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Dragonfly, Spring 2001 Access To Electronic Health Information for the Public

Nancy Griffin
Idaho Health Sciences Library Director
Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho

Reprinted from: Liaison, Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 2001

The Idaho Health Sciences Library (IHSL) received funding from the National Library of Medicine to establish a partnership with thirteen southeast Idaho public libraries in communities extending from Salmon to Montpelier. The first objective of this partnership was to increase health reference skills for public librarians by providing training in the use of PubMed, Infotrac's Health Reference Center, and MEDLINEplus. A day-long training workshop was presented to these librarians in the Oboler Library on the ISU campus. The second objective was to reinforce the IHSL's role as Idaho's resource library in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

The partnership's third objective was to promote better understanding by consumers of health information resources available on the Internet. All across the nation consumers have shown a desire to participate in their own health care decisions. People want information about the quality of care they receive. As resources become ever more sophisticated, they are presented with an overwhelming number of options. As a result, they may need help in developing the skills necessary to access and evaluate available information. I worked with public library directors to offer ten town meetings that were free and open to all members of the community. Each public library received a stipend to cover costs incurred from staff participation in the project. The town meetings were heavily promoted with press releases, paid display advertisements in local newspapers, public service announcements on both television and radio, flyers posted around the community, and exhibits in the various public libraries. A total of 81 people attended these programs.

Each town meeting began with a group interview in which attendees were canvassed to determine computer skill levels, use of public library facilities, and use of various Internet resources to find health information. Surprisingly, none of the attendees had used online support groups or chat rooms, which seem to be very popular in other parts of the nation. The second item on the agenda was a discussion about evaluating Internet resources for quality. The rest of the evening was devoted to demonstrations of MEDLINEplus, PubMed, and Infotrac's Health Reference Center. Meetings were about 2 � hours long and refreshments were provided. Folders containing a variety of informational handouts were distributed. The presentations were evaluated twice, using questionnaires. The first questionnaire was collected at the end of each program. The second questionnaire was mailed to attendees about one month later, with a stamped, self-addressed envelope enclosed. The purpose of the latter was to determine how well people had been able to put their new knowledge to work. Results are currently being analyzed.

A conference was announced that promised to contribute useful impetus to strengthen this partnership and help to carry it forward. It was called "The Public Library and Consumer Health," co-sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, the Medical Library Association, and the Public Library Association. Since this Washington, DC, meeting was announced too late to be included as an expense in the subcontract, I applied for and received partial travel funding from the Library Services and Technology Act through the Idaho State Library. I hope to continue the partnership with public librarians on a less formal basis and, towards this end, am now submitting short items to a discussion list for Idaho librarians, beginning with summaries of the Washington presentations. My objective is to stimulate public librarians to enhance their consumer health services. I hope that the rich supply of health information available on the Internet will be made more accessible to all interested Idaho citizens via their public libraries.

Dragonfly, Spring 2001 -- Vol. 32, Number 2
( posted on PNRNews June 14, 2001)

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200104/idahopublic.html