Audio Podcasts
AHRQ Podcast on Health Care Quality (MP3 Download, 8.9 MB; Transcript)
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Fact Sheets
Blood Thinner Pills: Using Them Safely
Cardiovascular Diseases: Patient Brochures and Clinician Fact Sheets
Common Uterine Conditions: Options for Treatment
Do You Smoke? Do You Want to Quit?
Five Steps to Safer Health Care
Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence
20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors
Understanding Your Body
Ways You Can Help Your Family Prevent Medical Errors!
Your Guide to Preventing and Treating Blood Clots
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Health Care Choices
Improving Health Care Quality: A Guide for Patients and Families
Consumer Health Informatics and Patient Decisionmaking
Environmental Scan of Instruments to Inform Consumer Choice in Assisted Living Facilities
Expanding Patient-Centered Care To Empower Patients and Assist Providers
Guide to Health Care Quality: How to Know It When You See It
Having Surgery? What You Need to Know
Improving Consumer Choice
Navigating the Health Care System: Advice from Dr. Clancy
Next Steps After Your Diagnosis: Finding Information and Support
Questions and Answers About Health Insurance: A Consumer Guide
Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care: Summary
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Put Prevention Into Practice
Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup
Men: Stay Healthy at 50+—Checklists for Your Health
Pocket Guide to Good Health for Adults
Pocket Guide to Good Health for Children
Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup
Women: Stay Healthy at 50+—Checklists for Your Health
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Quick Tips
Quick Tips—When Getting Medical Tests
Quick Tips—When Getting a Prescription
Quick Tips—When Planning for Surgery
Quick Tips—When Talking with You Doctor
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Speeches & Testimony
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Research Findings
Agency Press Releases
Research Activities, January 2010:
Web-based programs help patients with diabetes feel empowered to take care of themselves
Research Activities, December 2009:
Better educational materials are needed to boost the health literacy of individuals who are deaf
Research Activities, November 2009:
Chronic disease self-management program improves illness management for up to 6 months, then effectiveness wanes
Research Activities, October 2009:
New video helps patients use blood thinner pills safely and effectively
New guides can help pregnant women and doctors compare treatments for gestational diabetes
Research Activities, September 2009:
AHRQ launches monthly health advice column and enhanced Web site in Spanish
Research Activities, August 2009:
AHRQ uses multimedia tools to educate consumers
Research Activities, May 2009:
AHRQ and the Ad Council encourage consumers to ask questions and get more involved in their health care
New plain language guides on the comparison of insulin treatments for Type 2 diabetes are available
Research Activities, March 2009:
Educating patients before hospital discharge reduces readmissions, emergency department visits, and saves money
Risk of bleeding events is reduced among patients who report receiving instructions in warfarin use
Impact of direct-to-consumer advertising on drug use varies depending on the drug, scope of advertising, and culture
Research Activities, January 2009:
Less than half of consumer Web sites are updated to reflect new recommendations on antibiotic use for ear infections
Improved healthfinder.gov makes health information quicker to find and easier to use
New Web resource aims to connect primary care, public health providers, and patients
Research Activities, November 2008:
Two new resources can help consumers and clinicians prevent dangerous blood clots
Research Activities, August 2008:
New Spanish-language consumer guide compares oral diabetes medications
Research Activities, July 2008:
AHRQ announces guide to help patients on Coumadin®/warfarin therapy
Book chapter provides strategies and tips for addressing health literacy
Only about 1 in 10 adult Americans have all the skills needed to manage their health
Research Activities, May 2008:
New pill card helps patients take medications on time
Research Activities, April 2008:
Personality is linked to active and passive decisionmaking style
Individuals will use Web-based data about physician characteristics and performance to choose a doctor
Research Activities, February 2008:
Pediatric outpatient medication errors are common and are often due to mistakes made at home
Research Activities, January 2008:
AHRQ releases toolkits to help providers and patients implement safer health care practices
Medicaid-insured parents could benefit from educational programs to promote more judicious use of antibiotics
Research Activities, December 2007:
Full disclosure of medical errors to patients is becoming more and more transparent
Research Activities, November 2007:
Local touchscreen computer kiosks can help parents in urban, low-income communities learn about their child's health
AHRQ launches a new series of advice columns
Research Activities, October 2007:
AHRQ releases a new guide to help consumers make health insurance decisions
Research Activities, April 2007:
New webliography identifies reliable prescription medication Web sites for consumers
Research Activities, March 2007:
AHRQ and the Ad Council encourage patients to ask questions and get more involved with their health care
Older adults' psychological and health characteristics influence their use and timing of online health information searches
Research Activities, January 2007:
Black patients tend to ask fewer questions of their doctors and receive less information than other patients
Research Activities, December 2006:
Direct-to-consumer drug advertising on television may have led to increased prescribing of Vioxx® and Celebrex®
Research Activities, November 2006:
Many men still confuse benign prostatic hyperplasia with prostate cancer, even after viewing an instructional videotape
Research Activities, September 2006:
Patients are willing to help prevent medical errors, but reluctant to take all the recommended actions
Research Activities, June 2006:
Communication between primary care patients and their doctors does not necessarily result in shared decisionmaking
Research Activities, April 2006
Doctor-patient communication is critical to how parents view the quality of end-of-life care for children with cancer
Research Activities, March 2006
Patient responses to medical errors depend on the timeliness and quality of the physician's communication about the event
Women need information about alternatives, risks, and benefits of hormone therapy for osteoporosis to make an informed decision
Better communication and coordination of care could reduce frustration experienced by patients with chronic diseases
Research Activities, February 2006:
Consumers are unlikely to engage in protective behaviors to prevent medical errors
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