Checklists

Puberty: What To Do

The years when the body develops into an adult body, driven by rising sex hormones.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation: What To Do

Supervised exercise and education for people with chronic lung disease.

Radon Testing: What To Do

Testing indoor air for radon, a radioactive gas from soil and rock that you cannot see, smell or taste.

Rate of Weight Loss: What To Do

How quickly weight can be lost in a way that is safe and likely to be sustained.

Raw Milk: What To Do

Milk from cows, goats, sheep or other animals that has not been pasteurized, a heat treatment that kills harmful germs.

Reading an Explanation of Benefits: What To Do

The statement your health plan sends after a claim, showing what the provider charged, what the plan paid and what you may owe.

Reading Recipes Critically: What To Do

Judging whether a recipe fits the way you actually eat before you cook it.

Reading the Nutrition Facts Label: What To Do

The standard FDA panel on packaged foods that lists serving size, calories and key nutrients.

Recognizing an Emergency: What To Do

The symptoms that mean calling 911 rather than waiting.

Recognizing Yourself as a Caregiver: What To Do

Providing unpaid support to someone who could not manage without it.

Reducing Cancer Risk: What To Do

The changeable factors linked to lower cancer risk.

Reducing Food Waste: What To Do

Buying, storing and using food so that less of it is thrown away.

Rehabilitation After a Heart Event: What To Do

A structured program of exercise, education and support after a heart attack, heart surgery or other cardiac event.

Rehabilitation After Surgery: What To Do

Regaining strength and function after an operation.

Reporting Side Effects: What To Do

The FDA MedWatch program, through which anyone can report a suspected reaction.

Resistance Training: What To Do

Exercise that loads muscle against resistance, whether from weights, bands or body weight.

Returning to Activity After Illness: What To Do

Rebuilding capacity after a significant illness or hospital stay.

Returning to Work After Illness: What To Do

Getting back to work after a period of sick leave.

Returning Traveler Illness: What To Do

Illness developing during or after travel, and what needs urgent assessment.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus): What To Do

A common respiratory virus that usually causes cold-like symptoms but can cause serious lung infections in babies and older adults.

Running for Beginners: What To Do

Progressing from walking to continuous running, usually through run-walk intervals.

Safe Disposal of Medicines: What To Do

How to get rid of unused or expired medicines so they cannot be misused or harm children, pets or the environment.

Safe Firearm Storage: What To Do

Storing firearms in ways that keep them out of reach of children, teens and anyone at risk of harming themselves or others.

Safe Home Canning: What To Do

Preserving food in jars at home using tested methods that destroy germs and seal the jar.

Safe Internal Cooking Temperatures: What To Do

The minimum temperatures, measured with a food thermometer, that meat, poultry, seafood and egg dishes need to reach to kill harmful germs.

Safe Lifting at Work: What To Do

Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling loads as part of work.

Safe Sleep for Infants: What To Do

Ways to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related deaths in babies under 1 year old.

Saturated Fat: What To Do

The fat found mainly in butter, fatty meat, cheese, cream, coconut oil and palm oil.

Sciatica: What To Do

Pain radiating down the leg from compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve.

Screen Time and Mood: What To Do

The relationship between device use, particularly in the evening, and sleep and mood.

Screen Use and Eyes: What To Do

Digital eye strain: the discomfort, dryness and blurring associated with prolonged screen use.

Sedentary Time: What To Do

Time spent sitting or reclining while awake, separate from how much you exercise.

Self-Management: What To Do

The day-to-day decisions a person makes about their own condition.

Sensitive Teeth: What To Do

Short, sharp pain in response to cold, heat, sweetness or touch, from exposed dentin.

Sepsis: What To Do

The body's extreme response to an infection, damaging its own tissues and organs.

Setting Rehabilitation Goals: What To Do

Agreeing what recovery is actually for, in terms of specific activities.

Severe Bleeding: What To Do

Controlling blood loss that will not stop on its own.

Sexual Function: What To Do

Difficulties with desire, arousal, pain or orgasm, in any gender.

Sexual Health in Later Life: What To Do

Sexual activity and risk in older adults, an area routinely left out of both advice and services.

Sexual Health Services: What To Do

Confidential services providing testing, treatment, contraception and advice.