The H.I.L.L. Health Information Literacy and Learning Project

The Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island Area Health Education Center will be implementing the H.I.L.L. Health Information Literacy and Learning Project as a proposal for this grant. The H.I.L.L. Project encompasses four main learning objectives that will be targeted to high school students in Brooklyn. At the end of the program students will have: 1. Increased knowledge about health information literacy by measuring their ability to access valid and reliable information, evaluate the information they find and recognize databases such as Medline plus as a quality source for healthcare information. 2. Increased understanding of healthcare disparities and social determinants of health as it relates specifically to issues related to health literacy including immigration policy and access to healthcare. 3. Increased leadership, advocacy and community engagement skills to assist their peers, families and other community members in finding reliable health information and helping them to evaluate that information. 4. Increased interest and knowledge about health careers, especially health information related careers. This project will also guide students in understanding the importance of advocacy and the impact of policy on immigrant health. In order to accomplish these objectives BQLI AHEC will partner with the Brooklyn Public Library and New York Immigration Coalition. These objectives will be achieved by using the Project SHARE Curriculum created by the University of Maryland. All activities will be implemented by the BQLI AHEC program staff. Students who successfully complete the program will have showed increased skills in their ability to access reliable and valid health information. Students will also have increased knowledge about health issues in their communities and understand social determinants of health. In addition, students will be motivated to take action and act as health advocates for themselves and their communities. With this project we are hoping to introduce students to broader aspects of healthcare that they may not have been aware of such as careers related to healthcare analysis and data collection.