Research Guides: Public Health: Statistics & Government Information

Finding Information About Laws

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Use Lexis Nexis to look up legal news, cases, and laws. You must log in to use this resource.
Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
Use this to find legislative information from Congress, including bills, resolutions, committee information, etc.

Finding Legislators and Bills

Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
Use this to find legislative information from Congress, including bills, resolutions, committee information, etc.

VoteSmart.org-- Find your Legislators

West Virginia State Legistlature-- Find a Bill This link opens in a new window

Statistical Databases

Statisical Abstracts is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Tables can be downloaded in Excel and Chapters as PDF documents. Keywords such as infection can be used to locate relevant tables.

General and Health Statistics

The US government collects statistics on a variety of topics that can be useful for public health students. Here are some places to start.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Resources here include: CDCWonder, CDC Data and Statistics, MMWR, Hazardous Substance/Health Effects Database and Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Food and Drug Administration
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, of drugs, medical devices, foods and cosmetics. This site contains information for consumers, patients, health professionals, health educators, state and local officials, kids, teens, women, and many more.
MedlinePlus Health Statistics
Developed by National Library of Medicine includes Peer Reviewed Web Sites and other resources on this topic
National Center for Health Statistics
US Census Bureau
A useful site for obtaining demographic, economic, and social statistics on a national, state, or county level. Many of these statistics will be useful in grant writing.
West Virginia Health Statistics Center

State and Local Statistics

County Level

CDC SNAPS – Snap Shots of State Population Data

CHSI – Community Health Status Indicators
County Health Rankings (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

State

America’s Health Rankings (United Health Foundation)
State Health Facts (Kaiser Family Foundation)
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Government Departments and Agencies

Agency for Healthcare research and Quality (AHRQ)
A health educator will be particularly interested in the section for Consumers & Patients, which has materials that will help patients choose wisely when it comes to their health care.
National Institutes of Health
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
US Department of Agriculture
US Department of Health and Human Services
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
US House Committees
US Senate Committees
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
West Virginia Legislature