Guide for patients: how to find the best health information online

Don't search alone, even if you are an experienced web user. If the world of online health is new to you or you are dealing with a frightening or poorly understood new diagnosis, ask a web savvy friend or family member to sit by your side and show you the ropes the first few times you go online.

Double check the information you find online. Check several sites to make sure they all give the same or similar information. If you still have doubts, post a question at an online discussion group. Alternatively, email a question to an online health professional or to the webmaster of a site devoted to your condition.

If you are dealing with a serious illness, consider joining an online support group and be on the lookout for other online patient helpers who share your concerns. Knowing that your online disease mates are walking the same path and are seeking both to give and to receive support will help most online self helpers feel comfortable in establishing meaningful online relationships based on trust and mutual concern.

Use the internet to get referrals to the doctors and treatment centres you need. You can often use sites devoted to specific diseases to find the top specialists and treatment centres for your condition. You may even be able to correspond directly with leading specialists and researchers by email.

Use the internet to supplement your face to face doctor visits, not to replace them. It is not always easy to interpret what you find. A frank and open discussion with your doctors may help to clear up some of your uncertainties and help you either confirm or reconsider some of your tentative conclusions. The best case scenario is for doctors and patients to work together, as a coordinated team.

Use the internet to help evaluate the information and advice you get at your doctor's office. If you have doubts about your care, ask other online patients or your online support group to review the treatment you have received. They may suggest questions to raise with your doctor on your next visit.

Tell your doctor what you have found online, and use your increased knowledge to become a more assertive patient. The better you communicate your needs, the better your doctor will be able to respond to them. Be assertive rather than aggressive; expressing your feelings and your views honestly and openly while showing respect for your medical professional.

Let your doctor see how your online research can be helpful to your care. If you have already mastered the basics of your condition, let your doctors know that they can skip the usual explanations. If you have found a good review article on your condition in a medical journal, leave your doctor a copy with the parts relevant to your situation highlighted.

If some doctors aren't quite ready to become net friendly doctors, try to understand. Many doctors feel so overwhelmed by clinical responsibilities, paperwork demands, and their own pressing financial concerns that it can be difficult for them to see the benefit of spending additional time exchanging emails with patients or discussing information you have found online. While no conscientious doctors should be threatened by a patient or a family member who wants to know all they can about their illness, many doctors are still uneasy at having their opinions questioned and uncomfortable with the idea that "their" patients are consulting other sources for information and advice. The transition to health care in the information age may be long and slow, but you can help your doctors make it.