National Network of Libraries of Medicine nnlm.gov	Archives	Search nnlm.gov: nnlm home | About the archives
This page was archived on: May 02, 2008 | View page metadata		Document content is not current. Links may be broken.

Dragonfly, Winter 2001 Consumer Health Information Advisors From Varied Disciplines

Everyone needs good information to make health decisions. While public librarians and health librarians are devoted to providing that information, we can't do it alone! So, the NN/LM PNR is busy finding out what partners we have and how we can help each other in accomplishing this huge task.

The NN/LM PNR is charged by NLM to work with a "variety of intermediaries, including network libraries, health care providers, public health professionals, librarians, educators, community organizations, health advocacy groups, churches, and self-help groups" In particular, the RML is supposed to concentrate on information for minorities, senior citizens, and low income populations.

We started by considering: Who is interested in providing good health information to consumers? Who are our partners? We came up with the following unique group of advisors:

Judith Bendersky
SE Regional Resource Center/AK Regional Assistance Center
Anchorage, Alaska

Cezanne Garcia, Project Manager
Patient and Family Education, UW
Seattle, Washington

Juli Gregory, Director of Education
Good Shepherd Medical Center
Hermiston, Oregon

Anne Haley, Director
Yakima Valley Regional Library
Yakima, Washington

Margo Harris
Harris Training & Consulting Services (Health Education)
Seattle, Washington

Warren King, Seattle Times Medical Reporter
Seattle, Washington

Mary Ellen Lemon, Librarian, Healthwise (health publisher)
Boise, Idaho

Thomas R. McCormick, Faculty Member
Department of Medical History and Ethics, School of Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

Susie McIntyre, HIV/AIDS Program
Public Health Seattle & King County
Seattle, Washington

Patty Owen, Coordinator
AHELP (Alaska Health Education Library Project)
Juneau, Alaska

Karen E. Pettigrew, Assistant Professor, The Information School, University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

Mario Javier Pineda, MD/PhD Student
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington

Jane Saxton, Head Librarian
Bastyr University
Kenmore, Washington

Michele Spatz, Chair, CAPHIS and Director
Planetree Health Resource Center
The Dalles, Oregon

Ilene Wing, Planner
Ft. Belknap Indian Community Health Department
Harlem, MT

This group of advisors will meet once, February 28, 2001, but will continue to be asked for advice over e-mail. The questions to be considered by the group at the meeting are:

What do people need in order to find, choose, assimilate, understand, and use health information (a process librarians call health information literacy)?

How can we assess the public's health information literacy? Is improvement needed? How can we tell once we have filled a need?

What does each of our professions offer to the public in any of these areas?

What help is still lacking? Where are consumers and the public having the greatest problems?

Do our target populations (minorities, senior citizens, and low income populations) have special needs?

How can our professions partner to help fill the need? Especially, how can health libraries work well with you?

What needs to be done at the national or regional level? What cannot be done or is not being done at the local level?

Are there simple and clear principles we can give people to guide them? Cecilia Durkin, Consumer Health Librarian in the National Network Office at the National Library of Medicine, will be present at the meeting and will describe NLM's initiatives and activities.

Insights and principles developed as a result of this meeting and the subsequent group email discussions will inform and guide the NN/LM PNR in its consumer health program. Watch the Dragonfly for upcoming articles about the RML's consumer health program.

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200101/advisors.html