Make Health Choices Online

Health advice is now the second most searched for subject online and, while there are plenty of websites dedicated to health information, not all provide safe and reliable information. NHS Direct was launched to tackle this issue and provide clear, correct and informative advice about medical issues.

Now, the NHS has launched a new website dedicated to helping people to make healthier lifestyle choices and become better informed about all aspects of their health and any medical care.

The website, NHS Choice (www.nhs.uk), claims to provide reliable and personalised information about your health and lifestyle. Set up as a one-stop shop, NHS Choice aims to put you in charge of decisions about your own health, lifestyle and even medical treatment options.

Through easy to answer personal health check question, you can see how fit and healthy you really are. You can browse through a series of online magazines featuring up-to-date articles and short movies from the experts and real people about their experiences of common conditions and treatments. You can also read celebrity contributions, including Steve Redgrave, Tricia Goddard, Rosemary Conley and Nik Powell, Richard Branson’s co-founder of Virgin Records, who talk about how they have overcome their own health problems.

Healthy Eating
The website provides plenty of ideas for healthy eating with recipes from Emma Bunton, Nadine Coyle, Dannii Minogue and Myleene Klass. Celebrity chefs also cook up simple, healthy meals for the whole family.

If you are embarking on a new fitness regime, the website suggests ideas that will fit in with your age and lifestyle as well as providing inspiration from the likes of Olympic sprinter Linford Christie, who has managed to stay fit and lean post-retirement and post-40.

The website complements NHS Direct by offering more practical advice and support for medical conditions. If you have been diagnosed a common condition, you’ll find help and advice in detailed guides, which include expert opinions from professionals and patients. There are multimedia guides to take you through common surgical procedures such as hip replacements. You can even get access to a vast library of approved medical literature that was only previously available to the medical profession to allow you to do your own research.

Going Into Hospital
Should you need to undergo hospital treatment, NHS Choices gives you the information to make an informed decision about where and how you want to be treated. View ratings on hospital waiting times, cleanliness and readmission figures and, for the first time, what previous patients have to say about their treatment and experiences via online feedback. It is even possible for you to make your choice of hospital based upon personal preferences, such as travelling times, MRSA incidences and availability of single-sex wards.

The website is operational now with further features being added later in this year and during 2008.