The Internet is an ever-growing compilation of information. Remember, it was termed the “Information Highway” a few years back. There is a lot of misinformation available, too, but if you stick to reputable sites, you can find good, honest information and assistance.

There are a lot of how-to sites as well as vast numbers of articles about how to do something. Become familiar with the larger search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com. Type in your question or a few keywords to describe what you need assistance with and you'll probably find far more information than you ever thought possible.

You can also access medical journals. Some give you free access to past issues, some let you read abstracts, and some let you purchase an individual article for a fee.

WebMD is a huge site full of valuable information for consumers and health-care professionals alike. Healthline.com is a good search engine for health-related information. You can access insurance companies and Medicare (Medicare.gov) for provider information such as doctors and dentists, information about the quality of providers such as physicians and home-health agencies, as well as benefits, coinsurance, and deductibles met.

You can search for disease entities for information about the disease, treatments, prognosis, and research as well as to find support groups or discussion forums. You can also access information about medical devices, how to purchase them, how they work, and how to clean them.

You can find a wealth of information for caregivers, from tips to emotional and spiritual support. You can also find providers such as lawyers, accountants, doctors, nurses, nursing homes, home-health agencies, clinics, hospitals, and laboratories and you can access forms such as a simple DNR (do not resuscitate), health-care proxy, advance directives, and living wills. Make sure they are legal in your area and have been appropriately signed and witnessed. The Internet is available 24/7. When you have the time and energy to research your needs, it is there. Learn to use it effectively.