Men's & Women's Health Channels

• Men's Health
• Women's Health

Introduction to this portal

The idea for the HLWIKI - Canadian consumer health information (CHI) portal originated at the 2009 CHLA/ABSC Conference in Winnipeg. Upon returning from the 2009 CHLA/ABSC Conference in Winnipeg, the wiki team engaged in discussion about what we could do to create a set of files to support consumer health information. This is because Canadian health librarians currently do not have any coherent mechanism to locate local, provincial and national materials in CHI. This wiki entry is a starting point or portal to information for health consumers and patients and for librarians working in Canada. Please let me know if you would like to get involved in creating new files.

Why a CHI Portal?

See also Complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) & Patient education

Consumer health information (CHI) is a term used to describe the provision of health and medical information for consumers. Due to its clear, non-technical presentation, CHI explains medical procedures, prescription drugs and healthcare systems to consumers. CHI includes information about diseases and may also deal with health prevention. CHI is found in pharmacies, grocery stores, health food stores, bookstores, physicians' offices, health and public libraries or via the Web. CHI is also a kind of biblio- or information therapy. CHI in Canada has seen tremendous growth in the last decade thanks to the Canadian Health Network (now defunct) and the Consumer Health Information Service (CHIS) (also defunct). From its early beginnings in hospitals and public libraries, CHI has grown into an important area for health librarians. Studies show that accurate health information is important in reducing anxiety in patients. Adequate provision of CHI is increasingly recognized as a factor in patient empowerment for informed decision-making and health maintenance.

References

• Consumer health information
• Patient education