Canadian health network

spotlight

www.canadian-health-network.ca

Have you ever tried to search for health information on the Internet?

Do you know if the information you retrieve is current, accurate and authoritative, or pertinent to your own province or territory?

The Canadian Health Network (CHN), a bilingual federal initiative partially funded by Health Canada, is taking some of the mystery out of the search for web-based health information.

The Web site offers access to over 12,000 fact sheets, brochures, articles and reports on health promotion topics such as injury prevention, healthy living, and disease prevention. Each Web page may consist of a document, a list of links, games, directories, health calculators, support groups, etc.

The information resources available through CHN have been organized by subject or topic, audience, resource type, and province or territory. Items are catalogued under both broad and specific subject headings, and descriptive annotations guide individuals in choosing resources that best meet their needs. A quality assurance process ensures that consumers and health information providers locate current, authoritative, accurate, and well-organized information on health and health promotion -- information with a uniquely Canadian focus.

There are now six different ways to search the Canadian Health Network:

[1] KEYWORD SEARCH ENGINE on home page

[2] A-Z SUBJECT HEADING INDEX (over 700 subject headings)

[3] ADVANCED KEYWORD SEARCH, which includes the ability to search using:

All the words (AND)

Any of the words (OR)

Exact phrase

Boolean phrase

[4] GUIDED SEARCH: To browse of be guided to resources on a topic, start at the CHN Homepage and select a CHN Health Centre Topic that interests you. The Health Centre Topic will appear on your screen. Then, click the link to Guided Search. You can explore all the resources in that Health Centre Topic, or narrow your search by choosing from the options presented on the left.

[5] FAQs: Always kept current and written according to stringent standards.

[6] SITE MAP

One of the best features of the CHN Web site is the 'Ask your health question...' link. If you can't find the document or Web page that answers your question, you can e-mail the Canadian Health Network staff for assistance in locating, the information you need. To ask your health question:

* Click on the 'Contact us' button on the top navigational bar * Click on 'Couldn't find the information you were looking for,

* Scroll down to click the 'Ask your health question...' link and ask your question!

Finding health information you can trust is CHN's motto, but you can also find links to a number of health-related, interactive/multimedia and, most important, fun sites for children and adults! Here is a sampling of what you can find on CHN:

CALCIUM CALCULATOR:

www.osteoporosis.ca/OSTEO/EO2.html

FOR KIDS:

http://yourchildshealth.echn.ca/hsc/echn.nsf/pages/kframe To find other fun sites, go to CHN's home page and search for 'games' or 'quiz' or simply click on any of the Health Centre groups or topics, scroll down to the Search area on the page, and under Quick Searches, use the drop-down menu to select Games & Quizzes or Kids' Stuff.

Visit the CHN Web site regularly, as new resources and partners are added every day. RN

Copyright Alberta Association of Registered Nurses Oct 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved