For the Web, Helpbox has been renamed Help-Direct and added to our NHS AtoZ database as part of the NHS Direct Online website. This is now available without subscription and includes national data, leaflets and other resources. We plan to add local data for several areas and expand type of data we include. It is set against the background of recent NHS directives concerned with enabling users of NHS influence in their own care. We are working directly with NHS and patient representative groups to raise awareness of key issues in the development of consumer health information.
Members come from voluntary organisations, research, and health and social services management.
Organising seminars, conferences and workshops on consumer involvement in health research Please don t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, require further information or would like to offer a contribution to our next newsletter. The research section of Help for Health was established in 1993 and since then has carried out a range of projects associated with the provision of health information to the public. These have included a study of how people deal with conflicting advice and uncertainty about the treatment of back pain, and a project that explored the nature and quality of information provided by Health Information Services. The Unit is currently carrying out a project funded by the Department of Health, Health in Partnership Initiative, to look at how active information seekers use written health information in their decision-making and interaction with health care professionals. The study started in October 1999 and is funded for 27 months.