We highlight top US government tools and information to support your wellness
program’s mission.
Steps to a HealthierUS (www.healthierus.gov/steps/)
— advances the goal of helping Americans live longer, better, and healthier;
targets diabetes, obesity, asthma, heart disease, stroke, and cancer as well as
poor nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and youth risk taking.
Dietary Guidelines for
Americans 2005 (www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/) — mandated as the
basis for federal nutrition education activities; published with the Dept of
Agriculture every 5 years since 1980.
healthfinder® (www.healthfinder.gov)
— gateway website linking consumers and professionals to 6,000+ health
information resources.
Healthy People 2010 (www.healthypeople.gov)
— comprehensive disease prevention and health promotion goals for the first
decade of the 21st century.
Healthy
People 2010 Health Communication Focus Area (www.healthypeople.gov/document/HTML/Volume1/11HealthCom.htm)
— 6 key issues: diffusion of the Internet to households, quality of health
sites, health literacy, provider-patient communication, research and
evaluation, and centers of excellence.
National Health Information Center (www.health.gov/nhic)
— clearinghouse and referral service using a database of 1700+ associations,
agencies, and other organizations.
Prevention Communication Research
Database (www.health.gov/communication/) — searchable findings from
Health & Human Services research that may not be widely known or published
in peer-reviewed journals.
National Women’s Health Information Center
(www.womenshealth.gov) — reliable, current information on 800+ women’s health
topics.
MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov) —
goldmine of authoritative, up-to-date health information from the world’s
largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine.
2006 National Health
Observances Calendar (www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/nho.pdf) — ideas
for holding health promotion events, stimulating awareness of health risks, or
focusing on disease prevention.