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Resources: Find Support

Google Directory of Support Groups
The Google Web Directory integrates Google’s sophisticated search technology with its Open Directory Project, which lists and categorizes web sites.

American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse
A comprehensive searchable database of support groups compiled from information provided by the American Self-Help Clearinghouse, a department of the Behavioral Health Center of Saint Clare’s Health System. This site helps you to find or start a support group.

List of Organizations Grouped by Health Topic (MedlinePlus) brings together authoritative information for consumers from the National Library of Medicine (NLM). This resource provides an A-Z list of organizations grouped by health topic that have been pre-screened by the NLM to ensure they meet certain criteria, including quality, authority, accuracy of content and that their mission is primarily educational and not to sell a product or service.

Rare Disease Database and Directory (National Organization of Rare Disorders)
The National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD) is a non-profit, voluntary health agency that exists to serve patients with rare-disease, their families and the organizations that serve them. They provide information about rare diseases, support for ongoing research, medication assistance programs that help patients obtain certain drugs they could not otherwise afford and referrals to patient organizations. This link takes you to their very comprehensive A-Z list of rare disorders which directs you to information and referrals on each.

Online Health Communities (MedHelp)
MedHelp was founded in 1994 and is one of the pioneers in online health communities. It’s also the largest with over 5 million visitors per month. This site connects people with the medical experts and other individuals who have similar experiences. It has established partnerships with a number of well-regarded healthcare institutions and organizations including the Cleveland Clinic, National Jewish, Partners Health, Mount Sinai, Cornell and Vanderbilt.

Online Health Communities (Yahoo! Health Groups)
Yahoo! Groups was launched in 1998. This link enables you to search for groups on a comprehensive list of health-related topics.

Online Health Communities (HealthBoards)
HealthBoards.com is another website offering discussion boards that enable groups to share information and provide support for each other online. It has over 400,000 registered members and offers over 150 message boards on various diseases, conditions, and health topics.

Online Health Communities (PatientsLikeMe)
Founded in 2004 by three MIT engineers, PatientsLikeMe enables users to share information on a number of neurological and mood conditions and HIV/AIDS and provide them helpful tools to detail and share experiences with symptoms and treatment.

Catalog of LISTSERV® lists (CataList)
A listserv allows groups interested in the same topic to discuss these topics via e-mail. Once you subscribe to a listserv you receive notification of all posts arriving at the listserv and can respond to these messages. The CataList website provides access to the LISTSERV® LISTS database, which contains information about all the public LISTSERV lists on the Internet, over 50,000 lists. This website enables you to search through hundreds of listservs on a wide array of medical topics.

Toll-free Numbers for Health Information (NHIC)
This is a resource created by the National Health Information Center (NHIC), Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is a comprehensive database listing by topic an index of toll-free telephone numbers for organizations that provide health-related information, education, and support.

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Resources: Find Support