Library Guides: Consumer Health: Home

About this guide

A health consumer is someone who uses healthcare services. The purpose of this guide is to provide resources and information for health consumers, including patients receiving medial care and their families. Below are general resources. Use the tabs across the top to navigate to population- or illness-specific resources.

General Resources

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Agency of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services which promotes health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability in English and Spanish.
Cleveland Clinic Health Info Center
Find thousands of health articles and videos to help you take care of yourself and your family.
ClinicalTrials.gov
A registry and results database of clinical studies of human participants; from the National Institutes of Health.
FamilyDoctor.org
American Academy of Family Physicians information reviewed by patient education professionals.
Healthfinder
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services provides information in English and Spanish.
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic offers award-winning medical and health information and tools for healthy living.
MedlinePlus
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
Merck Manuals
A reliable source of health information for over a century, the Merck Manuals now have a website designed for the public, with material on medical topics, symptoms, drugs, procedures, news, and more, written in everyday language.
National Institutes of Health: Health Information
Access easy-to-understand information and tools to help you stay healthy. The site provides reliable information on diseases and conditions from over 1,600 government and non-profit organizations.
UptoDate for Patients
UpToDate offers two levels of content for patients: short overviews written in accordance with plain language principles, and longer, more detailed reviews.

Closing the Gap
An initiative that works to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities in Florida. It provides grants to local counties and organizations with the intent to increase community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities.
Florida Department of Health
The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote & improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county & community efforts.
FloridaHealthFinder.gov
The site provides information on Medicaid, health facilities and providers, publications and forms, consumer resources, licensing and certification, health data, managed care, and agency initiatives.
Florida Office of Minority Health
This office is responsible for assurance of statewide provision of equal opportunities in employment and statewide provision of equally accessible and effective health care in Florida's minority and special needs populations.
HealthCare.gov- Florida
Take health care into your own hands - A federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Benefits.gov
Guide to various government benefits.
Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP)
CHIP provides low-cost health coverage to children in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
Disability.gov
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is the only non-regulatory federal agency that promotes policies and coordinates with employers and all levels of government to increase workplace success for people with disabilities.
First Step Coalition for the Homeless
Tools to assist the homeless for case workers.
Medicaid
Provides health coverage to low-income people and is one of the largest payers for health care in the United States.
Medicare
Health insurance for people 65 or older.
Physician, Facilities Directories by National Library of Medicine
MedlinePlus provides links to directories to help you find libraries, health professionals, services and facilities.
Prescription Drug and Other Assistance Programs
Medicare offers prescription drug coverage to everyone with Medicare.
Services for Persons Living with HIV/AIDs
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is a federal program that provides HIV-related health services.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) administers federal grant programs that foster family economic security and stability, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF) program, Native Employment Works, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grants, Health Profession Opportunity Grants, and Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination grants.
US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CMS program websites for beneficiaries.

Argus
Diet, activity and step tracker
CDC
The CDC Mobile application is now available on your smartphone. Whether you are an iPhone or Android user you now have 24/7 access to timely, vital health information, wherever you go.
HIV/AIDS Apps
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is a reputable app that comes with a comprehensive system for counting calories backed by a massive food database that can be used to track your daily food and calorie intake.
NICHE for Patients + Family
Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) is the premier nurse driven geriatric care program in hospitals, skilled nursing and long term care facilities, nursing homes and other healthcare organizations.
Strava
Strava lets you track your running and riding with GPS, join Challenges, share photos from your activities, and follow friends.

Medical Terms: Medical Dictionary
Defines difficult medical language in easy-to-understand explanations of over 19,000 medical terms.
MedlinePlus- Medical Encyclopedia
Over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries.
MLA- What Did My Doctor Say?
The Medical Library Association created this page to help you understand what a doctor or nurse tells you. You’ll find tips on how to understand many health words.