Health literacy
The National Institute on Drug Abuse in February launched a new, easy-to-read website on drug abuse for adults with a low reading literacy level. Online at www.easyread.drugabuse.gov, the website provides plain-language information on drug abuse prevention and treatment and is also a resource for adult literacy educators.
Food safety
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January launched FDA Voice. The new blog, online at https://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice, is designed to give FDA employees an opportunity to explain to consumers — in easy-to-understand language — some of the complex public health issues they are working on.
Health information
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February released a free app for iPad users. The app provides access to important information from CDC’s website in an iPad-friendly format. Download the app at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cdc/id487847188?ls=1&mt=8.
Health reform
AARP in February launched an online tool, the Health Law Guide, to help people and their families make sense of the Affordable Care Act and the benefits available to them under it. The easy-to-understand tool is available in English at www.aarp.org/healthlawguide and in Spanish at www.aarp.org/guiadelaleydesalud.
Antibiotic resistance
The World Health Organization in March released a new book to showcase examples of actions taken to slow drug resistance and preserve the ability of medicine to effectively treat many infectious diseases. Download the book, “The Evolving Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance: Options for Action” at www.who.int/patientsafety/implementation/amr/publication/en/index.html.
Genetic tests
The National Institutes of Health in February launched an online tool to make it easier to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of genetic tests. The free Genetic Testing Registry, or GTR, is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gtr/. Video tutorials on how to use the tool are online at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1C4A2AFF811F6F0B.
Water pollution
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January released a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. The Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and mapping of water pollution by local area, watershed, company, industry sector and pollutant. Download the new tool at http://cfpub.epa.gov/dmr/.
Diabetes
Txt4health, a mobile health program launched in January, delivers personalized text messages to help people understand their risk for Type 2 diabetes and become more informed about the steps they can take to lead healthy lives. Txt4health delivers between four and seven text messages each week for 14 weeks to help people improve and manage their health. To sign up for the free service, visit www.txt4health.com.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
