Award Report - Equine Therapy Awareness Day
The project of bringing awareness to the Horse Therpay Program was a great success. I originally brought up the idea to a recreation therapist while evaluating an art exhibit for the Veteran’s here at the hospital. She told me they had thought about the program and were thinking of ways to raise funds. I had seen an article in the New York Times about how Amputee Veterans at the Walter Reed VA were benefiting from the Horse Therapy.
I contacted the Chief of Recreation and we arranged a meeting. The results were that there would be a two day event since we wanted to bring the Veteran’s to the Stable to get them interested. The Director of Horseability stressed the importance of connecting the Library and showing the NLM resources.
On day one a May Pole was setup outside the Library. Everyone was invited in and a demo session on PubMed and MedlinePlus was given to help them with their medical questions. I believe the program went well. The intent was to advertise the library and to bring awareness of NLM resources to this Veteran Community. The sign now placed in front of the libary has certainly brought more patients in. The only thing I would of done differently is that I would have had an additional demo session just for the professional staff (recreation therapist) gearing the discussion towards PubMed, the tutorials ad search techniques. I touched on PubMed that day but the audience was primarily veteran patients and so I focused on MedlinePlus and the print resources.
Mary Lou Glazer- Veteran’s Administration- Northport Medical Library- Northport, NY
