This month, in celebration of National Medical Librarians Month, we will be sharing stories of librarians who have advocated for librarians or for libraries. We are kicking off our celebration with a story about a librarian advocating for her consumer health library and the need for health literacy by Amy Six-Means.

Demonstrating the value of librarians within the organization to improve patient’s experience throughout their healthcare interaction
by Amy Six-Means, MLIS, Hanesbrands Health Learning Center, Forsyth Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC

Right after completing my MLIS, I started a position as a clinical medical librarian. At my first Mid-Atlantic Chapter meeting that year, I first heard the term “health literacy.” As a former elementary teacher, this captured my attention and I investigated it. The more deeply I investigated and learned, the more involved I wanted to become in helping healthcare professionals and healthcare consumers become aware of health literacy and its impact.  Empowering patients by being more aware of how to support and increase health literacy and therefore strengthen patient-healthcare interactions became my passion.

In January of 2008, I realized the beginning of that passion becoming a reality when I was hired by Novant Health (NH) to be their first Consumer Health Librarian. My goal to empower patients was slow to start. Many had heard the term “health literacy” but were unable to internalize it so that it could be incorporated into the organization more thoroughly. About a year ago this changed as the organization initiated a system of Organizational Improvements.

One of these was a strategy to improve patient “Voice and Choice.” I saw an opportunity and after sharing with the Director of Patient Services here at Forsyth Medical Center about how I became a consumer health librarian, I was asked to be part of the Novant Health Patient Education Team. As part of that corporate group, I have had the pleasure of being heavily involved in several team initiatives to improve the information we offer to patients. I was then asked, because of my health literacy expertise, to be one of the persons responsible for revamping the 30+ page corporate diabetes manual. That was a project with which I was honored to be asked to participate. It not only introduced me to more of my organizational colleagues, who may or may not have known about how the consumer health library could support their patient education, but also allowed me to offer suggestions about the manual to address and meet health literacy guidelines. I have been pleased by the overwhelmingly positive feedback by the majority of reviewers.

My involvement with the NH Patient Ed Team has opened another opportunity which will further expand the improvement of patient-healthcare interaction.  Recently, I was approached by someone in Administration as they were looking to change all their materials and processes for the Ambulatory Surgical Centers across the corporation. They were interested in knowing if the librarians could help them as they seek to find better ways to utilize resources in the Ambulatory Surgical Centers. Overall, they realize the value of providing information to patients and families that they can understand and act upon prior to as well as following a procedure. Their several goals include; 1) reducing patient/family fear and stress caused by not knowing what to expect, 2) improving patient satisfaction by giving better information about their surgery experience, and 3) improving patient safety and comfort throughout the healthcare experience. This last goal will be realized through 1) better patient compliance, and 2) empowering patients to know when to call their healthcare provider.

I was thrilled that we were approached to participate in this, a result of my work with the NH Patient Education Team.  It demonstrated that those within the highest levels of the organization realize how health literacy can positively impact the healthcare experience of patients and families. It also demonstrated the realization of the significant role we librarians have to offer in the process of organizational change.

October is National Medical Librarian Month and NN/LM SE/A wants to celebrate your successes.  We want to hear your personal stories, anecdotes, and victories advocating for your library.  It is easy to get bogged down in numbers, figures, and algorithms, and miss that rich qualitative information that brings color to a monochrome spreadsheet.

Librarians have long been storytellers, so share your story about how you have been successful in advocating for your library.  Have you “proven your worth” to an administrator? Tell us about it. Have you told people how important libraries are and changed someone’s behavior? Tell us about your experience. Or share someone else’s story. Medical libraries around the region are facing ever larger challenges and we need to work together by sharing our successful strategies to ensure a future for our profession and our institutions. Articles will be published on the NN/LM SE/A SEA Currents blog throughout the month of October.

Authors and subjects of articles will be entered into a competition for a $1000 travel scholarship to MLA 2012 in Seattle, WA. One scholarship will be awarded and will cover travel: flight, hotel, and per diems up to $1000.

We will accept stories until October 24, 2011. The winner will be announced on October 31, 2011.

Today, the National Library of Medicine changed the name of the MedlinePlus Twitter feed from @medlineplus4you to @medlineplus.  Tweets will no longer be published to the @medlineplus4you feed, and, instead, will be published to the @medlineplus feed.

Existing subscribers to @medlineplus4you or the RSS feed of the tweets do not need to modify their subscriptions in any way.  They will continue to receive the latest tweets from MedlinePlus.

If you have any questions about this change, please use the Contact Us link that appears at the top of every MedlinePlus page to send the MedlinePlus team a message.

by Nancy Patterson, Community Outreach Coordinator, NN/LM, SE/A Region

“NN/LM SEA is a sea of cutting edge information and a resource bank to us – exposure to a world of endless social-health information to educate people of all ages at the grass roots level and at the global level.”
Theresa Alaeze
Executive Director
Associated Health Resource Center, Inc.
(410) 435-8899
Baltimore, MD

Is there something in your own story that led you to do the work you do?

Yes, in my final year as a nursing student, I was assigned to the pediatric unit dealing with premature babies and their mothers. I observed that majority of diseases that killed newborns before they reached one year of age were preventable in nature. Unfortunately, the mothers either have low literacy levels or just don’t have any formal education at all, hence my crusade to get involved in providing basic but sustainable social-health information to the general population focusing on women and children’s health issues. This, I do with passion. I will go distance to accomplish this mission because good health is priceless.

What do you love most about what you do?

Helping people understand that they are big players in health maintenance and enabling them to make informed choices when it comes to making decisions about their health and the health of their loved ones.

What is the biggest challenge in what you do?

Witnessing people changed their own hard-held beliefs and attitudes toward certain health issues and cultural factors. In the western world, it’s hard to convince certain ethnic people who have predispositions (genetic factors) for diabetes that they can reduce their vulnerability by making good eating choices and staying active. In the developing countries, it’s very difficult to convince parents with low literacy levels about the power of prevention of early childhood diseases through immunization/vaccination. They hold to the belief that the child will die or become paralyzed. The trust between the general population and the medical communities is low and very complex.

What has been the most fulfilling part of your work in terms of health outreach to your community’s underserved populations?

Observing behavioral change toward certain concepts like a two-year old being able to properly wash his/her hands before or after certain activities; learning earlier on the immeasurable value of preventative health.

What do you see as the biggest health concerns in the communities you serve?

The emergence of chronic conditions in younger children such as diabetes, obesity, and recurrent acute asthma episodes and other preventable diseases.

In what ways has NN/LM SE/A been of help to you?

Exposure to a world of endless social-health information to educate people of all ages at the grass roots level and at the global level. NN/LM SEA is a sea of cutting edge information and a resource bank to us.

Can you share a success story about the impact of health outreach in your community?

We have a lot of stories to tell but the most recent one was about H1N1 Influenza and proper hand washing at a daycare center in Baltimore. At this daycare center, they had 42 young people who attended our training sessions. Toward the end of the session, two young people volunteered to become peer educators among teenagers and other young ones, this they stated, “We never knew that you can prevent flu by vaccination and proper hand washing. We thought, the shot gives the flu but now we have learned the truth”. Another story is that of the daycare director who said, “We never knew we can get these types of services for free, and how come nobody even informed us?”. This provider referred us to three other daycare centers which made our efforts expand beyond the pre-selected centers. It’s a blessing to reach out to people who may have otherwise not be reached by the traditional methods of health information delivery.

What advice would you give others who are interested in doing health outreach work in their communities?

Community outreach work is key to communicating social-health messages, encouraging and engaging communities to take charge of their health. The joint benefits are immeasurable. The stakeholder should invest money and resources at the community level through Community Based Organizations (CBOs). Early interventions help to promote awareness, increase knowledge and save tax-payers millions of dollars in treating preventable health conditions.

If you would like to share your story or suggest another person for our “Inspiring People” feature, please email Nancy Patterson:  npatters@hshsl.umaryland.edu

by Sheila Snow-Croft, Public Health Coordinator, NN/LM, SE/A

In the face of Tuscaloosa’s recent natural disaster, the EF4 tornado that plowed through town Wednesday, April 27th, distance students in the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) used their understanding of technology to show true leadership skills. Although the twister missed the University, lack of electricity blocked access to campus buildings and internet access was at first impossible and then sketchy for days.  First, Autumn Faulkner of Troy, AL, and Brandee Idlemann of California started a Facebook group called Love for SLIS, where information could be exchanged and monies donated. Steve Zary of Hattiesburg, MS and Brittany Turner in New York State started a Google Docs spreadsheet to help locate everyone connected to SLIS. “Distributed organizations can learn from this,” Elizabeth Aversa, Director of UA SLIS, explains: “those with access to technology can help those in trouble.” By the time Aversa was able to access the web at the College of Communications Friday afternoon, half of everyone in the School had already been located. Using the Facebook group posts, she filled in more gaps on the spreadsheet, put out calls to faculty to pull up their class lists and help, and, as the list grew smaller, worries began to fade. Technology assisted down to the final ten percent, and those last few were found by physically going on foot and on motor scooter to knock on doors left standing. The result: a few minor injuries, much property damage, and a huge number of volunteers coming out to help.

Many others provided assistance: too many to count checked in and offered to help. Here’s a small sampling of the abundant generosity within our profession. Many utilized UA Acts of Kindness to send donations. David Fenske, Dean of the iSchool at Drexel, College of Information Science and Technology, offered to mount the UA SLIS distance learning program, but since the University itself was not damaged, bags for distribution of donated items were needed more than servers. He and Delia Neuman, Director of the School Library Media Program, organized a tote bag drive called “Totes for Tuscaloosa.” The University of Maryland School of Information Studies iSchool, led by Diane Barlow, Associate Dean, and Trudy Hahn, Professor of the Practice, also sent huge cartons of hundreds of bags. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro held a blood drive. The Florida State University College of Communication & Information sent tote bags and supplies. St. Catherine University in Minnesota checked in, sending a card signed by their faculty with encouraging messages. Scott Klingler, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, brought USM SLIS volunteers and assisted with carpentry and tree removal. When Rachel Fleming-May, Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, discovered Alabama would not be able to hold graduation ceremonies as scheduled, she initiated an effort that led to UT tying their graduates’ traditional yellow roses (the hood lining color for library science) with a crimson ribbon (UA’s school color), sending a signed banner of encouraging messages to UA graduates, and each UT graduate donated a pair of much needed work gloves with messages written on them to show solidarity.

And we mustn’t forget the faculty at UA SLIS and how they pulled together: Steve Miller, Professor and Coordinator of the Book Arts Program, discovered his house had taken a direct hit, and SLIS volunteers flocked to help him clean up and retrieve as many belongings as possible. Dr. Steven MacCall, Associate Professor, had houseguests for six weeks, including people, parrots and cats. Anne Edwards, Associate Professor, dug up surviving plants from Steve Miller’s house and is keeping them alive for when they rebuild.  So many volunteers, faculty, staff, and students stuck around and dug in their heels to help. The NN/LM SE/A speaks for the region when we say we are proud of the way UA SLIS students took the helm and showed peer leadership when it was most needed, and all those who chip in to help when disaster strikes.

Prepared by: PJ Grier – Outreach and Access Coordinator, NN/LM, Southeastern Atlantic Region

It is a sign of the times that health sciences libraries are under considerable pressure to consolidate print collections for space planning, budget or staffing reasons. As librarians, we know that it is a sin to toss print materials, carte blanche, into a dumpster whose remains end up in a municipal landfill.  Being green by recycling is the way to go. Having time and advance warning helps, but frequently we don’t have both, simultaneously.

After attending springtime conferences and polling colleagues in-person or via discussion lists over the last few months, I’ve compiled the following list of eleven potential “second homes” for print discards.  As with any list, you must do a little investigating. Some agencies are selective in the types of materials they will accept, while others have broader missions to fulfill.  Some might impose a fee of one kind or another. Others may offer a deposit credit, which may favorably sway you. One agency even turns unwanted books into unique 3-D works of art. In the end, the list does not purport to be exhaustive, there are no RML endorsements and it is up to you to do the homework in making the proper service connections.

Don’t fret if your favorite donation agency is not shown; just send PJ Grier an email with the specifics. Once the list is posted on our website, it will be easier to update from time to time. I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who has had memorable experiences using any of the agencies listed below.

American College of Surgeons – Operation Giving Back

Listed agencies accept medical texts for donation to appropriate communities in need. Please contact them prior to shipping any materials to be sure that your donation can be utilized.

American Library Association
A fact sheet and resource site covering all aspects of book donations.

Better World Books  - Library Discards & Donations Program

They pay to ship the books and sell them over online marketplaces – generating funding for both libraries and non-profit literacy initiatives. There are no sign-up fees, monthly fees, or one-time fees. They have also launched a new initiative to help GREEN your campus by allowing you to collect books from around the campus, and ship them with your discards and donations.  You’ll not only be helping the environment, but the library will receive a commission.

Books for Africa

Books For Africa ships high-quality donated text, library, and reference books that are relevant to people living in Africa. Acceptable are recently published reference books such as encyclopedias and dictionaries and medical, nursing and allied health books.

Bookstruction

One of our colleagues, Robin Delaloye, is insanely creative and has developed a unique and fascinating way to artistically recycle library discards into 3-dimensional original works of book sculpture. The website gives her contact information. Perhaps your book discards will find new lives as works of art!

International Book Bank

Please contact agency to discuss options and to ensure that your donation can be used effectively in a developing country.

International Book Project
Sends donated books to developing countries and parts of the U.S.A. – new or used from individuals, schools and libraries, on all levels, children’s through graduate and professional school.

National Library of Medicine – Journal Donation Program
The National Library of Medicine welcomes donations of print volumes missing from its collection. Use the Journal Donation System to find out if it needs volumes that you could donate. For most titles, the system lists the volumes needed. For a few titles, the system does not list the volumes and you must enter the range of volumes you could donate. NLM will check its stacks and let you know by email the needed volumes.

The Book Thing of Baltimore

Our mission is to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them. It accepts books and magazines regardless of age or subject matter. Donations are always welcome.

United States Book Exchange – (USBE)

Disposing of surplus periodicals and books can be a librarian’s nightmare. USBE makes it easy for libraries: (1) either send all of your duplicate and surplus periodicals and serials, without notifying us in advance. Or, (2) send USBE a list of your duplicates and we’ll make selections and provide directions for shipping. USBE will pay the shipping charges on the items it selects.

University of Buffalo Libraries – Global Agency Clearinghouse

A central resource to provide donors contact information for institutions, agencies, and programs that desperately need educational materials and equipment but have little or no budget. Listings are organized geographically by world region or continent, followed by specific countries. Each entry also lists the mission of the entity and the types of materials and subject areas needed.

Authored by: Alisha Miles, Librarian, Columbus Regional Healthcare System, Columbus, Georgia

Over the last three years I have exhibited at several events to promote the library and its resources. One of the greatest benefits of exhibiting is the networking behind the scenes.

What do I mean?

On March 26, 2011, I exhibited Pet Disaster Preparedness at the Relay for Dogs event in Columbus, Georgia. It was the second time I had exhibited at this particular event; however, during this event I made it a point to network with other ‘vendors.’ While the Relay for Dogs event was successful at providing pet disaster preparedness information to 450 members of the general public, it pales in comparison to the effects of the collaboration formed during the event.

During the event I was able to form a relationship with the staff from the Columbus Public Health Department. The staff informed me of an upcoming event, the Columbus Baby Expo, and asked if I could provide information on disaster preparedness to distribute at the event. While I could not personally attend the event, I quickly agreed to provide information and a disaster preparedness kit as a door prize.

The Baby Expo was a huge success! The Public Health Department had over 2,800 people visit the booth—quickly exhausting the information resources I provided. It still amazes me how one conversation could lead to reaching over 2,800 people! None of this would have been possible without funds from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine – Southeastern/Atlantic Region’s Community Day Award. Thank you!

For more information about the Community Day Award please contact PJ Grier, Outreach and Access Coordinator.

Western Maryland/West Virginia Rural Outreach Program: Two hundred and twenty-five librarians, health professionals, and students interested in health careers received training on accessing reliable health information on the Internet under Western Maryland/West Virginia Rural Outreach, a subcontract with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/Southeastern Atlantic Region through its Regional Medical Library, the University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library.

Western Maryland Area Health Education Center (WMAHEC), the lead agency on WM/WV Rural Outreach, is the NLM Primary Access Library in this Appalachian region.  Mary Spalding, medical librarian for WMAHEC and four area community hospitals, coordinated the project, which involved planning and presenting 1.5 hour training sessions on accessing reliable health information on the Web.  Sessions highlighted evaluation criteria for health Web sites, NLM products and services, particularly PubMed/MEDLINE^®, MedlinePlus^®, and Toxnet^®, as appropriate for each audience, and the Medical Library Association’s Consumer and Patient Health Information Section’s  (CAPHIS) 100 Top Health Web Sites.

Partners on the project, which ran from January 1, 2010, until April 30, 2011, included most of the Western Maryland AHEC’s health professional caucuses—Nursing, Nurse Practitioner, Social Work, Massage Therapy, Psychology/Professional Counseling, and Occupational and Physical Therapy, as well as Mineral County Public Schools and the West Virginia Library Association.  By “training the trainers”–health professionals and librarians who help patients, clients, and patrons locate health information on the Web–the Outreach project will continue to have an impact on the area’s rural residents well after its completion date.  Health professionals in particular were delighted with the patient education potential of MedlinePlus^®, while public librarians in 21 West Virginia counties attended training sessions that will help them respond to health-related reference questions.

West Virginia high school students interested in health careers also received training and hands-on activities designed to help them locate information for required research papers.  These future health professionals now have an appreciation for the importance of unbiased, reliable health information, as opposed to an undiscerning Google search.  They were taught Web site evaluation criteria and the benefits of using NLM products such as MedlinePlus^®, for which that step has been eliminated by medical librarians who have already vetted the content.  Young people often help their parents use computers; these 112 students will now be able to help their families locate the best health sites on the Web.

A particularly fun activity for students in a medical terminology class was the NLM video tutorial, “Understanding Medical Words.”  The students enthusiastically called out root words, prefixes, and suffixes they had studied in response to questions posed on the tutorial.  Their teacher was pleased, and she was further amazed at the resources available to her at MedlinePlus^®. She said she would be incorporating the site into her future lessons.

After completing the project, Project Coordinator Mary Spalding recommends the following:

1)  Plan carefully if introducing MedlinePlus^® to high school or younger students.  Recognize their level of (im)maturity and select videos beforehand; do not bring up the list and allow the kids to choose what they want to see.  Having been a high school teacher, Ms. Spalding was grateful she had thoroughly reviewed the available videos ahead of time, since some of the content relates to sexual health—a topic best not tackled by a temporary presenter in schools with strict rules and parental concerns about such content.  For instance, Ms. Spalding thought students might enjoy the brief Snoring video, which features excellent graphics and loud snoring sounds, found under Anatomy & Physiology videos. However, listed right under that title is the Sperm Release Pathway.  Knowing what students’ reaction to that title would likely be, and hoping to avoid any behavioral or parental repercussions, she solved the problem by very quickly going to the Snoring video while demonstrating the site, without giving students time to peruse the other titles.  She informed them that some of the videos related to delicate topics that they could explore later at home if they wished.  The worksheet she developed for hands-on activity after the demonstration kept students occupied enough that they did not explore the video selections during class.

2)    Providing training for health professionals during their off-time can be difficult.  Offering continuing education credits helps bring them in, but even this is not a foolproof way to attract busy practitioners who have to give up their personal time to attend evening training sessions.  Ms. Spalding recommends working with health institutions and scheduling these trainings during work times, whenever possible.

3)  The coordinator met with Western Maryland AHEC caucuses ahead of time to learn their research needs.  However, even in discipline-specific caucuses, interests were too broad to be fully covered in one 1.5-hour training.  Giving one-on-one or very small group trainings is more valuable to health professionals, as she found when only one nurse practitioner showed up for that training session.  She was able to focus on the nurse practitioner’s need for medical articles to help her prepare for a meeting the next day.  The NP was working on a paper, and a PubMed search, mediated by the coordinator and incorporating both MeSH terms and keywords, provided the NP with a list of articles for her review of the literature while teaching her the principles she’d need for her own future searches.  Similarly, the smaller groups left with more readily usable information than did the larger ones.

Western Maryland AHEC is grateful for the opportunity to offer these trainings in this medically under-served rural area.  This project was funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3502 with the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Want to learn more about who is using MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español?  Looking for the latest user statistics for your next presentation or outreach activity?

The National Library of Medicine is pleased to announce the results of the 2010 MedlinePlus user survey, powered by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  The survey results give you a snapshot of a representative sample of MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español users,  their demographics, their reasons for visiting the site, and how they use the health information provided by MedlinePlus.  Thousands of users voluntarily responsed to our online survey in 2010. Thank you if you were one of them.

Visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/survey2010/index.html to view the 2010 survey results for MedlinePlus.gov and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/survey2010/index.html to view the 2010 survey results for MedlinePlus en español.  You can also find links to the 2010 survey results on the English and Spanish “About MedlinePlus” pages in the right column.

We hope you’ll find this data interesting and helpful in your efforts to reach out to new and existing health information customers.  Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about the results – MedlinePlus Team contact form – http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/contact/index.cfm?lang=en&from=http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/faq/faq.html

Grand prize winner – James and the Peanut Allergy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoCAizDEKlM&feature=player_embedded

First runner up – The Fastest Librarian in the West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpYvQAc8e4w&feature=player_embedded

Second runner up – MedlinePlus: Making a Difference Every Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkq2L6q8x3w&feature=player_embedded