Blood Thinner Pills: Your Guide to Using Them Safely. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, August 2009, 24 pp. English/Spanish guide provides consumers with information on blood thinner medicines, including what to expect and what to watch out for when taking them. (AHRQ 09-0086-C)
Finding Your Way: What to Do Before You Leave the Hospital. C. Clancy, AARP Bulletin Today, December 17, 2008. Presents information about some of the things that can go wrong during a hospital stay and what patients can do to improve their hospital stay. (AHRQ 09-R030)
Quitting Smoking—You Can Do It. C. Clancy, AARP Bulletin, November 2010; epub. AHRQ's director offers practical tips to help individuals stop smoking. (AHRQ 11-R013)
Staying Active and Healthy with Blood Thinners. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, September 2009. A DVD that features easy-to-understand explanations of how blood thinners work and why it's important to take them correctly. Users can choose to view the 10-minute video in English or Spanish. (AHRQ 09-0086-DVD)
Taking Care of Myself: A Guide for When I Leave the Hospital. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, April 2010, 12 pp. English/Spanish guide provides log sheets and checklists to help patients newly discharged from the hospital keep track of appointments, medications, and questions to ask at their next medical visit. (AHRQ 10-0059-C)
20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, September 2011, 4 pp. Booklet presents suggestions to help consumers work in partnership with their health care providers to get safer health care. (AHRQ 11-0089). Spanish language booklet (11(12)-0089-B
What You Need to Know About Episiotomy. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, December 2005, two-sided card. Discusses the need to talk to your doctor before delivery about whether to have an episiotomy during child birth. (AHRQ 06-0005)
Your Guide to Preventing and Treating Blood Clots. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, August 2008, 12 pp. An English/Spanish consumer guide on preventing and treating blood clots, including causes, symptoms, treatment options, and side effects of blood thinners. (AHRQ 09-0067-C)
Your Medicine: Be Smart. Be Safe. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Council on Patient Information and Education, April 2011, 16 pp. Provides information about using medications safely; includes a wallet card that patients can use to keep track of their medications. (AHRQ 11-0049-A; contact the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse for information on bulk orders) Spanish language brochure (AHRQ 11-0049-B)
Staying Healthy—Getting High-Quality Health Care
Questions Are the Answer. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2011. Campaign designed to improve communication between patients and clinicians to help make health care safer. Includes a 7-minute video, a brochure, and notepads.
Questions Are the Answer, DVD. Video intended for use in waiting rooms features patients and clinicians discussing the importance of asking questions and sharing information. (10(12)-0094-DVD)
Be More Involved in Your Health Care: Tips for Patients, Brochure. Offers helpful suggestions to follow before, during, and after a medical visit. (AHRQ 10(11)-0094-A, English; 10(11)-0094-B, Spanish)
Questions Are the Answer, Notepads. Tearsheets to help patients prioritize the top three questions they would like to ask during their medical appointment. (AHRQ 10(11)-0094-1, English; 10(11)-0094-2, Spanish)
Explore Your Treatment Options. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and The Advertising Council, 2012, Web site. Web site features personal stories from patients with chronic conditions who achieved better health results by exploring their treatment options. Includes a Health Priorities Snapshot tool that lets patients create and print a list of their own health priorities to share with their clinicians during medical appointments. Also contains the Effective Health Care Program's plain-language guides for consumers that summarize the scientific evidence on treatments for numerous medical conditions, including diabetes, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and more. Available at www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/options.
Do You Know the Right Questions to Ask? Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, February 2007, two-sided card. Presents a list of 10 simple questions to help consumers take a more active role in their own health care. English/Spanish (AHRQ 09(10)-M026-C)
Healthy Men. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and The Advertising council, 2010, public service advertising campaign and Web site. Aims to raise awareness among middle-aged men about the importance of preventive medical testing. Includes information on recommended ages for preventive testing and lists of appropriate tests, a quiz that assesses knowledge about preventive health care, tips for talking with the doctor, a glossary of health terms, and links to online resources for more information. Available at http://www.ahrq.gov/healthymen.
Conoce las Preguntas (Know the Questions). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and The Advertising Council, 2011, public service advertising campaign and Spanish-language Web site. Encourages Latinos to be more involved in their health care by asking questions. Features questions to ask at medical appointments, when getting a diagnosis, and when picking up a prescription. Includes 10 simple questions, a glossary of medical terms, links to online Spanish-language resources, and video public service announcements. Available at http://www.ahrq.gov/preguntas. |
See Clinical Practice Guidelines, Effective Health Care, and Prevention, for other materials for consumers.
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