. And while there are many others, these are the ones I always come back to for writing about health, nutrition, exercise, chronic disease and preventive care.
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
You’ll find just about every health fact, statistic, guideline, or recommendation you can think of at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Leading causes of death, information updates on the ebola outbreaks, and vast resources on cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. It’s all there. You can even sign up for e-mail updates when the CDC posts new information, perfect for trolling for topic ideas and following health-related news.
2. The Nutrition Source – Harvard University
Harvard University is among the leading health research universities in the world. The Nutrition Source is Harvard’s content-rich, web-based library of health-related articles and research based on nutrition, disease management, and preventive medicine. Many of the articles here include citations to journal articles and studies that can be helpful when writing about health-related topics. And you can’t overlook Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate, a direct response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Choose My Plate campaign.
3. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
This National Institutes of Health site is a great resource for learning about clinical trials related to specific conditions. And that’s useful when writing about cutting-edge research in the world of medicine. You’ll find a trove of reader-friendly articles on the site about healthy living, along with resources created specifically for health professionals. Two NHLBI resources I often point people to when writing about weight management and heart disease include, “Calculate Your BMI” and the “10-Year CVD Risk Calculator.”
This is where you can find more than 24 million journal articles about health and medical research. If you’re looking for specific studies about diabetes management, physical activity and longevity, cancer prevention, or any other health topic, this is the best resource to find evidence-based research.
5. Science Daily and MedLinePlus
I use these two resources to keep track of health and medical news. Both provide well-written content about current health research, news, and recommendations. And the articles often point you to scientific studies and health-related organizations that can be useful in developing health-related content. You’ll also find health professionals quoted in many of the articles featured on this site, which can be helpful when you need to quote or identify an expert.
These are just a few of the health-related sites I use on a regular basis. But as I mentioned, there are many others that also provide valuable information.
What health-related sites do you reference or use?
Recent Comments