A Selection of Online, Freely Available Resources in Researching the Health “Gender Gap”
General
US - Google US Government Search at http://usgov.google.com/
Provided by the powerful search interface Google, Google US Government Search offers results solely from federal and state websites. To find up to date government information, consulting websites is usually recommended as much information previously published in paper is now available solely online.
- “The Science of Sex and Gender” in Human Health online course at http://sexandgendercourse.od.nih.gov/ from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
US - Institute of Medicine (IOM) at http://www.iom.edu/
Part of the National Academy of Sciences, IOM is a private, non-governmental organization which conducts research and advises on healthcare policy issues.
- Institute of Medicine (IOM) gender differences report “Does Sex Matter” at
http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4/130/DoesSexMatter8pager.pdf
International - World Health Organization (WHO) at http://www.who.int/en/
WHO is the public health division of the United Nations.
- gender research at http://www.who.int/topics/gender/en/
Personal Health
MedlinePlus at http://medlineplus.gov/
From the National Library of Medicine (NLM), MedlinePlus, in this humble librarian’s estimation, is the very best consumer health information available. Not to be confused with researcher-focused Medline, MedlinePlus provides numerous links to public and private sector sites vetted by NLM staff, medication and supplement information, tutorials, online videos, and many other resources valuable to both healthcare consumers and practitioners. Also available in Spanish.
- gay, lesbian and transgender health information at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/gaylesbianandtransgenderhealth.html
- men’s health information at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/menshealth.html
- women's health information at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/womenshealth.html
Statistical
US - National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
Part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NCHS is the foremost collector of health statistics.
- men’s health statistics at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mens_health.htm
- women’s health statistics at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/womens_health.htm
- historical and archival statistics resources
- For example, the influential “Vital and Health Statistics Series,” commonly referred to as the “Rainbow Series,” can be accessed in its entirety at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/series/ser.htm.
US - Using the word “statistic” with the desired topic words, Google US Government Search at http://usgov.google.com/ finds national and state-specific statistics.
International - WHO’s “Data and Statistics” at http://www.who.int/research/en/
- Ann Hallyburton, Reference Librarian and Liaison to the Healthcare Professions, ahallyb@email.wcu.edu