Health Reference Express: Communication and Confidentiality Essentials for Library Workers

In this class you will explore how to conduct a health reference interview using ethical and effective communication strategies. 

This class provides basic information about communication and confidentiality for library workers who answer health reference questions, and was created for an audience of people who work in public or academic libraries or other information professions. 

Content is presented through a pre-test, three lessons, and a post-test. Lessons include interactive content and non-graded knowledge checks.  Lesson 1 begins with an introduction to confidentiality and privacy policies and guidance for libraries, and how the ALA Library Bill of Rights, ALA Code of Ethics, and MLA Code of Ethics for Health Science Librarianship guide can guide how you provide reference services to the public. Lesson 2 walks through the five steps of the health reference interview to give you basic, effective techniques for communicating with patrons about their health information needs and answering their health reference questions. Lesson 3 explores three common yet tricky subjects in health reference: cancer, diabetes, and drug information, and presents three scenarios you might encounter: answering questions over the phone, answering a question from someone who speaks a language other than languages you speak fluently, and what to do if you are pressured for medical advice. 

This class addresses increasing health information access and use by including information about the MedlinePlus.gov Health Topics and NIH resources for cancer, drugs and diabetes.