On November 8, the Pew Internet and American Life Project released Mobile Health 2012. This report gives us the latest findings on health information seeking by smartphone owners. Most notably, this report gives us data about the fast adoption of health apps by Latinos and African-Americans. These findings are the result of a nationwide telephone survey of 3,014 adults living in the United States. The survey was done in English and in Spanish, utilizing landline and cell phone connections.

Mobile Health 2012 finds that these groups of health consumers are more inclined to use their phones to look for health information: people who act as caregivers to others, people who went through a recent medical crisis and people who experienced a recent, significant change in their physical health.

These populations are more likely to use phones to find health information:

• 18-49 years old
• Blacks and Hispanics
• Household income exceeding $50,000
• At least some college education

These populations are more likely to download a health app onto their phones:

• 18-29 years old
• Women
• Whites and Blacks
• Household income exceeding $30,000
• At least some college education

Exercise, diet and weight control apps are the most popular. Other apps include those that track menstrual cycles, blood pressure, pregnancy, blood sugar or diabetes and medication. The WebMD app was listed by 4% of those with health apps on their phones.

Margot Malachowski
Health Literacy COI Leader
margot.malachowski@baystatehealth.org

Learn more about quality health care for culturally diverse populations. The DiversityRx 2013 conference in spring 2013 will explore achieving equity in an era of innovation and health system transformation. Learn more about this conference at: http://www.diversityrx.org/conference/2013-conference-agenda. I attended and presented at this conference several years ago, and particularly enjoyed the the interdisciplinary nature of this conference.

-Michelle Eberle

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (New England Region) is sponsoring a webinar on November 14th from 2-3 PM with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to provide an overview of free evidence-based research summaries designed to provide information about treatment options for various conditions.

The summaries are part of AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, the leading Federal effort to compare treatments for health conditions and make findings public. The program provides evidence-based information about the comparative benefits and risks of treatments that helps doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others work with patients to make more informed treatment decisions.

For instance, the clinician summary Effectiveness of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring in Adults with Hypertension, reviews clinical evidence comparing the effectiveness and safety of self measured blood pressure.

Companion patient summaries include, Measuring Your Blood Pressure at Home: A Review of the Research for Adults and “ACE Inhibitors” and “ARBs” To Protect Your Heart, and many more. All summaries are based on a systematic review of the literature by the John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science.

You can download copies of the all clinician and patient summaries from the AHRQ Web site. The clinician and patient resources, including free Continuing Medical Education (CMEs) courses are available at: http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/research-summaries-for-consumers-clinicians-and-policymakers/?RPD. Free bulk copies of the summaries can be ordered by calling the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 800–358–9295; use code C-02.

In addition to this, AHRQ offers other free resources for clinicians on the AHRQ Web site.
• Continuing medical education/continuing education (CME/CE)
• Webcasts, Web conferences, and downloadable presentations

For more information about AHRQ and the Effective Health Care Program, visit www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov or you can contact the AHRQ Regional Office Lead, Tara Schuh at tara.schuh@ahrq.hhs.gov or 212.880.5209 with any questions.

Please join us for the webinar on November 14th from 2-3 PM. Check out the NN/LM NER Training Calendar to register for this and other upcoming programs.

Hello All, Thank you to all who attended the “Creating an Effective Health Handout” webinar on Oct. 10, 2012. I hope I was able to provide you with a few useful tips and ideas to get you started developing your own plain language handouts. If you were unable to attend, here is the link to the recording: https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p38354820

Here are some of the resources I included in my presentation:

• Plain Language
  • http://www.plainlanguage.gov

• “Health Literacy Online: A Guide to Writing and Designing Easy-to-Use Health Web Sites” (U.S. Dept. HHS)
  • http://www.health.gov/healthliteracyonline/index.htm

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Simply Put
  • http://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/pdf/Simply_Put.pdf

• MaineHealth Patient Materials Guidelines
  • http://www.mainehealth.org/workfiles/MH_LRC/MH_Print%20Guidelines_Intranet.pdf

• Lipton, Ronnie. (2005). The practical guide to information design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (a book focusing on communicating effectively through graphic design)

At our next session on December 12, 2012, attendees are welcome to share handouts they have made for people with low literacy. If you plan to submit a handout, get it to Michelle Eberle by Dec. 3.

Let Michelle know ASAP if you would like to be paired up with a partner to work on a handout. One idea could be to take the hand hygiene handout found here

http://www.getreadyforflu.org/facts/HandwashingNH.pdf and redesign it using the principles of plain language and clear document design.

Please e-mail me at clarkd@wmhcc.org if you have any questions about concepts discussed during the presentation.

As someone asked during the program about Sue Stableford’s Summer Health Literacy Institute, here is the link. http://www.healthliteracyinstitute.net/ I am told the information about the 2013 session will be posted in a week or two.

Good luck with your handouts. See you Dec. 12.

Deborah A. Clark, MLIS, AHIP
Librarian, Stephens Memorial Hospital
Norway, Maine