National Family Health History Day

Posted by Amy Reyes on November 24th, 2020 Posted in: All of Us, Blog, Consumer Health, MedlinePlus, Precision Medicine

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Thanksgiving is coming up in the United States, and with it, time for conversations and catching up with loved ones and family. Though we may be “zooming” one another instead of sharing our meals at the same table this year, it is still a wonderful opportunity to share family memories, special stories and history. That is why Thanksgiving Day is also National Family Health History Day. These conversations can be difficult, but there are some great resources available to help.

• My Family Health Portrait – This is a resource from the Surgeon General to help you document your own family health history online. Similar to programs that let you share your cultural heritage, this assists you in tracking your health heritage. This can help you identify if you might be at higher risk for certain conditions. You can use this document to start a conversation with your doctor and with other family members.
• Does It Run In The Family? Toolkit – This toolkit, made up of two books from Genetic Alliance, is available in English, Spanish and Tagalog. Book 1 can help guide you in having health history conversations with your family, including suggested activities and conversation starters. Book 2 helps you learn more about genes, genetics and how they might influence your own health outcomes.
• Family Health Resources from NNLM – The NNLM Reading Club has created a page full of resources about family health, heritable conditions, genetics and more. There are also several recommended titles for book club kits. If you would like to learn more about the NNLM Reading Club program you can reach out to the PSR All of Us Community Engagement Librarian, Amy, at abreyes@library.ucla.edu.

If having a family health history conversation leads to questions about conditions you would like more information on, a great place to start is with Medline Plus Genetics. On Medline Plus Genetics you can search for genetic information by the name of a condition or by a particular gene. Of course it is advised to share all of your health history and any questions you might have with you personal healthcare provider.