Publications - The Office of Minority Health

The following represents the content we have available in this category:


	Having Surgery?: What You Need to Know This guide lists 12 questions to ask your primary care doctor and surgeon before you have surgery, and the reasons for asking them. The answers to these questions will help you make the best decisions. Sources are listed to help you get more information.
	Talking with your Doctor: A Guide for Older People This guide provides information on how to communicate effectively with your doctor and other topics including: preventing disease and disability; discussing your diagnosis; talking about treatments; making the most of medications and what to do if you are hospitalized or have to go to the emergency room. It provides a resource list for further information. Also available by calling the National Institute on Aging at (800) 222-2225.
	Resolve to Be a Healthier You in 2005-Create a Family Health Portrait for You and Your Family Health care professionals have known for a long time that common diseases - heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - and even rare diseases - like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia - can run in families. If one generation of a family has high blood pressure, it is not unusual for the next generation to have similarly high blood pressure.
	National Kidney Disease Education Program Kidney Connection Guide Make health a family reunion affair! As you are planning your family reunion, don’t forget to put good health on the menu. This guide has everything African-American families need in order to talk about the connection between diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.
	Beneficios por incapacidad Nuestro sitio de Internet, www.segurosocial.gov , contiene información valiosa sobre todos los programas de Seguro Social.
	20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors: Patient Fact Sheet Medical errors are one of the Nation's leading causes of death and injury. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors. This fact sheet tells consumers what they can do to help prevent medical errors.
	Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age This men's health fact sheet offers, at a glance, what the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends regarding seven important medical screening tests for men and other important information on ways to stay healthy.
	My Blood Pressure Wallet Card Talk with your doctor about the lifestyle changes that are appropriate for you. Check off the lifestyle changes of this "Blood Pressure Wallet Card" you are going to use to help lower your blood pressure.
	The Pocket Guide to Good Health for Adults This guide will help you and your health care provider make sure that you get the tests, immunizations (shots), and the guidance you need to stay healthy. To order print copies of this guide, call the Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295.
	The Pocket Guide for Staying Healthy at 50+ (Spanish PDF version) Si tiene 50 años o más, esta guía le ayudará a cuidar su salud. If you are 50 or older, this guide will help you stay healthy. This guide talks a lot about your risk for getting a disease or a condition and whether you are at risk for that health problem. Your risk for any disease or condition depends on whether you have one or more risk factors.
	Ten Steps to Healthier Aging Steps to a HealthierUS is a bold new initiative from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that advances the goal of helping Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives.
	Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure If your blood pressure is between 120/80 mmHg and 139/89 mmHg, then you have prehypertension. This means that you don’t have high blood pressure now but are likely to develop it in the future unless you adopt the healthy lifestyle changes described in this brochure.
	Five Steps to Safer Health Care This fact sheet tells what you can do to get safer health care. This fact sheet tells what you can do to get safer health care. It was developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association.
	The Pocket Guide to Good Health for Children This guide briefly explains preventive care for children, such as checkup visits, immunizations, tests and exams, and provides guidance on related issues. Easy-to-use records help keep track of preventive care for each child and tell parents when shots and other services are needed. To order print copies of this guide, call the Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295.
	The Pocket Guide to Staying Healthy at 50+ (English HTML version) This guide describes ways that people aged 50 and older can stay healthy. It gives information on: living habits that have been proven to help prevent certain diseases and conditions, screening tests to catch conditions or diseases early and immunizations (shots) that have been proven to be effective in preventing diseases. To order print copies of this guide, call the Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295.
	Improving Health Care Quality: A Guide for Patients and Families This guide presents information and lists resources to help you get better quality health care. The fact is, health care quality varies. There are many reasons for this because quality depends on many things, including where you live, who you are, and how much is known about treating your condition.
	Blind? Have Low Vision? - Social Security can Help Booklet describes benefits offered by the Social Security Administration for people who have low vision. They pay benefits to people who are blind under two programs: the Social Security disability insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The medical rules they use to decide whether you are blind are the same for each program. Other rules are different. We explain the different rules for each program below in this booklet.
	Disability Benefits Guide to applying for disability benefits. This booklet provides basic information on Social Security disability benefits and is not intended to answer all questions. For specific information about your situation, you should talk with a Social Security representative.
	Know Stroke. Know the Signs. Act in Time. This is a stroke public education booklet discussing stroke as the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in adults.
	Social Security Online The online Fact Sheet lists various services offered online including information about filing for retirement, spouse's and disability benefits online, subscribing to our online newsletter, the Social Security Statement, and out benefit planners.
	Social Security Benefits For People Living With HIV/AIDS If you have HIV/AIDS and cannot work, you may qualify for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. Your disability must be expected to last at least a year or end in death, and must be serious enough to prevent you from doing substantial gainful work.
	Choosing and Using a Health Plan This booklet can help you make sense of your choices for getting health care insurance. It provides questions and answers on important things you should know when choosing a plan, tips on getting the most out of your current plan, information to help you understand what kind of protection your health plan provides, and what you will need to do to get the health care that you and your family need.
	Checkup on Health Insurance Choices Health insurance is one of your most important needs. Without it, one serious illness or accident could wipe you out financially. The information provided in this brochure will help you decide which plan is the best for you.
	Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care: Summary This guide shows how you can use information about quality to improve the quality of health care services you and your family receive. It describes where to find and how to use measures including consumer ratings, clinical performance measures, and accreditation. The guide has checklists, questions, charts and other tools to help you make the health care decisions that are right for you.
	Quiz for Parents Brush Up on Healthy Teeth: Simple Steps for Kids' Smiles Every parent knows that a healthy smile is a sign of a happy child, and oral health experts agree that creating those healthy smiles begins in infancy. Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a set of pediatric oral health tips, Brush Up on Healthy Teeth: Simple Steps for Kids' Smiles.
	A Grandparents' Guide This guide offers information and tips to help grandparents become nurturing role models. It also includes a safety checklist on child-proofing the home.
	Safety For Older Consumers: Home Safety Checklist This booklet gives tips on home safety in a checklist format. Although geared for older consumers, it contains critical information for people of all ages. Available from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at (800) 638-2772. Ask for Document #701.
	Exercise: A Guide from the National Institute on Aging You're never to old too exercise! This guide is for anyone who wants to take those first steps toward an active lifestyle. The scientists and doctors at the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health collaborated to produce this book. It contains valuable information about how exercise and proper nutrition are crucial for staying healthy as we age and provides useful tips on establishing and maintaining a regular exercise program. Also available by calling (800) 222-2225.
	Prescription Medicines and You Taking medicines is not always as simple as swallowing a pill. It can involve many steps and decisions each day. Whether you are using a medicine yourself or helping a child or an adult, it is easy to get off track. This guide provides information on how to take part in decisions about your treatment, how to watch for problems, what questions you should ask about your medicine and tips on keeping a medicine record list. Also available by calling the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality at (800) 358-9295.
	Now You Have a Diagnosis: What's Next? This resource will help you to use research and other information to make the best treatment decisions for you.
	Understanding Your Body This brochure provides easy-to-understand explanations of body systems and disease conditions.
	Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Fact Sheet This post-stroke rehabilitation fact sheet is from NINDS.

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