Hemophilia of Georgia Launches The Hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease & Platelet Disorders Handbook
February 16, 2012
New Online Guide to Living with a Bleeding Disorder
Hemophilia of Georgia is proud to announce the availability of its new online resource, The Hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease & Platelet Disorders Handbook. The new go-to place on the Internet for bleeding disorder information can be found at www.hog.org/handbook.
In 1988, Hemophilia of Georgia published the first print edition of The Hemophilia Handbook. What began as a day-to-day guide for Georgians living with a bleeding disorder quickly became a resource used around the world. In response to many requests, in 2007 HoG published The VWD & Platelet Disorders Handbook. Now the agency is offering both publications combined online in an expanding format.
“We realized that today, when people have a medical question, they no longer go to their bookshelf – they go to the Internet,” said Jeff Cornett, HoG’s Director of Training, Research, & Advocacy and longtime editor of The Handbook. “Moving to an online format made sense. We can now add information quickly and easily.”
Readers of the print edition will recognize the chapter names that have been carried over to the online edition. They’ll also find the same, easy-to-read format. New features have been added, such as the “pop-up” glossary. When a reader moves the cursor over select words in The Handbook (those in blue italics) a balloon showing the definition of the word will appear. Readers can also ask questions and suggest additions to The Handbook using the “Post a Comment” feature. One thing readers won’t find: ads. “We’ve never accepted funding for The Handbook from any pharmaceutical company,” said Cornett. “The only people who influence our content are our physicians, nurses, and social workers and, of course, the people with bleeding disorders and their families who send us comments.”
While The Hemophilia Handbook was always free for people in Georgia with bleeding disorders, others had to pay the printing and shipping costs. That put the books out of reach of most people outside of the U.S. Now anyone with access to the Internet can read the information free of charge. (A limited number of print editions of The VWD & Platelet Disorder Handbook and La Guía de Hemofilia are still available for purchase by calling the Hemophilia of Georgia office.)
“We’re very excited about this next phase in the evolution of our Handbook,” said Cornett. “The books contained information that was current at the time of printing. Now we have a resource that’s always up-to-date.”