Library Services

Consumer Health Information

The following list, comprised of select books and Internet sites, is geared to streamline your search for consumer health information. In compiling this list, an effort was made to include the most current and reputable consumer-centered resources on a variance of healthcare topics, ranging anywhere from cancer care to nursing home evaluation. All items can be found or accessed at the library.

Alternative Medicine:

Alternative Medicine Homepage http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html
Best Alternative Medicine: What Works? What Does Not? 615.5 P388
Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine 615.535 M983
PDR for Herbal Medicines 615.321 P348
Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies 615.321 F757t

Basic Internet Sources:

EBSCO Health Periodicals Available on the Library catalog. Use from home requires a valid Sacramento Public Library card.
Healthfinder http://www.healthfinder.com
MEDLINEplus http://www.medlineplus.gov

Basic Print Sources:

Dictionary of Medical Acronyms & Abbreviations R610.14 J11
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 610.3 D711i
Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide 610 H339
Johns Hopkins Atlas of Human Functional Anatomy 611 J65

Clinical Trials:

Cancer Clinical Trials: Experimental Treatments and How They Can Help You 616.99406 F514
CancerTrials http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials
ClinicalTrials.gov http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
UC Davis Health System Clinical Trials

Disease:

AIDS Sourcebook 362.196979 A2888

Cancer Sourcebook 616.994 C215

National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov

Diabetes Sourcebook 616.462 D5363

Physicians' Guide to Rare Diseases R616.04 P578

Drug Information:

Center for Drug Evaluation and Research: Drug Information http://www.fda.gov/cder
Consumers Guide to Cancer Drugs 616.994 W682
Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs 615.1 E78
MEDLINEplus: Drug Information http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

Healthcare Quality:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Consumers and Patients http://www.ahrq.gov
America's Best Hospitals Rq362.11 A512
Confused Consumer's Guide to Choosing a Healthcare Plan 368.382 G686
Medicare: Nursing Home Compare http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp
MEDLINEplus: Locations and credentials of doctors, dentists and hospitals http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories.html

Non-English Sources:

Cuidate: Una Guia completa e ilustrada para el autocuidado medico SP616.024 V637
Informacion de Salud Para los Consumidores SP613.016 I43
Yixue Baojian Baike R CH610.3 Y51
Tu Dien Danh Tu y Khoa Anh-Viet VI610.3 T883
See MEDLINEplus (http://www.medlineplus.gov/) and healthfinder (http://www.healthfinder.gov) for online consumer health information in Spanish.
Non-English Language & Health Literacy Resources; compiled by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/library/chrc/noneng.html

Nutrition:

Local Consumer Health Libraries:

Sutter Resource Library
2800 L Street, 6th floor, Sacramento, 95816
Phone: (916) 733-3880
Hours: Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm, Fridays 9am to 5pm.