Dr. Mom: 92 Tools to Help you Take Better Care of Your Family

Eating Right

Check out these tools and resources to learn how to prepare healthy, delicious meals for your family.

1. Meals Matter: Check out this site for a little help planning and preparing healthy, hearty meals.
2. The Daily Plate: Use this tool to track how many calories your family is consuming each day to ensure you’re all getting what you need to stay healthy.
3. Calorie Needs: Different members of your family may have different calorie needs. This site will help you calculate what you should all be eating.
4. MyFoodDiary: This tool will help you keep tabs on what you’re eating, how much you’re exercising and your total health.
5. FoodFit: Here you’ll find hundreds of healthy recipes that you can browse through by a variety of categories.
6. Healthy Recipes: Check out the recipes provided by the Mayo Clinic to get health care professional approved meals for your family.
7. Delicious Decisions: Eating healthy doesn’t have to taste bad, and this site offers loads of healthy recipes that promise to taste delicious as well.
8. EatingWell: This site provides recipes and menus for healthy eating, nutrition advice, healthy cooking and more.
9. The Food Pyramid: If you don’t know much about how much to eat of what, then this food pyramid guide can help.
10. Look at Three Hundred Calories: Do you know how much is a healthy serving size? This site will show you how much 300 calories gets you of a variety of foods.
11. Food Portion Sizes: This site gives you easy to remember reference points for how much you should eat of each part of your meal.
12. Nutri-Facts.com: Here you’ll find nutrition facts for over 6,000 foods.
13. Nutrition Data: Find out just what you’re eating with this incredibly informative nutrition site.

Healthy Bodies

These resources will help you track your family’s health, get fit and ensure you know all you can about your risk of certain illnesses.

14. Heart Health Toolbox: Take advantage of this set of tools from the American Heart Association to make sure you’re keeping your heart healthy.
15. Daily Burn: This site will allow you to track your fitness, workouts and get support from other moms out there who want to keep their families healthy.
16. Coolrunning: Learn more about running, especially in marathons, from this inspiring site.
17. We Endure: Check out this site to track your training for any kind of sport from cycling to running–individually or as a family.
18. My Family Health Portrait: The Surgeon General provides this site to help you maintain records about your family’s health history.
19. It Runs in My Family: Use this tool to track your family history of illness and improve your prevention tactics and overall health as a family.
20. My Family Health Spot: This site offers a range of tools and tips to help you have a healthier family.
21. Gyminee: Here you’ll be able to see how healthy your eating really is and learn great new ways to get up and get moving.
22. Fit Day: Those who are trying to lose weight or just get healthy can track their progress on this site.
23. SparkPeople: Get support and ideas from thousands of others who are trying to live healthier lives on this fitness tracking site.

Healthy Minds

Maintaining a healthy body isn’t all you need to keep your family healthy–keeping a healthy mind is important as well. These resources will help you and your family learning and mentally active.

24. BBC Languages: Use this free site to learn the basics of languages from Spanish to Chinese.
25. CIA World Factbook: Expand your knowledge of places all around the world with this fact-filled site from the government.
26. MIT OpenCourseware: Take some classes from this world-renowned institution on a wide range of topics. Great for adults and older kids alike.
27. iTunes U: Here you can listen to courses, lectures and special presentations from some of the best researchers and scholars in the world.
28. Depression Self Assessment: Is someone in your family more than just blue? Find out if there is reason to be concerned with this assessment tool.
29. Instructables: Pay a visit to this site for your family to learn how to do everything from taking up a new hobby to fixing things around the house.
30. LiveMocha: Find a partner to help you learn how to speak another language on this learning-focused site.
31. Games for the Brain: Make keeping your brain in shape fun for your whole family with these great games.
32. Video Jug: From eating sushi correctly to doing your hair in a new style, this site will keep your family learning for hours.
33. LearnThat.com : What do you want to learn more about? This site makes it easy, with videos and instructions for thousands of activities.

First Aid

Most families will never have to put their first aid or emergency skills to use, but it’s always better to be prepared in case of accidents. Here are some great tools to help you learn more about first aid and emergency preparedness.

34. First Aid Tools: Training and Kits: Visit this About.com site to find out more about first aid and the best places to get the tools you’ll need.
35. First Aid and Safety: This site is dedicated to kid’s health and offers some advice on what to do in a variety of situations.
36. Thinkquest First Aid: Here you’ll be able to learn about first aid for burns, wounds, broken bones, choking, poison and more.
37. CPR in Three Simple Steps: This site breaks down CPR into easy to follow steps that your whole family can learn.
38. First Aid and Emergency Guide: Check out this site to get some great tips on dealing with emergency situations.
39. Common Simple Emergencies: Use this site as a reference for some of the most common emergency situations and what you should do.
40. Pet First Aid : Your pets are part of the family too, so learn how you can keep them safe and healthy in case of illness or accidents.
41. CPR Dude: Get a funny and informative take on learning CPR for adults, children and infants.
42. FirstAid4All: This site offers guidance for both emergencies and accidents.
43. American Heart Association e-Learning: Would you know what to do if someone you cared about had a heart attack or needed CPR? This site offers some guidance and classes you can take.

Illness and Injury

Should someone in your family fall ill or get hurt, these resources will help you get them through, find out if they need to head to the doctor or treat them at home.

44. Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire: If you’re recovering from an accident or illness this survey can help you determine if you’re ready to get back into the swing of things.
45. Flu.gov: Many parents are worried about sending their kids to school in the midst of the swine flu epidemic. This government site can help you become better informed and prepared.
46. Home Remedies: While not all home remedies work, some do, and you can find out more about them here.
47. Diagnosis Pro: Use this tool to find out what you might be suffering from, from mild illnesses to more major conditions.
48. Family Doctor.org: Here you can find helpful reference information and tools that will let you figure out what you or your family might be sick with.
49. Your Diagnosis : While you should always consult your doctor, this site can help you narrow down just what you might have.
50. Symptom Checker: Check symptoms against this site to get an idea of the root of any sick feelings.
51. Health Central Symptom Checker: You can get a little help in determining whether or not your illness is serious with this site.
52. LiveStrong Symptom Checker: Help keep your family healthy and happy with this tool that lets you check your symptoms and find out what you might have.

Prevention

The best way to keep your family healthy isn’t to just respond when things go wrong but to prevent health problems from the get-go, which is just what these tools can help you do.

53. Emergency Preparedness Checklist: Are you ready if your family were to be involved in a disaster or emergency situation? This checklist can help you figure out what you need to stay safe.
54. Babysitter Information Form: Fill out this form for your babysitter so he or she will have all the information necessary while you’re gone.
55. Child Care Provider Checklist: Worried about leaving your kids in daycare? This checklist will help you determine the quality of care.
56. Pay Attention: Symptoms of Serious Health Conditions: Here are some symptoms you should never ignore in you or your loved ones.
57. Pregnancy Dos and Don’ts: If you’re just starting your family, these tips can help ensure you have a healthy pregnancy.
58. When to Call the Baby’s Doctor: New parents often freak out over every sneeze, but this reference guide will help you learn when you should call the doctor and when you might want to wait.
59. Adolescent and Adult Vaccine Quiz: Find out what vaccines you or your children might need to avoid serious illnesses.

Budget Health Care

With millions of Americans without health care and many more struggling with loss of employment, finding affordable health care is more important than ever. These tools can help you find the resources you need to provide your family with the health care necessary.

60. NeedyMeds: This site offers a listing of thousands of clinics across the United States which will give care based on your income.
61. HRSA Find a Health Center: Use this tool to find a federally funded health center.
62. PPARx.org: Get a little help in lowering your prescription costs with this great clinic finder.
63. Medicare Covered Preventative Services: Find out just what kind of preventative care you can get medicare to cover.
64. Health Care Cost Estimator: Aren’t sure how much it will cost you to take your family member to the doctor? This site can give you a ballpark estimate.
65. Top 5 Ways to Save on Health Care: Check out this guide from AOL to get some advice on ways you can save on your health care costs.
66. Top 10 Ways to Get Affordable Health Insurance With No Job or Little Money : If you don’t have health insurance this article can help you find the coverage you need at a price that won’t bankrupt you.
67. Medi-Share: Check out this service that uses a community to share medical costs so no one gets stuck with the whole bill.
68. Discount Medical Cards: Do you qualify for discount medical cards? This site will help you figure it out.
69. 13 Ways to Save on Prescriptions : If you have medicines you need to buy each month, you know how quickly they can add up. This article will help you reduce the amount you’re spending.

Stress Reduction

These tools can help make your life easier and reduce the amount of stress you have trying to get everything done–making for a happier and healthier family.

70. Google Calendar : Put all of your family’s special events and schedules on this tool so you won’t be stressed trying to remember it all.
71. Stuffopolis: Never lose things again, with this tool that lets you easily keep track of just about anything you own.
72. Chore Buster: If your family has trouble dividing up the chores, this tool can make it easy to track who does what.
73. Time Tracker: See how your family is spending their time and find ways to work more efficiently with this tool.
74. Cozi: Here you’ll find a great tool for organizing your family’s schedule, from shopping lists to daily to-dos.
75. 7 Tips to Relieve Family Stress: Read these helpful tips to get some ideas on how to slow your family down and reduce conflicts and stress.
76. Yoga Today: If you need a moment to yourself, look at this site for some great yoga and meditation tips.

Reference Tools

If you have any basic medical questions you can use these tools as great reference tools to find the answers you need.

77. WebMD: WebMD offers everything from nutrition advice to tools to help you learn more about particular illnesses, and just about everything in between.
78. Mayo Clinic: Get a little advice from one of the foremost medical centers in the world on this site that offers great search tools and informative articles.
79. Doctors Lounge: Through this site you can ask and get answers to your medical questions.
80. Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia: If you need to look up any kind of medical terminology, this site offers a range of tools to do so.
81. Medicine.net: Check out this site to find pictures, symptoms analysis, medication guides, and much more.
82. Medicine Online: This site offers a medical encyclopedia, news, and a range of other health related tools.
83. RxList: Learn more about the drugs you or someone in your family is taking to ensure they are taken safely and responsibly.
84. University of Maryland Medical Reference Tools: This university site is home to a medical encyclopedia in English and Spanish, a drug interaction checker, and guides to alternative medicine, healthy pregnancy and family health.

Spiritual Health

Mind your spiritual health and well-being as well with a little help from these sites.

85. Bible.org: Learn more about the Christian faith from this fully-featured site.
86. Church Finder: If you’re looking for a place of worship in your area, this tool can be a great way to narrow down your options.
87. Gaiam Life: This site is dedicated to helping you strengthen your spiritual side and grow as a person–no matter what that means to you.
88. HolyPal: Find others who share your family’s Christian values on this social networking site.
89. Network for Good: Learn how you can volunteer and help others through this site that connects willing helpers with organizations that need assistance.
90. BeliefNet: Regardless of your faith, this site offers a chance to improve your spirituality and faith as a family or as an individual.
91. bmindful: This site can help you learn to look on the bright side of things with loads of positive affirmations.
92. The Spiritual Sanctuary : Check out this site for non-denominational spiritual support.