Foreword: As I've mentioned before, the sites that I suggest in these articles are not only those for professionals, but also for patients, as it is always useful to refer your patients to a site where they can find reliable information. That is very much the case in this month’s offering, where we have a mix of sites for consumers and professionals.
Therapeutic recreation
Therapeutic recreation is the provision of treatment and recreation services to persons with illnesses or disabling conditions. Therapeutic recreation is provided by profes- sionals who are trained and certified, registered and/or licensed to provide therapeutic recreation.
Leisure and recreation are believed to be necessary and important components of an individual’s overall health, but there are some circumstances that do not allow certain indi- viduals to accrue the benefits associated with leisure. The evolving profession of therapeutic recreation helps address the leisure needs of individuals with physical, social, intel- lectual, or emotional disabilities. The ultimate goal is to help them attain healthy and independent leisure function- ing. There are a number of websites which provide informa- tion:
• www.artsci-ccwin.concordia.ca
• www.atra-tr.org
• www.recreationtherapy.com/rt.htm
ElderNet (www.eldernet.com/health.htm) This site, devoted to health in the elderly, has a number of useful links. The first entitled ‘healthy living’ leads to anoth- er list of links including the Mayo Clinic, Focus on Fitness and Focus on Nutrition, each of which has information on various aspects of the topics (Fig. 1).
Elderly Health Services (www.info.gov.hk/
elderly/)
This Hong Kong-based site has two very useful links: 'Health Information' and a 'Related Web Sites' link which includes a number of useful information links such as: Aids Counselling Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centre on Ageing, Dementia Research Unit, Healthy Ageing Resource Centre, Health Canada, Healthy Exercise for All Websites, Hepatitis Websites, Hong Kong Geriatric Association, Mens Health, National Institute
of Health (NIH), Tobacco Control Office, Department of Health, Tooth Club, World Health Organization (WHO) (Fig. 2).
Medic8 Elderly Health Guide (www.medic8.com/healthguide/
elderlyindex.htm)
This site has a list of conditions in alphabetical order from
‘Allergies’ to ‘Women’s health’ with many stops in between.
They describe themselves as follows: ‘Medic8 is a leading UK medical portal for health care professionals and con-
ELDERLY HEALTH SOURCES ON THE INTERNET
Fig. 1. Home page of Eldernet.
Fig. 2. Elderly Health Services based in Hong Kong.
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sumers around the world. All content has been reviewed by a qualified UK doctor prior to listing. It lists 10 reviewers, all with appropriate qualifications.’ The information appears valid and credible, and the site is user-friendly (Fig. 3).
Seek Wellness (www.seekwellness.com) This site has a good search engine, and when I entered the term 'elderly' to search for articles, I found what can be seen in Fig. 4. This only shows the top few of the 65 links retrieved.
Health Promotion Board, Singapore
(www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=
865&aid=227)
This is a consumer site with a fairly large section on elderly health. It supplies another list of alphabetical links with much good advice.
Quick Facts Center
(www.quickfactscenter.com/)
This US-based free public service site has quite a long list of general topics, among which is elderly health. It seems pret- ty comprehensive with yet again an alphabetical list of topics.
The sites mentioned above resulted from a Google search on the term 'elderly health'. A search in Google on the term ‘geriatrics’ brought in the American Geriatrics Society (www.americangeriatrics.org),which offers free access to the full text of the book Geriatrics at your Fingertips. All you have to do is register (which is painless and quick) and away you go.
Just a glance at the contents index should convince you of how useful this online publication can be: assessment and approach, appropriate prescribing and pharmacotherapy, alcohol and tobacco abuse, anxiety, cardiovascular dis- eases, delirium, dementia, depression, dermatological conditions, endocrine disorders, falls, gastrointestinal dis- eases, hearing impairment, haematology and oncology, infectious diseases, malnutrition, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, osteoporosis, pain, palliative and end-of-life care, preoperative and perioperative care, pre- vention, psychotic disorders, renal and prostate disorders, respiratory diseases, sexual dysfunction, skin ulcers, sleep disorders, urinary incontinence, visual impairment, and women's health.
Geriatrics Journal (www.geri.com/geriatrics) It's not often that I can recommend two good 'freebies' in the same article, but another website that offers free access to its content is the journal Geriatrics. An example is an arti- cle taken from their 'Refereed Clinical Reviews', titled 'Apathy in the older adult: why you should care' (in PDF format) (Fig. 5).
Fig. 3. Home page of Medic8.
Fig. 4. Seekwellness also has a large list of useful links.
Fig. 5. Article from the Geriatrics Journal.
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Other links found by a search on ‘geriatrics’ are:
• The Merck Manual of Geriatrics:
www.merck.com/pubs/mm_geriatrics/
• British Geriatrics Society: www.bgs.org.uk/(in case anyone is visiting Britain in the near future)
• Hardin MD: www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/
ger.html,provides the best Internet sources of geriatrics information
• Science Direct: www.sciencedirect.com/with arti- cles from the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, where you can get free access to the abstracts of the articles. You have to be a member or pay a fee to have access to the full texts of articles.
The above list should provide you and your patients with a great deal of information about ageing, and supply plenty of reading material for continuing education.
FUN SITE OF THE MONTH
DHMO (www.dhmo.org)
This looks like an honest-to-goodness research site on a dangerous chemical compound which is described as fol- lows: ‘Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the unstable radical Hydroxide, the components of which are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol’.
There are pages of fact sheets, FAQs (frequently asked questions), dangers (‘Excessive ingestion produces a num- ber of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side- effects.)’ One should be very critical when viewing this site, and should consider carefully the common name for dihy- drogen monoxide.
F N Sanders
Fig. 6. Is this a dangerous compound?
SAMA – Health & Medical publishing:
“The Doctor’s own Bookshop”- 5% discount to all members at all times!
Electrocardiography is one of the most common investigations performed by:
• Physicians in outpatients or hospital admissions
• Surgeons as part of pre-operative work-up
• General practitioners in ‘well person’ and screening clinics
• Nursing staff on CCUs and ITUs
• Paramedics on emergency calls
Interpreting the ECG involves pattern recognition. This is fairly straightforward for cardiologists or those who read ECGs every day, but for others even basic ECGs can present problems. If you are a non-expert, a trainee, or simply lack confidence in reliably interpreting ECGs, Making Sense of the ECG, fully updated in this second edition, is designed for you. Using the book in conjunction with a problem ECG, you will be;
• Directed toward the correct diagnosis
• Guided toward the most appropriated action
• Advised when an expert opinion is essential
And you will be able to find answers to your most urgent questions:
• How do I Interpret this ECG?
• Are these abnormalities significant?
• How do I distinguish between VT and SVT?
• Has this patient had a myocardial infarction?
• How do I measure a QT interval?
• Should I refer this patient to a cardiologist?
Or, simply, what should I do next?
To Order:
Tel: (021) 530 6527 Fax: (021) 531 4126 E-mail: [email protected]
