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| Make
health choices online |
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Health advice is now the second most searched
for subject online and, while there are plenty of websites
dedicated to health information, not all provide safe
and reliable information. NHS Direct was launched to tackle
this issue and provide clear, correct and informative
advice about medical issues.
Now,
the NHS has launched a new website dedicated to helping
people to make healthier lifestyle choices and become
better informed about all aspects of their health and
any medical care.
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Selecting
hospitals is one area where NHS Choices claims
to help. |
The website, NHS Choice (www.nhs.uk), claims to provide
reliable and personalised information about your health
and lifestyle. Set up as a one-stop shop, NHS Choice aims
to put you in charge of decisions about your own health,
lifestyle and even medical treatment options.
Through easy to answer personal health check question,
you can see how fit and healthy you really are. You can
browse through a series of online magazines featuring
up-to-date articles and short movies from the experts
and real people about their experiences of common conditions
and treatments. You can also read celebrity contributions,
including Steve Redgrave, Tricia Goddard, Rosemary Conley
and Nik Powell, Richard Branson’s co-founder of Virgin
Records, who talk about how they have overcome their own
health problems.
The website provides plenty of ideas for healthy eating
with recipes from Emma Bunton, Nadine Coyle, Dannii Minogue
and Myleene Klass. Celebrity chefs also cook up simple,
healthy meals for the whole family.
If you are embarking on a new fitness regime, the website
suggests ideas that will fit in with your age and lifestyle
as well as providing inspiration from the likes of Olympic
sprinter Linford Christie, who has managed to stay fit
and lean post-retirement and post-40.
The website complements NHS Direct by offering more practical
advice and support for medical conditions. If you have
been diagnosed a common condition, you’ll find help
and advice in detailed guides, which include expert opinions
from professionals and patients. There are multimedia
guides to take you through common surgical procedures
such as hip replacements. You can even get access to a
vast library of approved medical literature that was only
previously available to the medical profession to allow
you to do your own research.
Should you need to undergo hospital treatment, NHS Choices
gives you the information to make an informed decision
about where and how you want to be  treated.
View ratings on hospital waiting times, cleanliness and
readmission figures and, for the first time, what previous
patients have to say about their treatment and experiences
via online feedback. It is even possible for you to make
your choice of hospital based upon personal preferences,
such as travelling times, MRSA incidences and availability
of single-sex wards.
The website is operational now with further features being
added later in this year and during 2008.
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