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Dragonfly, Fall 2000 Creativity + NLM Funding = Informed Consumers

Five libraries or agencies in our region received outreach funding this year for health information projects directed toward the public. (As was announced in the Dragonfly, Winter 2000.) The funding was offered by NLM through the RML program, which meant that the lag time from proposal to starting work was short by comparison with ordinary NLM grants.

Already the creative and diligent awardees have made an impact!

We expect that this funding will be offered again in the next year or two; why don't you plan to apply? Maybe the descriptions of the current projects will inspire you to think of needs and solutions in your community.

Town Meetings in Idaho Nancy Griffin, Director of the Idaho Health Sciences Library at ISU, has been holding town meetings on health information for the public and also training sessions for public librarian. Nancy has been visiting towns in Idaho--Salmon, Bear Lake County, Madison, Preston, Rigby, Soda Springs, Downey, Lava, Idaho Falls, Shelley, American Falls, Pocatello, Portneuf, Grace... At each town meeting Nancy conducts group interviews to get an idea of health information needs in the communities and then showcases some good health information sources. While the attendance was a bit low during potato harvest and the opening of hunting season, those communities did gain knowledge of the many resources available even in rural areas.

Nationally famous Web site on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender health concerns Carolyn Halley and Mark Alstead of King County & Seattle Public Health created a unique site that filled a noted need. "It is difficult to find culturally-appropriate health information for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people on topics other than HIV on the Internet," said Dr. Donald Abrams, President of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. "These webpages will help to make important health information accessible to our communities." Check them out for yourself at http://www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/.

Health Librarians of Distinction at the county fair Joan Hust and Marcy Horner of Kootenai Medical Center's new DeArmond Consumer Library have been promoting health information at every opportunity, even with a booth at the county fair. They have also taught at 21 patient support groups: Cancer Fatigue, Breast Cancer, Cardiac Rehab, Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, Step-parenting, Parenting, Brain Injury Rehab, Diabetes, Alzheimers, PostPartum, Occupational Therapy, AA, and a Stop Smoking class. To get the word out Joan and Marcy are also teaching public librarians about health resources and have created a health portal for Kootenai County. Even the Women's Center and several nursing homes have welcomed Joan and Marcy into their midst. Joan was honored as a "Woman of Distinction" at the Coeur d'Alene Womens' Forum sponsored by the Soroptomists.

Librarians team up with school nurses Dolores Judkins and Jama Chorush of Oregon Health Sciences University Library, are working with the Multnomah Educational Service District to make sure that school nurses have access to the health information they need. School nurses are often the first health professionals in a community to deal with very basic community problems. To start with, Dolores and Jama found out what was needed; then they planned a series of training sessions. Their syllabus is up on the Web at: http://www.ohsu.edu/library/staff/judkinsd/schoolnurse/.

A hospital teams up with other health information providers Rhonda Stone, of Memorial Foundation, Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, is tapping the expertise of many health information providers in order to create a health web site for all of Yakima County. Rhonda has enlisted the help of Linda Smith, the hospital librarian, and then representatives from the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, Yakima Valley Regional Library System, Wellness House, Yakima Health District, and Yakima County Geographic Information Services. By combining information strengths, the web site can be much more than any single organization would supply. The site will highlight resources in the Yakima Valley--classes and events, library materials, health organizations and associations.

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200010/projects.html