The Help for Health Trust

The Help for Health Trust and the Centre for Health Information Quality are leading the development of NHS Direct Online, the new UK gateway website to high quality health information that was launched in December 1999. A revamp of the site is planned for 20 March 2000, to coincide with the 2^nd birthday celebrations of NHS Direct.

Updates include a different health topic every month with an on-line chat with an acknowledged expert; a further 150 audio clips; 500 new rare disorders for the Conditions and Treatment section and the amalgamation of Help-Direct (previously Helpbox) with NHS AtoZ on to the web.

Longer term plans include the addition of information about local health services, touch-screen kiosks in public places, on-line ordering and a pilot in personalising data.

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The Corporate Services department provides financial, administrative, technical and personnel support for all departments of the Trust.  It maintains the computer network for Trust staff and the databases, NHS AtoZ and Help-Direct.   

Launched in 1997, the Centre for Health Information Quality was established as part of the Patient Partnership Strategy, a UK NHS initiative acknowledging, accepting and understanding the need to 'put patients first'. 

C-H-i-Q is seen as a means of improving the capacity of the NHS to provide high quality information about services, treatment options and outcomes.  It is set against the background of recent NHS directives concerned with enabling users of NHS influence in their own care. 

We are working directly with NHS and patient representative groups to raise awareness of key issues in the development of consumer health information. 

Consumers in NHS Research aims to promote the involvement of consumers in research & development in the NHS.  Members come from voluntary organisations, research, and health and social services management. The group’s objectives are: 

• To develop strategic alliances with key groups in order to promote greater consumer involvement in health research
• To empower consumers to become more involved in research and development in the NHS
• To monitor and evaluate the effects of consumer involvement in NHS R&D

The group achieves this by:

• Providing information, advice and support to consumers, researchers and those working in the NHS on consumer involvement in health research
• Commissioning and undertake research about the involvement of consumers in health research
• Producing publications and reports
• Organising seminars, conferences and workshops on consumer involvement in health research

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, require further information or would like to offer a contribution to our next newsletter. 

The research section of Help for Health was established in 1993 and since then has carried out a range of projects associated with the provision of health information to the public.  These have included a study of how people deal with conflicting advice and uncertainty about the treatment of back pain, and a project that explored the nature and quality of information provided by Health Information Services.   

The Unit is currently carrying out a project funded by the Department of Health, Health in Partnership Initiative, to look at how active information seekers use written health information in their decision-making and interaction with health care professionals. The study started in October 1999 and is funded for 27 months.  The project will investigate from the user’s perspective, whether and how health information obtained from sources external to medical consultation is used.  In-depth interviews will be carried out with a sample of callers to two NHS Direct services (Hampshire and East Midlands). The project is a collaborative project with NHS Direct East Midlands, NHS Direct Hampshire and Southampton University.