Hope Leman, Research Information Technologist at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Oregon, submitted the following as a comment on our October 27 post E-Patients Rising. I am re-posting it here in order to highlight the great resources Hope suggests for learning more about the e-patient movement. Thanks Hope!

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I have been to several conferences recently: Medicine 2.0, Health 2.0, the Connected Health Symposium and e-Patient Connections Conference 2009. At each of those I was privileged to hear e-Patient Dave speak. He is a remarkably incisive thinker on these issues and his keynote at the recent Medicine 2.0 conference (provocatively entitled, “Gimme My Damn Data!”) made a deep and positive impression on the attendees.

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What happens when a librarian, a hospital public relations department, and the local media work together to provide health information outreach? Here is a great example:

Nurse’s Notes: Seeking health online? Use care.

Thanks to Dana Kopp for sharing her success with us. Dana is director of the Center for Health Information at St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Missoula, Montana.

October is an important month! Medical Librarians Month is during October, and National Physician Assistant Week is October 6-12. Librarians and Physician Assistants (PAs) are natural partners to address patient education and health information literacy. (more…)

Should I send my survey out in paper or in email? How many people do I need to interview for the data to be valid? What kind of questions do I ask to get at what people think about our service?

If these and other questions have crossed your mind from time to time you might want to take the class Asking the Right Questions: Data Collection for Health Information Outreach being taught by Susan Barnes, Assistant Director of the Outreach Evaluation Resource Center and Maryanne Blake, NN/LM PNR Outreach/Evaluation Coordinator. This three-session free online class will be taught on September 9th, 16th and 23rd from 1:00 to 2:00 pm (Pacific time). All you need to participate is a telephone and a computer.

In this workshop, participants will learn to apply good principles of data collection to assure that data – both qualitative and quantitative – will be useful in making … decisions. The emphasis will be on efficient methods that can keep data collection at a manageable level. Topics will include designing and administering questionnaires and developing guides for conducting interviews.
Go to: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/training/data_collection.html for a complete description and the learning objectives for the class. Registration information is at the bottom of the web page or you can go directly to www.surveymonkey.com to register. The class is limited to twenty (20) participants, so please register as soon as possible.

The class has been approved for 4 MLA contact hours.

For more information send an email to nnlm at u.washington.edu or post a comment. We look forward to having you in class!

Hello, Network Members! How about working with community agencies to improve health literacy of senior citizens? Training emergency responders to use NLM tools? Sharing hospital library expertise and resources with free clinics? Implementing a program to strengthen partnerships in support of school health goals? The possibilities for health information outreach are endless, and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region is happy to be able to offer once again Express Outreach Awards to help fund your efforts. Applications for the 2009-2010 Express Outreach Awards must be submitted by September 4, 2009. Maximum award is $12,000.

Read the full announcement at http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding/Express_Outreach_July_2009.html. Any network member is eligible to apply, though project personnel must have demonstrated experience using MedlinePlus or other applicable NLM resources, or identify a project partner with this expertise. Examples of current or previously funded express outreach projects are online at http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding/OutreachAwards2006-2011.html#A3. If you have questions or would like to discuss potential project ideas, contact Linda Milgrom or other PNR staff.

Wolfram|Alpha is a new search engine. Scratch that — it”s a “computational knowledge engine,” and also “the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” W|A has generated a lot of buzz since it launched on May 15.

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