There are times when I sit down in front of my laptop to research a health issue and I feel like I'm completely on my own. I enter a topic and get hundreds of links -- but which ones are the most relevant to me? And how do I know if those websites are reliable? Is anyone else out there searching for the exact same information I am?
I've recently come across a website that can help all of us feel less alone in our searches: PeoplesMD. Founders Carl Sandler and David Alport created PeoplesMD to help people with similar health interests collaborate with each other while researching specific topics on the web.
Here's how PeoplesMD works: the website is organized by "communities" built around medical conditions and lifestyle & wellness topics -- anything from autism to weight loss. Within a community, members can create a "project," a more specific topic or a question. Members can then recommend websites for that project and vote for or comment on recommendations. You can also subscribe to a project and track comments and additions to it.
For example, in the Insomnia community there are three different projects: Finding a cure for insomnia without pills, Getting back to sleep naturally, and Help! I want to sleep better. Under each of these projects is a list of three or four recommended websites.
One of the features I like about PeoplesMD is that members must explain why their recommendation is important for a particular topic. This is what makes researching a topic on PeoplesMD different from looking up a topic on an Internet search engine: PeoplesMD members provide some context and justification for a recommended website. Many of the members are patients in process of educating themselves; other members are doctors who want to share their information with as many people as possible.
I also like that you don't have to be a member to take advantage of the information gathered on PeoplesMD. You can just show up and lurk! But you do have to sign up in order to start a community or project, recommend a website, or vote for a website. That said, in signing up you can maintain a high degree of anonymity if you want to.
PeoplesMD's graphics make it easy to navigate between communities and projects. The website also provides some Digg-like tools to make participating even easier. For example, the Peoplesmd toolbar enables you to recommend a website to a project whenever you're online, even if you're not on PeoplesMD. There's a PeoplesMD blog as well.
The founders of PeoplesMD have been careful in the wording on their website. This is "a knowledge platform built by people" where members "gather, discuss and rate the best web resources for any health issue." PeoplesMD is not a replacement for professional medical advice, and in fact many of the members make reference to the importance of discussing health issues with your doctor.
As with Trusera, PeoplesMD will become a more helpful helpful website in the future as greater numbers of people participate. Right now it is still in Beta form, though plenty of seeds have been planted since its inception in January of this year.
(Speaking of Trusera, I'd like to thank Jude for clarifying a few points on my post on Trusera.)
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