MLA Class on the Public Health Knowledge Base

Key Websites on Community Health, Social Determinants, and Health Policy & Services

Introduction

Public health covers a broad multidisciplinary range of concerns, encompassing many fields of knowledge. This session will present web sites on the broad issues that contribute to the health of communities. We will discuss sites that capture the social determinants of health, those economic, social, and political factors that affect the health of individuals and populations.

Community Health: Indicators and Organizing Tools

"Improving Health in the Community: A Role for Performance Monitoring" by the IOM, 1998.
www.nap.edu/catalog/5298.html

Healthy People 2010

Produced by the Department of Health and Human Services.
www.health.gov/healthypeople/ and Data to track health indicators: www.health.gov/healthypeople/Data/

Community Health Status Indicators Project

Produced by HRSA. Find particular health status indicators for people in local communites as well as workforce profiles.
www.communityhealth.hrsa.gov/

Community Toolbox

Produced by the University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development in Lawrence, KS, and the AHEC/Community Partners in Amherst, Massachusetts. A toolkit of strategies for community development and organizing - from writing a grant, organizing a meeting, evaluating an intervention, to advocacy. In English and Spanish.
ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/

Social Inequalities: income and racial disparities

Health Disparities

Produced by the Office of Minority Health, DHHS.

Covers the Department's efforts to reduce disparities in HIV/AIDS and other conditions. Presents data, prevention practices, meeting news, and publications.
www.omhrc.org

Inequality.org

Produced by a liberal group of writers and researchers, including James Lardner, Bonnie Lefkowitz, and others. Includes current articles, data, and news on disparities in health, class and income.
www.inequality.org

Minority Links

Produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. Features key statistics on particular groups in the United States, covering social and economic indicators - from income to mobility rates.
www.census.gov

Race and Science in History

Produced by the Program in Science, Technology & Society at MIT.Points to bibliographies, syllabi, and media publications on issues of racism, eugenics, and health disparities.
racescience.mit.edu/racesci

Race and Health

Produced by the Department of Health and Human Services. This site covers some of the key disparities in health with data and statistics, programs, meetings, and funding opportunities.
raceandhealth.hhs.gov

Statement on "Race"

Written by the American Anthropological Association, this 1998 statement reflects the current views in public health that race is not a biological feature but a social construct.
www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm

WHO Statistical Information Service

From the World Health Organization, numerous links to international reports on the global burden of disease and other key measures of health status.
www.who.int/whosis/

Women of Color Health Data Book

Produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, prepared by Wihelmina A. Leigh, Ph.D. (Senior Research Associate) and Malinda A. Lindquist (Research Assistant) of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Covers the factors affecting the health status, health assessments, and issues related to improving health and living conditions of women of color.
www.4women.gov/owh/pub/woc/

Health Policy, Services, and Advocacy

American Public Health Association (APHA) advocates for public health policy at the national and state/local level.
www.apha.org

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-profit research and policy organization focusing on economic and policy concerns that affect low and moderate income people. It provides issue papers on the broad social determinants of health, including welfare, tax cut programs, social security, housing, and related issues.
www.cbpp.org

Electronic Policy Network (EPN) presents Health Policy Links covering a wide range of health policy issues in the United States, including access to care, Medicaid/Medicare, state and national health issues, health care financing.
www.epn.org/

Families USA presents testimony, reports, and advocacy kits on Medicaid, welfare, child health, and immigration policy.
www.familiesusa.org/

Institute for Global Communications (IGC) hosts progressive web sites focused on anti-racism, peace, labor, and the environment.
www.igc.apc.org

National Information Center for Health Services Research of the National Library of Medicine provides links to resources on health economics, health services, public health, information technology, and related topics.
www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hsrsites.html

National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) researches and advocates for the public health services safety net. Link to issue papers on workforce, health services funding, and access to health care.
www.naph.org

State Health Departments' Links

• ASTHO State and Territorial Links (Assn of State and Territorial Health Officers)
  www.astho.org/state.html
  
• NACCHO Local Health Dept Directories by State (Natl Assn Cty & City Officials)
  www.naccho.org/GENERAL8.cfm
  
• CDC State Health Department Search
  www.cdc.gov/search2.htm
     

Key Websites on Epidemiology/Biostatistics, Environmental Health, Health Promotion and PH Metasites

Epidemiology/Biostatistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a comprehensive resource
http://www.cdc.gov/

• Health Topics A-Z 
  www.cdc.gov/health/diseases.htm
• GIS and Public Health (Geographical Information Systems) GIS link data and geography digitally for the purpose of making maps.
  www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/otheract/gis/gis_home.htm
• Epi Info and Epi Map free software
  www.cdc.gov/epo/epi/epiinfo.htm
• Resources for Creating Public Health Maps
  http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/EIhlgeog.htm

National Guideline Clearinghouse public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines sponsored by Agency for Healthcare Policy Research, American Medical Association, and American Association of Health Care Plans.
www.guideline.gov/

Cochrane Collaboration The Collaboration tracks systematic reviews of clinical trials in order to provide evidence for the best medical practice. This site explains the review process and links to the Collaboration sites. Available by subscription only.
hiru.mcmaster.ca/cochrane

World Health Organization Disease Links--infectious, vaccine preventable
www.who.int/home/map_ht.html

Pan American Health Organization
www.paho.org/

WWW Library: Epidemiology Comprehensive epidemiology links maintained by University of California at San Francisco. Includes links to important epidemiology sites, meeting and employment information, publications and information on discussion groups.
www.epibiostat.ucsf.edu/epidem/epidem.html

Major Statistical Sources

• US Census Data
  www.census.gov/
• CDCWonder offers public health data sets to search, including mortality, SEER, and vital statistics data.
  wonder.cdc.gov/
  
• National Center for Health Statistics
  www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm
  
  • FastStats A-Z  quick links to statistical data   
    www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/Default.htm
  • GIS links from Centers for Disease Control
    www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/otheract/gis/gis_links.htm
• HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report from CDC
  www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats/hasrlink.HTM
• National Cancer Institute. SEER Cancer Statistics Review. Washington, DC: National Cancer Institute. 1990-  
  www-seer.ims.nci.nih.gov/
• Surveillance Reports
  • MMWR (Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report), CDC
    www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
    • MMWR CDC Surveillance Summaries www.cdc.gov/mmwr//mmwr_ss.html
    • MMWR Recommendations and Reports www.cdc.gov/mmwr//mmwr_rr.htm

Textbooks/Papers/Tutorials

• All the Virology on the WEB from Tulane University
  www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/garryfavweb.html
• Dictionary of (Ecological) Epidemiology, 1998, 1999 edited by Jonathan Swinton
  www.albany.net/~tjc/gloss96.html
  
• Epidemiology for the Uninitiated, 4th ed., 1997 from BMJ
  www.bmj.com/collections/epidem/
• Finding and Using Health Statistics; a Self-Study Course, National Information Center on Health Services Research & Health Care Technology, NLM
  www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/usestats/index.htm
  
• How to Read a Paper series from British Medical Journal. Includes articles such as "Statistics for the Non-Statistician," Assessing Methodological Quality of Published Papers," etc.
  www.bmj.com/collections/read.shtml
• HyperStats Online  online statistics textbook, provided by David M. Lane, Rice University, introductory level.
  davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
• Research Resources in Epidemiology from UCLA School of Public Health
  www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/epi411/index.html
• Statistics at Square One by T D V Swinscow,  9th ed., 1997
  www.bmj.com/collections/statsbk/index.shtml
• Supercourse - Epidemiology, the Internet and Global Health, University of Pittsburgh
  www.pitt.edu/~super1/index.htm

Environmental Health

Federal Agencies

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  www.epa.gov/
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) National Institutes of Health
  www.niehs.nih.gov/

Databases

• TOXNET from the National Library of Medicine search full-text databases--e.g. Hazardous Substance Databank,  RTECS, etc.
  toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
• Envirofacts  national information system that provides a single point of access to data extracted from seven major EPA databases
  www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html
  
• EXTOXNET InfoBase  cooperative effort of 5 landgrant universities to provided reliable scientific information on pesticides
  www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html
  
• HazDat Database  access Hazardous Substance Release/Health Effects Database re hazardous substances from Superfund sites or from emergency events and on the effects of hazardous substances on the health of human populations; from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
  www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hazdat.html
  
• Material Safety Data Sheets from Cornell University; mirror of University of Vermont's site
  msds.pdc.cornell.edu/msdssrch.asp

Tutorials

• Toxicology Tutor I-III from Specialized Information Services, National Library of Medicine
  sis.nlm.nih.gov/toxtutor.cfm

Health Promotion

• Healthy People 2010
  www.health.gov/healthypeople/
  • Healthy People 2010 Toolkit
    www.health.gov/healthypeople/state/toolkit/
• MEDLINEplus a database from NLM with full-text links to quality health information for professionals and consumers
  medlineplus.gov/
• CHID (Combined Health Information Database) from NIH. Contains abstracts of health promotion and education materials and program descriptions produced by federal health-related agencies.
  chid.nih.gov/
• Healthfinder from UHDHHS includes hot topics; health calendars
  www.healthfinder.gov/
• Health Promotion Bookmarks/ Hot Links from the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse
  www.opc.on.ca/hplinks/hp-links1.html
  
• HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Text)
  text.nlm.nih.gov/
• Mental Health Knowledge Exchange Network(KEN) from Center for Mental Health Services SAMHSA
  www.mentalhealth.org/
• Nutrition.gov guide to nutrition and health infomation on government web sites.
  www.nutrition.gov/
• Prevention Online SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
  www.health.org/
• Surgeon General's Reports
  www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports.htm
• Tufts Nutrition Navigator
  navigator.tufts.edu/index.html           

Public Health Metasites

• American Public Health Association Public Health Links
  www.apha.org/public_health/
• ASTHO (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials)
  www.astho.org/
• HealthWeb Collaborative project of Greater Midwest Region of the National Network Libraries of Medicine and participating HealthWeb institutions
  healthweb.org/browse.cfm?subjectid=80
• Martindale's Virtual Public Health Center
  www-sci.lib.uci.edu/~martindale/PHealth.html
• WWW Virtual Library: Public Health comprehensive links by subject and by country
  www.ldb.org/vl/index.htm
• Public Health Foundation
  www.phf.org/
• HiPHIVE (Hawaii Public Health Virtual Emporium) example of a state-based resource
  hml.org/hiphive/index.html

Identifying New Public Health Sites

• Public Health Foundation see e-news
  www.phf.org/
• Medicine on the Net (print & online publication)
  www.corhealth.com/
• Pub Health/Health Admin Section, MLA
  www.phha.mlanet.org/
• Scout Report from University of Wisconsin
  scout.cs.wisc.edu/