Library Guides: Personal Health and Mental Wellness: Home

Welcome!

Penn State University Libraries supports all students, staff, faculty, and community members who wish to improve their health.

Please note that library employees are not qualified to diagnose or recommend treatment for health problems, nor are they responsible for the accuracy of the medical information within the web sites, books, and other resources listed in this guide. The library's health-related services are limited by RUSA Health and Medical Reference Guidelines and other best practices. For referrals to health professionals, see the "Getting Help" page.

Below are some all-purpose resources that are starting points for any personal/consumer health topic. On the left side of this guide, click on tabs to learn about resources for specific health concerns.

Starting Points

MedlinePlus
A top choice for health information. Para español, haga clic en "Español" en el lado derecho de la página.
My Healthfinder
A site by the U.S. Department of Health. Covers health conditions, healthy living, and resources for interacting with doctors. To get started, click on "Browse Topics" at the top of the page.
FamilyDoctor.org
Written by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Provides medical information in simpler language, including pages for children. See the topics and search box at the top of the page.
KidsHealth
From Nemours, a nonprofit children's health system, this site provides information on topics related to children's health, with tabs for parents, children, and teens.
PressReader: Health and Fitness
A selection of current, full-color, popular magazines from across the globe.

Digging Deeper

Mayo Clinic
Offers a large variety of web sites, videos, illustrations, and other resources.
Merck Manual Professional Version
Merck entries for professional-level health information often contain links to consumer information and patient handouts as well.
What Did My Doctor Say?
A list by the Medical Library Association that explains common medical vocabulary.
Healthy Penn State
Penn State's health blog. Helpful, science-based articles on current topics.

Nursing Reference Center Plus This link opens in a new window
Intended for nurses, and accessible to Penn State faculty, staff, and students, this database offers "Patient Education" handouts and other professional-level information. A helpful bridge between freely-available web sites that are sometimes too basic, and the medical literature which can be difficult to understand.

Nursing Reference Center (NRC) is a point-of-care resource intended for staff nurses, nurse administrators, nursing students, nurse faculty, and hospital librarians. It delivers the best available and most recent clinical evidence and knowledge on conditions and diseases via a nursing-specific graphical interface. NRC is accessible from a patient’s bedside, nursing station, kiosk, office, or home.

Health (General)
Links to PubMed and Penn State's other health research databases.