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Health Issues in the Headlines: Learning to Read Between the Lines

Dark chocolate, red wine, and stem cells - what do these have in common? All have been reported in the news as having health benefits. Often the first place your patrons will hear about health issues is in the media. This interactive, hands-on CE course will introduce participants to the environment of health reporting. Participants will learn about how health is reported in the news as well as how to evaluate the accuracy and validity of science and health stories. The impact of celebrity illness will also be discussed. By the end of this course, participants will be better equipped to help their patrons look more critically at health issues that are being reported in the news media. Actual news articles and research reports will be included for critique.
 

    Objectives: 

    At the end of this class, participants will be able to:

    • Define news literacy
    • Describe sources of health news stories
    • List challenges journalists face in reporting health research
    • Use a rating tool to analyze health news stories
    • Identify the difference between health news stories and unverified information
    Course Owner(s):
    Samuel D Watson, Academic Outreach Specialist
    Instructor(s):
    Carolyn Martin, MLS, AHIP, Consumer Health Coordinator
    Tess Wilson, MFA, MLIS, All of Us Community Engagement Coordinator serving NY, NJ, DE, & PA
    Continuing Education:

    This course is approved for 4 MLA CE credits.

    This course meets the following core competencies for CHIS from MLA. 

    • Knowledge of Subject Matter and Resources

    • Evaluation of Health Information

    • Literacy and Health Literacy

    This class is eligible for Consumer Health Information Specialization continuing education credit awarded by the Medical Library Association.

    Past Classes

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    Upcoming Classes

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