Web site is valuable resource for seniors

By KORKY VANN
HARTFORD COURANT
Maybe your doctor has recommended cataract surgery. Perhaps your spouse has had a stroke or has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Whatever your situation, you may have considered doing research online to expand your knowledge to make more informed decisions.
But while the Internet is filled with thousands of sites offering information on a wide range of age-related health issues, making your way though the amount of data available can be overwhelming. Type "Alzheimer's disease" into an online search engine, and more than 1 million links come up. Try "arthritis treatment," and more than 2 million hits come up. "Hearing loss" returns more than 2 million possible sites.
The National Institute on Aging has found that some of the information on these Web sites is reliable and current, and some is not. Choosing which ones to trust can be challenging.
Helpful sight
To help, the National Institutes of Health has launched NIHSeniorHealth.gov (www.nihseniorhealth.gov), a new user-friendly talking Web site with formats and topics tailored to the needs of older adults. Using techniques developed by the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine and data from NIH agencies and centers, the site is designed to encourage seniors to use the Internet, providing the most accurate and comprehensive information on health issues and medical research on aging.
NIHSeniorhealth.gov focuses on health topics and diseases of particular interest to older people, including Alzheimer's disease and care-giving; arthritis; balance problems; breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer; hearing loss; and exercise.
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, says the project, which has been in development for several years, was prompted by research that showed seniors were the fastest-growing group of Internet users.
"The trends indicated that the rates of Internet usage by seniors was increasing, so we felt an urgency to provide an authoritative site," Hodes says. "But our research also showed that the way people think, learn and remember changes with age. We needed to design a site that helped compensate for those changes."
While older adults do experience gradual declines in cognitive abilities as part of the normal aging process, Hodes says, they can successfully use computers if the online information is provided in an age-appropriate manner. The Web site, for example, contains large print and short, clear segments of information. Oversized "forward" and "back" buttons make it easy to move from place to place. Videos, question-and-answer sections, captioned photographs and illustrations and quizzes make the information easy to read and remember. The site also has a "talking" function, which offers the option of listening to the text being read to them.
Tips
The National Institute on Aging offers the following tips for finding reliable health information online:
*Identify the Web site sponsor. The end of the Web site address can help: ".gov" is a government agency; ".edu" is an educational institution; ."org" identifies professional organizations such as scientific or research societies or advocacy groups; and ".com" identifies commercial sites, such as those created by businesses or pharmaceutical companies.
*Be sure you can reach the site's sponsor. Trustworthy sites have contact information, such as a toll-free phone number and mailing address. Authors and contributors and their affiliation and financial interest in the site should be identified.
Also find out when the information was written and when the site was updated. Be skeptical of dramatic cures or remedies, and use your common sense and good judgment when evaluating health information online.
Remember, there are Web sites on every conceivable health topic and no rules overseeing the quality of the data. Information that sounds too good to be true probably is.