A1 Life care
Section 1: Introduction: lifestyle and medical history
Activity AA1.1 A healthy lifestyle
- www.bbc.co.uk/health/interactivearea
This includes an online ‘life expectancy’ calculator. A body mass index (BMI) is requested. Instructions to calculate your BMI are given on the site, and this is also covered in Activity AA1.5 Interpreting BMI data. - www.foodfitness.org.uk
- www.vegsource.com/harris/
On this site you can follow the links via health and weight loss to another questionnaire. This could form the basis of a discussion, not necessarily on the rights or wrongs of vegetarianism, but on how scientifically objective such a site is. What are the indications that it is objective? What are the indications that it is not?
Activity AA1.2 Physical activity readiness
- www.medal.org
This website offers a definitive PAR-Q (along with a mind-bogglingly wide range of other medical questionnaires). The PAR-Q is found in section 36 ‘Physical & Sports Medicine’, under the heading ‘Evaluation Prior to Starting an Exercise Program or Participating in Sports’. You will need to register at this site (free).
Activity AA1.3 Assessing physical activity level
- www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/energyexp.htm
This site has an energy expenditure calculator. - http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/Courses/ns421/BMR.htm l
There is useful information about BMR, energy expenditure, and body composition here. - www.webhealthcentre.com
This site has a health calculator which will calculate your BMR for you. The website refers to BMR as ‘basal energy expenditure’. Find ‘energy expenditure’ among the left-hand navigation tabs. - www.sparc.org.nz
See this site for an example of how another country ( New Zealand) views the physical activity levels of its populations
Section 2: Fitness training: baseline assessment
Activity AA1.5 Interpreting BMI data
- www.foodstandards.gov.uk
The Food Standards Agency website covers many of the points raised in this session, including calculating body mass index and its drawbacks. - www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/healthyweight In particular, there is more detailed information about body shape (fat distribution rather than body fat content) and the relationship between this and health here.
Activity AA1.6 Assessing aerobic fitness
- www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/beep.htm
See this site for more information about the bleep test (on this site called the Multistage Fitness Test). - www.myfitnesstrainer.co.uk/info/info2.htm
There is also information on assessing fitness on this commercial site. - www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk/
www.bhf active.org.uk
Two websites for students who want to investigate the effect of an exercise programme on personal fitness, or who want to begin physical activity or increase the amount they do. Wiredforhealth is the most useful website for teachers and students. It covers all aspects of health for young people including diet and physical activity and has teachers’ notes for each section. The British Heart Foundation website shows how seriously the BHF and the Government are taking the need for people of all ages to do more physical activity.
Section 3: Fitness training: diagnosis and action plans
Activity AA1.7 Measuring the vital signs
- www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/intro.html
The Auscultation Assistant is a website for medical students to help them learn the different heart sounds. It could be used to show a ‘normal’ heartbeat sound, before students try to hear their own through the stethoscope. Alternatively it could be used to give students practice in counting the beats and calculating the heart rate.
Activity AA1.9 Muscle fibre types
- www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/muscle.htm
www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0625.htm
There are several sites concerned mainly or partly with muscle and muscle fibres. These are two of the most accessible.
Section 4: Cardiovascular system and kidneys
Activity AA1.12 Examining blood
- www.economatics-education.co.uk/
Artificial blood products are available from Economatics.
Activity AA1.33 The heart and blood
Two relevant websites may be useful:
- www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/intro.html
The Auscultation Assistant is a website for medical students to help them learn the different heart sounds. You could use sound effects of different types of heartbeat to start the lesson. - www.platolearning.co.uk/demos/mss/demo_mss.php
This site contains an animated section through a heart, which shows the different ECG patterns produced by a heart beating at different rates.
Section 6: People and organisations
Activity AA1.16 Life carers – who and where?
- www.nhs.uk
The NHS website, where you can find out more about how the NHS works. - www.dh.gov.uk
The Department of Health offers electronic access to almost all current and many old DoH publications, including statistical reports, surveys, press releases, circulars, and legislation. - www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
The NHS Direct service enables you to search for local pharmacies, dentists, GP surgeries, and opticians. It also includes a health encyclopaedia and answers to common health questions.
Section 8: Care on a hospital ward, and discharge
Activity AA1.20 From diagnosis to treatment
- www.dh.gov.uk
There are helpful pages about informed consent on the Department of Health website. Do a site search for ‘consent’.
Activity AA1.22 Ward staff and their roles
- www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/
The NHS careers website is an invaluable resource for both teachers and students. The ‘explore by career’ tab allows searches for particular careers.
Entering a medical condition into a search engine such as Google will yield much useful background information.
Section 9: Antenatal care
Activity AA1.23 At the antenatal class
- www.teenagehealthfreak.org
This website is aimed at a teenage audience and offers answers to lots of health questions, including pregnancy.
Activity AA1.25 Instructions for pregnancy test kits
- www.medisave.net/
Use ‘Quickfind’ on this website to compare the cost of different pregnancy test kits. - www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/home_pregnancy_test.htm
This site has questions and answers about home pregnancy testing. - www.pregnancy-info.net/ and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/health/2000/pregnancy/default.stm
These two websites have information about all aspects of pregnancy. - www.whfreeman.com/kuby/content/anm/kb07an01. htm
It is possible to test simulated urine for the presence of human chorionic gonadotrophin. Instead of dipping a test strip into a urine sample, visit the website to see an animation of how the test strip works and how the hormones and antibodies bind together to give a positive or negative result.
Activity AA1.26 Antenatal ultrasound scans
- www.ob-ultrasound.net/frames.htm
A website showing ultrasound images.
Activity AA1.27 IVF = in vitro fertilisation
- www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
NHS Direct has simple information about IVF treatment. Use Google to find other relevant sites.
Activity AA1.28 Pre-eclampsia
The following websites provide reliable information.
- www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/536334.html
This site describes antenatal check-ups. - www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
Search here for ‘pre-eclampsia’. - www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/preeclampsia1.shtml
- www.preeclampsia.org/
The website of an American organization. - http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/pre_eclampsia.html
A report from BUPA, February 2004.