Outreach Program Summary May 1, 2011 - April 30, 2012

Overview

National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region (NN/LM GMR) Outreach Programs include Outreach to Health Professionals and Public Health Workers, Outreach to Consumers, Exhibits and Presentations at Meetings, and Technology Awareness: Policy and Improvement. Each program answers a specific need and responds to the mission and goals set by NLM for the NN/LM. In order to accomplish its outreach goals, the GMR's five program coordinators will teach classes, do presentations and site visits, exhibit at profession conferences and provide technical assistance to Network members. The GMR offers outreach subcontracts and awards to network members and each coordinator serves as a liaison to subcontractors in their assigned program areas and provide assistance in implementing projects.

GMR Outreach Programs emphasize reaching the targeted populations identified by NLM. These include public health workers; rural, inner city, and unaffiliated health care providers; minority health practitioners and minority health professions students; and health professionals and librarians that work with vulnerable populations such as HIV/AIDS patients, minorities, seniors, and people with low incomes. Network health sciences librarians are encouraged to partner with community-based organizations, community colleges, public libraries and other organizations that have established relationships with one of the targeted populations. The goal is to build community alliances that improve access to electronic health information resources in an ongoing way.

In addition to reaching out to the NLM target population described above, the GMR has defined three new priorities for the 2011-2016 contract:

To place greater emphasis on engaging hospital librarians in the work of the Network, including assistance with professional development and capacity building;
To develop programs that assist health professionals with integrating health information technologies into their clinical practice and research endeavors;
To increase the health literacy of the public by developing programs for librarians, health professionals, and community health advocates that enhance public access to trusted health information resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.

Sixteen GMR Resource Libraries and the Regional Medical Library are designated as Outreach Libraries for their respective states. These libraries assist the GMR with teaching classes about NLM resources, providing reference services and document delivery to unaffiliated health professionals, partnering with affiliate network members to conduct outreach projects, and exhibiting and/or presenting at community events or meetings of health professionals in their states to promote NLM resources and services. A list of the Outreach Libraries is found at: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/about/outreachlibs.html.

The GMR works with the Outreach Evaluation Resource Center (OERC) of the NN/LM to identify methods and measures for evaluating the region's programs and services. The GMR Outreach, Planning and Evaluation Coordinator serves as the GMR liaison to the OERC. The GMR will continue to offer the "Measuring Your Impact," "Community Assessment" and "Grant Writing" classes and will begin teaching the "Planning Outcomes-Based Outreach Programs" across the region. The Outreach, Planning and Evaluation Coordinator also is developing a new " Project Management" class that she plans to pilot test during Year 1 of the contract. The Year 1 goal is to teach at one of these courses in at least five of our ten states.

Funding opportunities are offered to libraries that wish to conduct outreach on behalf of GMR. Descriptions of GMR awards and subcontracts can be found at: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/. A Toolkit for GMR-funded outreach is found at: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/outreach/toolkit/index.html. Major Outreach subcontracts will be offered for outreach projects targeted to both health professionals and the public. A new Target Outreach funding mechanism will become available during Year 1 of the contract. Project focus options for the Year 1 Target subcontracts include:

Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA)
Evidence-based health information practice
E-science initiatives
Health information technology
Minority health professionals/Minority populations

Outreach to Health Professionals and Public Health Workers

The goal of the Outreach to Health Professionals and Public Health Workers program is to provide all health professionals with easy access to quality biomedical information resources. The program focuses on unaffiliated and minority health professionals who lack access to health information and health professionals who serve targeted populations identified by NLM such as minority populations, seniors, AIDS/HIV patients, low income communities, and rural areas. The GMR will provide Loansome Doc, reference, collection access, training and mediated searching referrals to health professionals in the region. The GMR has established agreements with 31 resource libraries to provide these services to unaffiliated health professionals, including health professionals who work for community-based organizations. The Regional Medical Library will serve, on a cost recovery basis, any areas where there are no agreements. The GMR will also provide professional development and offer pilot projects for librarians to build the knowledge and skills needed to work with health professionals on e-science initiatives and to assist health professionals with using health information technologies.

For Year 1 of the contract, the GMR will pursue strategies to improve outreach to minority health professionals and/or health professionals serving targeted populations. These include (1) encouraging Outreach Libraries and other Network members to contact historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) to increase their knowledge of available health information resources; (2) to work with the Rural Assistance Center (RAC) in North Dakota, the National Center for Rural Health Professions (NCRHP) in Rockford, IL, and the Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center (UMRHRC) jointly sponsored by the University of Minnesota and the University of North Dakota to target outreach to rural health professionals to promote awareness of quality health information; and (3) continue to work with Tribal College Libraries and other local Native American community-based organizations to promote awareness of NLM services. The GMR will also work with hospital and Area Health Education Center (AHEC) libraries to reach these health professionals. Public health workers and public health agencies also have been identified as target populations for outreach initiatives. The GMR will work with all state health agencies and encourage network members to partner with state and local agencies to provide training to improve public health workers' skills in using NLM resources. The GMR also will encourage public health agencies to link to NLM resources from their Web sites. The GMR plans to exhibit at a minimum of one state/regional public health meeting during Year 1.

Demonstrating PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, MedlinePlus, PHPartners.org, and other information access tools at exhibits and holding training sessions for health professionals are key elements of this program. The GMR will exhibit at a minimum of three national meetings of health care providers, as well as at regional and local meetings.

Training for health professionals will emphasize NLM databases such as PubMed, ToxNet and other environmental resources, ClinicalTrials.gov, and when the audience includes public health workers, CDC and PH Partners resources will be included. The GMR will teach a minimum of ten online and/or in-person PubMed and ToxNet classes within the region during Year 1. The development of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources and training in the use of these resources will receive emphasis beginning in Year 1 of the new contract. Training for medical librarians will focus on advanced aspects of the NLM databases and special topics such as Emergency Preparedness, Expert Searching, Patient Safety, and technology awareness. Network members are urged to consult the GMR Web site to identify courses available for scheduling in the region: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/training/classes.html.

During Year 1 of the contract, the GMR plans to work with the library staff of the American Dental Association to explore ways to roll out the evidence-based dentistry (EBD) initiative begun through an NLM grant to train dentists in EBD.

Outreach to Consumers

The goal of the consumer health information services program is to increase the public's awareness of and access to high quality electronic health information so they can make informed decisions regarding their health and the health of family members. The GMR will focus on two primary audiences to achieve this goal: (1) individuals from community-based intermediary groups, such as public libraries and voluntary health organization that have a consumer health mission, and (2) health sciences librarians and health professionals who come in contact with patients and the general public through their work in a health care organization. Target populations include minorities, seniors, teens, gays & lesbians, veterans' groups, and low-income populations, with an emphasis on special topics such as health disparities, health information literacy, HIV/AIDS, public health issues, personal health records, and emergency preparedness. The GMR will continue to foster the development and use of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources for use with these target populations.

The program works with a variety of organizations and networks to identify consumer health information needs and develop strategies to meet those needs. Initiatives include exhibiting at state library association meetings to raise awareness among public, school, and community college librarians; exhibiting and presenting at meetings of community-based organizations (CBOs); participating in programs at health sciences library association meetings; promoting MedlinePlus and other consumer health resources to health care providers so that they can assist their clients in finding health information; and encouraging public libraries and other community-based organizations to link to MedlinePlus and other NLM resources on their Web sites.

The GMR will contact local, regional, and state public librarian training coordinators to offer train-the-trainer sessions and to teach the four consumer health workshops developed by the NN/LM consumer health coordinators. Public libraries will be encouraged to use the "Public Libraries and Community Partners" Web site to learn more about how to establish relationships with community health information partners to promote ongoing training and improved access to NLM resources.

As part of its consumer health outreach, the GMR will recruit public libraries, school libraries, community college libraries, tribal college libraries and health-related community-based organizations (CBOs) to join the network as affiliate members. This will allow them to take advantage of partnerships with full members to provide health information to their users.

During Year 1 of the contract, the GMR will exhibit at a minimum of five state library association meetings promoting NLM products and services and providing classes to participants. GMR staff members will attend meetings of a minimum of three health-related community-based organizations. The goal is to teach workshops at as many of these library and CBO meetings as possible.

The GMR plans to monitor the progress of previously-funded Consumer Health Subcontracts during Year 5. The GMR also will provide consultation and support to state groups working on developing MedlinePlus Go Local projects.

GMR staff will also attend local events sponsored by libraries that host the NLM Traveling exhibits.

Training for public, school, and community college librarians, and CBO-based health information promoters and educators will focus on the basics of key NLM databases. Existing courses include the Series of Consumer Health Workshops as well as courses on MedlinePlus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and ToxTown, Healthy Aging at Your Library, and Health Issues in the Headlines. Consumer health courses can be customized to meet the needs of the local group and many of these courses will be available in online format. Two new courses are under development for this program area; one on health information for immigrants and refugees and one on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender) health. Network members are urged to consult the GMR Web site to identify courses available for scheduling in the region: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/training/classes.html.

Train-the-trainer sessions will be available to librarians and health educators who are charged with training others about NLM resources, including those who train the public. Whenever possible, training will be scheduled with professional meetings to assure efficient use of GMR staff time and resources.

Exhibits and Presentations at Meetings

Exhibits play an important part in publicizing NLM products and services to health professionals, public, school, and community college librarians, and the staff of community-based organizations that include a health literacy component. The GMR Exhibits Program includes staffing exhibits during national and state meetings, and providing awards to network members to assist them in exhibiting at conferences. The GMR office also loans exhibit displays and promotional materials for regional conferences, fairs, and other outreach events.

During Year 1 of the contract, the GMR will exhibit at a minimum of three national meetings, including:

American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) in May,
American School Health Association (ASHA) in October, and
the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago in November

The GMR office offers opportunities for Network librarians to volunteer to staff these exhibits.

In addition the GMR will exhibit at a minimum of one state or regional public health meeting, two state library association meetings, and two health sciences librarians' meetings. The GMR plans to fund a minimum of five Exhibit Awards for network members to exhibit at state or regional meetings.

Information Technology: Policy Awareness & Improvement

The GMR provides programs to meet the information technology awareness and improvement needs of health professionals, librarians, and consumers. Information technology awareness aims to ensure that GMR members and health care professionals are knowledgeable about how to use information technology to access electronic information and how to integrate data with other types of information to enhance collaborative and innovative methods in research. Technology improvement aims to provide libraries with hardware and software and other resources to expand electronic services for their patrons. The GMR will fund a minimum of three Technology Improvement Awards to assist network members with technology upgrades and enhancements and/or to introduce new technologies into their institutions.

The GMR staff will monitor trends and use their Web site to feature information on new technologies and will publish articles about technology in the GMR blog, The Cornflower. Announcements about new technological developments will be distributed on GMRLIST. Network members often face significant barriers, including hospital firewalls that prohibit access, lack of compatibility among information systems, lack of skilled technological assistance, and lack of administrative support. The GMR Technology Coordinator provides phone consultation to network members and teaches online and in-person workshops on new technologies as needed. The GMR currently offers classes on podcasting, screencasting, mobile technologies, creating and editing videos, and new technology trends. The GMR Technology Coordinator will teach a minimum of ten (10) courses during Year 1 of the contract.

August 15, 2011

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