Finding and Using Health StatisticsHow many Americans are affected by cardiovascular disease each year? Did the number of Americans with health insurance increase significantly following the passage of the Affordable Care Act? How do the leading causes of death in the United States differ from those worldwide?
The answers to these important questions and many others lie in the data collected by government, private, and non-profit agencies and organizations. The health statistics reported by these groups are integral to monitoring trends in the health status of populations, planning the allocation of health care resources, and evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions.
This course for librarians and students in health sciences describes different types of health statistics, how they are collected, and where they can be found.
Course Goals
Understand what health statistics measure and how to use them to improve general health
Gain a basic knowledge of the statistical terms commonly used when reading about health statistics
Learn different ways health information can be collected, and the pros and cons of each
Become familiar with a variety of online sources for health statistics
Create a set of strategies to find specific health statistics
ToxTutorToxTutor is a self-paced tutorial covering key principles of toxicology and was adopted from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) chemical and toxicology databases. While a knowledge of anatomy and physiology is not required for viewing ToxTutor, the Introduction to the Human Body from the National Cancer Institute provides a good introduction to the topic.
