NIHSeniorHealth Adds Info on Skin Cancer, Patient-Physician Communication

Two new topic areas recently added to the NIHSeniorHealth Web site offer older patients information about skin cancer and how to make the most of their visits to their physicians' offices. The Web site is a joint effort of the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, both of which are NIH components.

Visitors to the NIHSeniorHealth site now can explore information about the causes of and risks for various types of skin cancer, as well as about symptoms, screening and diagnosis. This section of the site also explains various treatment options and recaps the latest research on skin cancer. Online quizzes help reinforce the content presented, which was developed by NIH's National Cancer Institute.

The other new area on the Web site offers older patients guidance on how to communicate openly, comfortably and assertively with their physicians, stressing the fact that the most effective patient-physician relationships function as partnerships, with both sides taking responsibility for good communication.

This section of NIHSeniorHealth.gov coaches older patients on such issues as

It's worth noting that seniors are one of the fastest-growing age groups using the Internet, with older Americans increasingly turning to the World Wide Web for health information. In fact, 68 percent of wired seniors surf for health and medical information when they go online, according to NIH.