Recommended Diabetes Websites

American Diabetes Association is the leading nonprofit health organization dedicated to diabetes. The mission of the organization is "to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes." To accomplish this, the American Diabetes Association funds research, publishes scientific findings, and provides information and other services to people with diabetes, their families, health care professionals, and the public. The site contains basic information about diabetes, such as healthy living choices, insulin reactions, exercise, and diet. Other features include diabetes in the news, online shopping, ADA-sponsored events, and a section for health care professionals.

Ask NOAH about Diabetes is a subsection of a unique and widely used site sponsored by a consortium of libraries in New York known as NOAH (New York Online Access to Health). An extensive collection of full-text consumer health information is easily accessible by clicking on the appropriate topic on the main diabetes page. From there, the user can continue to click on subcategories under each main heading. Information is available in English and Spanish, and there are categories for gender-specific, age-specific, and race-specific issues.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is dedicated to promoting the "health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability". The Diabetes Public Health Resource page contains links to information on professional conferences, frequently asked questions (FAQ's) about diabetes, projects such as the National Diabetes Education program, links to related sites on diabetes, news and information, publications and products, descriptions of state-based programs, and statistics about the disease. The target audience for this site is adults, both consumers and professionals. Spanish language information is also included. Users of the site can easily connect to the CDC home page to look up other subjects via "Health Topics A-Z."

Diabetes 123 is an organization whose mission is "to be the world leader in online diabetes care, improving the quality and reducing the cost of care by increasing the understanding of, and providing traditional and innovative products and services for, the treatment of all types of diabetes." In addition to the main site at diabetes 123, the organization also sponsors the Children with Diabetes site and The Diabetes Monitor. The main site is presented as an online magazine, and the home page serves as a table of contents to a variety of options, such as news and research articles, educational feature articles, chat rooms and other people connections, an "ask the diabetes team" section, and an online store. Although this site does accept advertising, it subscribes to the HONcode principles of the Health On the Net Foundation, as do the two related sites sponsored by diabetes 123.

Children with Diabetes is sponsored by the Diabetes 123 organization and considers itself to be "the online community for kids families and adults with diabetes." Like the parent site at diabetes 123, the home page is like a table of contents for the remainder of the site pages, offering options similar to diabetes 123, but focused primarily on the needs of children with diabetes.

The Diabetes Monitor is a site that is "monitoring diabetes happenings everywhere in cyberspace." Sponsored by Diabetes 123, it provides a registry of diabetes-related websites around the world. Each entry in the list includes the name and URL for a specific website, along with a sentence or two describing the contents of that site. In addition to the "Diabetes Registry," the home page has links to news about diabetes, as well as links to the other two sites sponsored by Diabetes 123. A separate site called Diabetes Monitor: Four Star Sites (http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/fourstar.htm) provides a more selective list of diabetes websites that have been judged to be the best by a panel of webmasters of such sites.

Joslin Diabetes Center is a site provided by one of the leading diabetes clinics in the United States. Affiliated with Harvard Medical School, the Joslin website is aimed at patients and professionals. The "Managing Diabetes" section has a library of information for patients, discussion boards, descriptions of patient programs and camps for children with diabetes, and a store to purchase books and videos on various aspects of the disease. Other sections of the site provide information about the Joslin Diabetes Center, professional education, and research. The "Diabetes News" area has current updates about legislative activities, press releases, and the latest news in diabetes care and research.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International is dedicated to fostering research to find a cure for diabetes. The site includes information about JDRF sponsored research, its chapters and affiliates, ways to support JDRF, its publications, and it legislative activities. A kids online section provides links to a variety of materials directed at children and teens, with an index divided into specific age groups. A quarterly online magazine called Countdown For Kids is one of these links. Launched in 1996, its goal is to provide news, help, inspirational tools, educational tools, and fun for kids ages 8 and up.

National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases is a government-supported site highlighting the work of the NIDDK, one of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK is dedicated to conducting and funding research on diabetes and digestive and kidney diseases, and the website devotes approximately one third of its content to diabetes and its related diseases. Consumer health information is organized into an A-Z list. "Easy-to-read" versions and Spanish language versions arc included for many topics. In addition to consumer health information, the site also provides information about research and funding opportunities, clinical trials, health education programs, NIDDK laboratories, and reports about planning and congressional activities.

Source:
Medical Library Association