PNR Rendezvous: Health Insurance Literacy and How Librarians Can Help

Today many adults have difficulty knowing how to find a physician, fill a prescription, use and pay for medications, and use health information to make informed decisions about their health. Libraries are prominent places in communities making libraries and librarians excellent resources for advancing health information literacy. For example, librarians can address the unmet information needs that leave many unable to make appropriate health insurance choices. For those with lower levels of health insurance literacy, the ability to procure appropriate levels of health insurance coverage may be limited, which can have dire effects on individuals’ health statuses. Addressing this critical information need, Emily Vardell, Ph.D., will present a talk titled “Health Insurance Literacy and How Librarians Can Help.”

Presenter: Emily Vardell is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. She teaches graduate courses on the foundations of library and information science, research methods, reference, consumer health, and health sciences librarianship. Her research interests are in the area of health information behavior with a focus on health insurance literacy and how people make health insurance decisions. Dr. Vardell earned her PhD from the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 and her Master of Library Science degree from Texas Woman’s University in 2007. Her first book, The Medical Library Association Guide to Answering Questions about the Affordable Care Act (Rowman & Littlefield) has been called “impressively accessible” and “an important book for librarians in all types of settings.”