Health Information Week - Arthritis

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for 
patients and the public.

The theme for the final Health Information Week post is all about arthritis, a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in a joint that affects around 10 million people in the UK.

There are lots of good quality online resources aimed at patients and the public focused on understanding and living with arthritis. 

• NHS UK: Arthritis  www.nhs.uk/conditions/arthritis/
• The Patient website information on different types of arthritis: https://patient.info/bones-joints-muscles/arthritis
• Versus Arthritis are the main UK charity supporting people living with arthritis and they have lots of information on their web site which you can find here www.versusarthritis.org/

You can find a complete list of resources, including more links and a suggested reading list on the Health Information Week web site here.

We hope you have found our posts for Health Information Week useful. Remember NHFT and NGH staff can always contact one of the libraries if you are looking for good quality information to support your patients.

Health Information Week - Heart Healthy

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for 
patients and the public.

The theme for today's Health Information Week post is all about keeping the heart healthy.

There are lots of good quality online resources aimed at patients and the public focused on maintaining a healthy heart. Here are a selection:

General web sites

• British Health Foundation: www.bhf.org.uk/
• NHS Health Check: What's your heart age? www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-health-check/check-your-heart-age-tool/
• NHS: Cardiovascular disease: www.nhs.uk/conditions/cardiovascular-disease/

Diet and weight

• British Heart Foundation: Managing your weight: www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/managing-your-weight
• HeartUK: Easy ways to eat healthily: www.heartuk.org.uk/healthy-living/introduction
• The Association of UK Dietitians: Heart Health: Food Fact Sheet: www.bda.uk.com/resource/heart-health.html

You can find a complete list of resources, including more links covering exercise and risk factors for heart disease on the Health Information Week web site here.

Health Information Week - Media Literacy

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for
patients and the public.

The theme for today's Health Information Week post is all about media literacy. 

How do we know what health news we can trust and do we know if it is accurate? This is a key health issue with the rise of social media and these media literacy resources aim to give patients the skills to make these judgements.

Checking the news yourself

• FactCheck: How to spot fake news (video) www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkwWcHekMdo
• Full Fact: Fact checking toolkit https://fullfact.org/toolkit/

Health news already checked

• Full Fact: Health https://fullfact.org/health/all/
• Health Feedback: https://healthfeedback.org/
• BBC Reality Check (not just health news): www.bbc.co.uk/news/reality_check

Sharing news and social media

• UK Government: Share Checklist https://sharechecklist.gov.uk/
• Poynter Institute: 10 tips for verifying viral social media videos www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/10-tips-for-verifying-viral-social-media-videos/ 

We have also updated our guide to good quality sources of information for patients which you can find on our web site here.

You can find a complete list of resources around media literacy with more links and including games and activities for children on the Health Information Week web site here.

Health Information Week 2022 - Kidney Health

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for 
patients and the public.

The theme for today's Health Information Week post is all about kidney health.

The main job of the kidneys is to cleanse the blood of toxins and transform the waste into urine. When the kidneys are not working properly, harmful toxins and excess fluids build up in the body, which may cause the symptoms of kidney failure.

There are lots of good quality resources for patients aimed at helping to keep the kidneys healthy and functioning properly.

General information:

• The kidneys basic guide: ww.nhs.uk/Livewell/Kidneyhealth/Documents/kidney%20guide.pdf
• Kidney Care UK: www.kidneycareuk.org/

For children and parents

• Info KID www.infokid.org.uk/ 

Diet and Nutrition

• Kidney care cook book www.kidneyresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kidney-Care-Cook-Book.pdf
• Kidney Care UK YouTube channel: includes recipes, kitchen skills, and advise from renal nutritionists www.youtube.com/channel/UCeqQTdAsEzXphqjHVtcTD-A

You can find a complete list of kidney resources, including more links, books and videos on the Health Information Week web site here.

Health Information Week 2022 - Your Health Collection

Health Education England (NHS) and The Reading Agency have worked in partnership to bring  together this new list to support users of health and prison libraries to understand and manage their health. 

The theme of the collection focuses on supporting better general health, such as ageing well, menopause, men’s health, life as a trans person and better mental wellbeing. 

The books and resources have been chosen with the various communities involved for individuals to use themselves or to help them understand someone else’s health issues.

Copies of the 10 books can be found in each library - Berrywood Library, Isebrook Library and the Richmond Library at Northampton General Hospital (you will need to be a library member to borrow them, but you can join online). You can see the list on our catalogue here. 

As well as the print books there are also 30 digital resources freely available via the Health Education England web site which includes information on how to prepare for a health consultation, easy read health resources on a range of health conditions, personal stories about what it’s like to live with a health condition and living well with long-term health conditions.

All the online tools are free to access. They include websites, podcasts, and YouTube clips.

The full collection is available online at library.nhs.uk/yhc/

Health Information Week 2022 - Long Covid

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for

patients and the public.

The theme for today's Health Information Week post is all about living with Long Covid. 

There are a lot of good quality resources available to support patients and their families living with the burden of long Covid available online.

General web sites

• Your Covid Recovery www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk/
• Long Covid Kids www.longcovidkids.org/
• Long Covid Support www.longcovid.org/

Patient Information

• SIGN, NICE and the Royal College of General Practitioners: Covid: a booklet for people who have signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute Covid-19  www.sign.ac.uk/media/1825/sign-long-covid-patient-booklet-v2.pdf
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists: How to manage post-viral fatigue after Covid-19 www.rcot.co.uk/node/3540 (produced by the )
• NHS: Long-term effects of coronavirus (long COVID) www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/long-term-effects-of-coronavirus-long-covid/
• Patient Info has lots of different articles on long Covid https://patient.info/search.asp?searchTerm=long+covid&collections=All

You can find a complete list of resources, including more links, books and podcasts on the Health Information Week web site here.

Health Information Week 2022

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign promoting high-quality information for
patients and the public.

High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Throughout the week we will be posting blogs and tweeting about the themes from this year's event.

The libraries have access to a number of resources that can provide high quality information that clinicians can use with their patients.

For example Clinical Key has a huge variety of evidence-based patient education materials available. Staff at Northampton General also have access to UpToDate which also contains a large volume of materials for patients. To access either of these you'll need your OpenAthens account (and if you don't have one, register online here).

Both of these resources provide the materials in lots of different languages making them accessible to everyone.

You can also find a list of other health resources in translation on the Health Information Week website.

Health and Care Video Library

Funded by the NHS, the Health and Care Video Library consists of over 600 free health related videos.

Developed in partnership with an NHS trust, the videos have all been approved by a clinician and they cover topics such as dementia, diabetes, heart disease, learning disabilities, mental health, pregnancy, and vaccines. 

There are also a number of ‘how to’ and ‘what to expect’ videos alongside.

https://healthandcarevideos.uk/

The videos are aimed at patients who need support, care or more information at home, but can be useful for NHS staff and students too. 

The video library is also linked from the NHS.UK home page and all the content is also available via an app.

iHealth Facts - health claims fact checked

iHealth Facts is a web site aimed at the public where you can quickly check on how reliable health related claims are and what the evidence is to support them.

The site also aims to help the public to use evidence to make their own health related decisions.

You can use the site to search for any health related question, as well as seeing the reply to previous enquiries.

Questions are answered with a simple summary, as well as having links to the research and an overview of the evidence used.

The site is run by Health Research Board-Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN), Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland.

Health Information Week day 5: Easy Health #HIW2019

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign to promote high quality information for patients and the public. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Our campaign this year is focused on enabling clinicians to access good quality information aimed at the public which they can recommend to patients.

We have also produced Helping you to help your patients, which is a brief guide to evaluating information as well as recommendations for sites where you can find trusted information aimed at patients.

For day 5 of Health Information Week we are looking at the Easy Health web site.

Easy Health is a valuable source of patient information leaflets and videos in an accessible and easy-read format, ideal for patients with learning disabilities or communication difficulties. 

The leaflets are produced by a range of healthcare organisations, charities, and NHS Trusts. Just click on “Health Leaflets” to browse by topic or use the search box to search.

For highly accessible information, we thoroughly recommend Easy Health.

We hope you have enjoyed our series of short items on sites that you can use to provide good quality information to your patients and the public. Please contact one of the libraries if you have any questions...

Health Information Week day 4: NICE Evidence Search #HIW2019

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign to promote high quality information for patients and the public. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Our campaign this year is focused on enabling clinicians to access good quality information aimed at the public which they can recommend to patients.

We have also produced Helping you to help your patients, which is a brief guide to evaluating information as well as recommendations for sites where you can find trusted information aimed at patients.

For day 4 of Health Information Week we are looking at the NICE Evidence Search service.

You may be familiar with using the NICE Evidence Search site as a way to access good quality health information including guidelines, systematic reviews, articles and web sites, but you can also use it to find information aimed at the public by the use of a simple filter.

Go to the site and enter your search term

From the search results page, simply scroll down and tick the "Information for the Public" box to apply the filter ↓

NICE Evidence Search will then give you information that has already been quality assessed that is suitable for the public.

Tomorrow for the final in our series of blogs for Health Information Week, we'll be looking at a site with lots of leaflets and videos aimed at patients...

Health Information Week day 3: Behind the headlines #HIW2019

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign to promote high quality information for patients and the public. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Our campaign this year is focused on enabling clinicians to access good quality information aimed at the public which they can recommend to patients.

We have also produced Helping you to help your patients, which is a brief guide to evaluating information as well as recommendations for sites where you can find trusted information aimed at patients.

For day 3 of Health Information Week we are looking at the Behind the Headlines service.

Behind the Headlines is part of the main NHS UK site and is a really useful resource that provides an unbiased, evidence based view of health stories featuring in the news headlines.

For each item featured there is an overview of the story as well as a look at the accuracy of the reporting in the media. This is followed by an appraisal of the actual research the story is based on and some commentary about what the results mean and what we can draw from that.

Behind the Headlines is a particularly useful resource for clinicians who may be faced with patients who have seen an article in a daily newspaper and want to know what it means for them.

Tomorrow for Health Information Week we'll be looking at a web site that gives you access to a huge amount of information...

Health Information Week day 2: BMJ Best Practice #HIW2019

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign to promote high quality information for patients and the public. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Our campaign this year is focused on enabling clinicians to access good quality information aimed at the public which they can recommend to patients.

We have also produced Helping you to help your patients, which is a brief guide to evaluating information as well as recommendations for sites where you can find trusted information aimed at patients.

For day 2 of Health Information Week we are looking at BMJ Best Practice.

BMJ Best Practice is a point of care reference tool which also includes a good selection of patient information leaflets. 

For access go to https://bestpractice.bmj.com and login with your OpenAthens account. If you don’t have an account you can register for one here: https://openathens.nice.org.uk/ 

The first time you login to the site it will prompt you to set up a personal login as well – this will be linked to your OpenAthens account and allows you to do extra things such as to install the app on a mobile device and to collect CME/CPD credits.

Once logged in you can search for a topic or browse 

If you have searched for a topic then you can go to the “Patient leaflets” section of that topic.

You can then click on the link to download the PDF: 

If you have selected the browse option from the homepage then you can browse an A-Z list of leaflets, or select to browse by specialty. All leaflets include a publication date so you can see how recently it has been updated.

Tomorrow for Health Information Week we'll be looking at a web site to keep you up to date with research featuring in the media...

Health Information Week day 1: Clinical Key #HIW2019

Health Information Week is a national, multi-sector campaign to promote high quality information for patients and the public. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people’s ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life.

Our campaign this year is focused on enabling clinicians to access good quality information aimed at the public which they can recommend to patients and over the next 5 days we will be signposting some resources and web sites we hope you will find useful.

We have also produced Helping you to help your patients, which is a brief guide to evaluating information as well as recommendations for sites where you can find trusted information aimed at patients.

For day 1 of Health Information Week we are looking at Clinical Key.

Clinical Key is a fantastic resource and many of our users will be familiar with the high quality content it contains such as the Lancet journal series, electronic books and topic pages, but did you know it also contains a wide selection of information sheets in a variety of languages that are specifically tailored to patients?

To access them go to www.clinicalkey.com and login with your OpenAthens account. If you don’t have an account you can register for one here: https://openathens.nice.org.uk/

Once you’re logged in you can click to browse patient education topics or to search, select “Patient Ed.” From the list of resource types and type in your search terms:

From your search results you can browse the contents to find the most useful information for your patient. Click on a result for more information.

Once you’ve chosen click on the option to print, and it will create a printable PDF for you. You can choose your language (if available). You can also add your name and contact details for your patient.

Clinical Key is a great all round resource that can support both you and you patients, from complex clinical information through to videos, topic pages and patient education sheets.

Tomorrow for Health Information Week we'll be looking at another really useful resource for supporting patients.

Web site(s) of the month - health events and awareness days

There are a lot of health related events, awareness days, weeks and even months and it can be difficult to keep up with all the campaigns and know what is happening when.

Here is a few sites that can help you keep up with all the things going on throughout the year.

• Awareness Days UK Upcoming awareness events (not just health related), UK and international
• Healthline Health awareness calendar
• Inclusive Networks Diversity and awareness days calendar 
• NHS Employers Calendar of national campaigns 2018 to 2019 table
• Public Health England Campaign Resources Centre information on, and resources to support all of PHE's campaigns. 
• Time to Change Mental health calendar

Web site of the month: MindEd for Families

MindEd is a free learning resource aimed at families and carers about the mental health of children and young people, and older adults.

https://mindedforfamilies.org.uk/

The young people section offers hints and tips on parenting, looks at child development and common problems as well as having information on all the services available to support child mental health.

The section on older adults has information on memory problems, sleep, as well as common mental health issues, medications and services that offer support.

MindEd was developed by Health Education England with funding from the Department for Education and NHS England.

Web site of the month: My Health Apps

http://myhealthapps.net/

The My Health Apps.net site was developed by the UK based PatientView organisation, in partnership with others and encouraged by NHS England.

The site brings together Apps with a healthcare focus from around the world (currently there over 300 in English, but this is expected to grow). They range from Apps for exercise to those that focus on managing specific conditions, with some also aimed at carers. You can browse the Apps by topic, by language or by device platform.

The Apps have been reviewed by patients and voluntary groups and are all scored with a "heart rating". This rating has 5 elements and covers how the App: 

• Helps to control a condition / keep you healthy
• Is trustworthy
• Is easy to use
• Allows you to network with others in a similar position
• Can be used regularly

The site features Apps for a variety of smartphone and mobile device platforms including Android, Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows and browser based. Some of the Apps are free whilst others have to be purchased.

You can also find more Apps in the NHS England Health Apps Library (which have been vetted and approved by the NHS).

New self-care website for the NHS

The new Self Care Forum web site has been launched for NHS staff and patient groups. It's aim is to encourage people to think about self care in a broad sense and provides tools and information to encourage people to look after themselves.

The site contains resources to aimed at general practice to help with the implementation of self care initiatives. There are case studies, reports, research, fact sheets and practical tips. NHS staff can also upload their own case studies.

There will also be a Self Care Week 14th - 20th of November used to publicise local initiatives

New online information prescription service launched

A new on-line Information Prescriptions Service has been launched to help ensure that patients get the information they need, when they need it. The new service is available at www.NHS.uk/ips, and provides information on more than 100 long-term conditions. The Information Prescription can be printed, emailed to patients as a digital version and stored in the patient’s records.

The Information Prescription provides information on the diagnosis and management of various conditions, together with information on local resources and services available.

Furthermore, new e-learning and self-assessment tools are now available to help staff improve their information-giving skills. For further information and access to these tools, visit www.nhsemployers.org/longtermconditions