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Dragonfly Spring 2003 -- Volume 34, Number 2

Focus on Funding. Part II: Computer Health Literacy for Seniors in Northern Idaho

by Gail Kouame
Consumer Health Coordinator, NN/LM PNR

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting five projects in the Pacific Northwest Region emphasizing "Access to Electronic Health Information." The projects received funding from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with a maximum award of $40,000. For further information about funding opportunities, visit our web site at: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding.

Computer Health Literacy for Seniors in Northern Idaho

The sponsoring agency for this project is the Kootenai Medical Center (KMC) Library in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. In Kootenai County, the primary users of healthcare are senior citizens. They are also frequent patrons of the DeArmond Consumer Health Library at the Kootenai Medical Center.

The purpose of the Computer Health Literacy for Seniors project is to improve access to electronic health information resources by senior citizens living in northern Idaho. The DeArmond Consumer Health Library currently provides access to health information resources for the five northern counties of Idaho. The goals of this project are to:

• Assess the health and computer literacy of senior citizens in Kootenai County, Idaho.
• Evaluate and improve the patient instructions used for diagnoses that are often seen in elderly patients at KMC to ensure that there is a good match between the literacy levels of the community and the teaching materials.
• Evaluate the current KMC website for ease of use by senior citizens and to use suggestions to create a "senior friendly" webpage incorporating appropriate support and self-care instructions for common sites such as MedlinePlus and Medicare.gov.
• Improve the health and computer training opportunities and Internet access at participating senior centers.
• Promote the use of the "senior friendly" webpage, including MedlinePlus, at community events.

Project partners include the Lake City Senior Center in Coeur d'Alene, the Post Falls Senior Center in Post Falls, the Rathdrum Senior Center in Rathdrum, and the Senior Striders. To find out more about the DeArmond Consumer Health library, you can visit their web site at: http://www.kmc.org/Services/dearmondlibrary.htm

• Part I. Access to Wellness Project
• Part III. Empowering Parents of Children with Special Health Care Needs
• Part IV. Online Access to Reviewed Health Education Materials

Dragonfly, Spring 2003- Volume 34 Number 2
(posted on PNRNews on April 8, 2003)

This publication is funded in whole with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. N01-LM-1-3516.

NLM | MedlinePlus | PubMed | NLM Gateway | TOXNET | LOCATORplus

NN/LM | UW HSL | NN/LM PNR | Contact us: nnlm@u.washington.edu | Revised: June 26, 2003

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200304/kootenai.html