Consumer Health Information Literacy Promotion Program in Public and Community Libraries in Africa: Experience from Kenya,Nigeria, Uganda,and Zimbabwe

The aim of this project was to enhance the capacity of public and community librarians in four African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe) in meeting the consumer health information (CHI) needs of their patrons. A total of 65 librarians from 34 public and community libraries were trained on how to access and use consumer health information resources by health sciences librarians in the selected countries. A needs assessment preceded the training that focused on health literacy, health information literacy, sources of health information, online information searching tools and search techniques, and how to search CHI resources, including Kidshealth.org, Womenshealth.gov, MedlinePlus, and CancerNet, among others. Each team of participating libraries received a seed grant to design and implement a consumer health activity. The trained public and community librarians in both Nigeria and Uganda conducted training on use of CHI resources to different categories of patrons. In Nigeria, high school students were trained on how to use their mobile phone to access CHI resources. Adolescents and other categories of library patrons were trained on information and communication technology (ICT) skills and accessing CHI resources in Uganda. In Kenya, the public librarian created a Consumer Health Information Corner and purchased CHI books for patrons to consult, while in Zimbabwe, the public library partnered with other non-governmental organizations to provide consumer health information materials to the library for patron use. It is possible for academic health sciences librarians to partner with public and community librarians in Africa to carry out a successful CHI project.     

FROM THE EDITORS

Abstract

As the need for electronic consumer health information services becomes more evident, librarians are seeking ways to cooperate with each other to provide timely and high quality health information. Collaborative projects between public, academic, and health sciences libraries take commitment, resources, and dedication, but provide a unique method of providing this information to a public whose need for high quality health information is growing exponentially. This article explores the efforts that have been made by public, academic, and medical libraries to bring information to the health care consumer and suggests ways to make collaborative efforts work to provide electronic access to up-to-date and quality health information.     

Strategies for Consumer Health Reference Training

ABSTRACT

Public librarians are challenged to provide consumer health reference services. Libraries cannot afford extensive health and medical collections; moreover, librarians fear giving the wrong answer or providing medical “advice.” Most public libraries have access to the Internet, and this, along with adequate staff training, can provide the public librarian with the tools to handle all but the most difficult consumer health questions. This paper describes a model three-hour training session for public librarians covering the inherent difficulties in the consumer health reference interview. Using a handful of reliable and easy-to-navigate Web sites, the challenges in consumer health reference can be overcome.     

Education for Consumer Health: A Train the Trainer Collaboration

ABSTRACT

This project featured collaboration between a large public library system and an academic institution to address training needs related to the rise in the demand for quality consumer health information. A train the trainer program featuring hands-on training and Web-based support was designed and implemented. Public reference librarians received customized education and support to facilitate their efforts to train library users of consumer health information. The results of the collaborative effort included an increased awareness of cultural, linguistic, and literacy issues for effective provision of public library consumer health reference service along with a reaffirmation of the need for strategic community collaborations for health education.     

A Community and Medical Library Collaboration to Address Senior Caregivers Barriers to Health Services Access

This describes an outreach program to improve access to community resources and online health information for the lay public and professionals engaged in caregiving to seniors. An academic health sciences library and a coalition of community organizations collaborated to develop an authoritative, web-enabled clearinghouse that consolidated access to regional and national health and social service resources and online health information. Findings from a mixed-methods approach of roundtable discussions, key informant structured interviews, and surveys of professionals involved in senior care planning and discharge management were used to develop, pilot test, and evaluate the project. The website was promoted through a series of webinars outlining the range of services and resources available as well as engagement with a variety of community health care organizations. This project advanced understanding of the needs of seniors and their caregivers and created mechanisms to improve access to authoritative health care information supporting senior care. Community feedback on the website launch highlights its value for the lay public and professional caregivers. It also provided a platform for volunteerism and service learning through which individuals can have a collective impact on their community.     

Use of Social Media for Consumer Health Outreach in a Solo Hospital Library

Using social media in hospital libraries is an excellent tool for reaching and engaging existing or potential users. However, small or solo hospital librarians do not always have enough staff or time to incorporate these resources into their menu of services. Hospital librarians should consider the potential benefits of using the library as a trusted social media resource for the community and can customize outreach without sacrificing staff time, straining the budget, or battling the firewall. Having the hospital library offer health information to the community through social media has many potential benefits for improving health knowledge and health literacy.     

Free Library of Health: Consumer Health Information,Health Literacy,and Library Programming in Philadelphia

In 2016, the Free Library of Philadelphia reopened the newly renovated South Philadelphia Library. This full-service neighborhood library is co-located with pediatric primary care services, a city-run health center, and a recreation center in a first-of-its-kind facility called the Community Health and Literacy Center. The South Philadelphia Library aims to improve health literacy in the community through the provision of consumer health information and health programming, and the co-location with health care and recreation services provides unique opportunities to partner and offer health-based library services. A community health librarian certified in consumer health information assists customers with accessing reliable health information, and health programming covers many areas of interest. Partnerships with nearby health organizations also allow the library to connect customers with vetted neighborhood services. By combining health services with traditional library programming, customers are able to increase their health literacy when they visit the library.     

Public librarians as a resource for promoting health: results from the Health for Everyone in Libraries Project (HELP) librarian survey

Public libraries are located in all communities, and two thirds of adults visit one each year. Libraries give the public access to computers and the Internet, and librarians offer technical assistance for accessing information. The interests and training needs of public librarians for assisting the public in accessing health information have not been addressed. One public library/librarian in each North Carolina county was randomly selected to complete a written questionnaire to assess health-related information services and librarians' skills for providing these services. 84% of librarians (83/99) completed the questionnaire. Results indicate that librarians answer more than 10 health-related questions per week, feel moderately comfortable answering these questions, and are very interested in receiving additional training for addressing health-related questions. Creating public library/public health partnerships holds much promise for enhancing the ability of community members to access desired health information.     

Health Extension in New Mexico: An Academic Health Center and the Social Determinants of Disease

The Agricultural Cooperative Extension Service model offers academic health centers methodologies for community engagement that can address the social determinants of disease. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center developed Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) as a vehicle for its model of health extension. Health extension agents are located in rural communities across the state and are supported by regional coordinators and the Office of the Vice President for Community Health at the Health Sciences Center. The role of agents is to work with different sectors of the community in identifying high-priority health needs and linking those needs with university resources in education, clinical service and research. Community needs, interventions, and outcomes are monitored by county health report cards. The Health Sciences Center is a large and varied resource, the breadth and accessibility of which are mostly unknown to communities. Community health needs vary, and agents are able to tap into an array of existing health center resources to address those needs. Agents serve a broader purpose beyond immediate, strictly medical needs by addressing underlying social determinants of disease, such as school retention, food insecurity, and local economic development. Developing local capacity to address local needs has become an overriding concern. Community-based health extension agents can effectively bridge those needs with academic health center resources and extend those resources to address the underlying social determinants of disease.     

The Role of Embedded Librarians in Educational Health Resources: Two Case Studies

The field of media and health is continually evolving, requiring ongoing evaluation and interpretation of the research examining this burgeoning environmental health issue. Creating educational materials for specialized topics, such as how media and technology affect children’s health and development, is a complex process best accomplished with the support of an embedded librarian. Embedded librarianship, in which a librarian is a core member of a research team, allows for the development of specific subject knowledge. Subsequently, having an embedded health sciences librarian as a collaborator in the creation of specialized resources ensures that these materials are grounded in the latest science and tailored to fit their intended audiences’ interests and needs.     

School Nurses' Perceptions and Practices of Assisting Students in Obtaining Public Health Insurance

BACKGROUND: From January through June 2009, 6.1 million children were uninsured in the United States. On average, students with health insurance are healthier and as a result are more likely to be academically successful. Some schools help students obtain health insurance with the help of school nurses. METHODS: This study assessed public school nurses' knowledge and beliefs of the impact of health insurance on students' health and academic success. The study also determined whether public school nurses or their schools were involved in helping students obtain public health insurance, and if so, how they did so. Additionally, the study assessed the public school nurses' perceived benefits of and barriers to helping students obtain public health insurance. A paper-and-pencil survey was sent to a national random sample of 750 public school nurses. The response rate was 56%. RESULTS: Nearly 60% of respondents had helped students enroll in public health insurance. The majority perceived that helping students obtain public health insurance would reduce school absenteeism (90%), improve attention during school (84%), reduce the number of students held back (80%), reduce school dropouts (72%), and increase academic test scores (69%). Although the majority (53%) of nurses thought schools should assist students' parents with filling out public health insurance enrollment forms, some expressed reservations about the process. CONCLUSION: School nurses indicated health insurance is important for the health and academic success of students. These beliefs are congruent with state Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) directors' perceptions, yet few schools have taken on the role of facilitating student enrollment in public health insurance programs.     

Health e-Links

Abstract

Meeting public health information needs in a rural setting presents unique problems for health information providers. Getting this information to both health consumers and health care personnel is equally challenging. Further complicating this problem is a scarcity of hospitals in the 29 parishes of north Louisiana. To meet this challenge, the Health Sciences Library at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center/Shreveport (LSUHSC/S) set out to develop the Web site “Health e-Links” http://www.healthelinks.org. This site was promoted through the public librarians in the northern part of the state. Finally, searching strategies were taught to these librarians using the facilities of the LSUHSC/S teleconferencing network.     

An operational view of the role of health librarians in informatics

The National Library of Medicine is currently funding the Pilot Connections project to promote and support use of the INTERNET in community health care settings. With previous networking applications of this kind largely confined to academic and research environments, the health librarian has emerged as the agent with the unique knowledge and skills to participate in and manage organizational change. An experiment in applied informatics, the Pilot Connections project shows how health librarians should be aware of the expanding opportunities that exist for them to help their organizations cope more effectively with the external trends and forces currently affecting the role and value of information.     

The role of social and behavioral science in public health practice: A study of the New York City Department of Health

Studies over the last decade have demonstrated the effectiveness of public health interventions based on social and behavioral science theory for many health problems. Little is known about the extent to which health departments are currently utilizing these theories. This study assesses the application of social and behavioral science to programs in the New York City Department of Health (NYCDOH). Structured open-ended interviews were conducted with executive and program management staff of the health department. Respondents were asked about the application of social and behavioral sciences within their programs, and about the benefits and barriers to increasing the use of such approaches. Themes related to the aims of the study were identified, a detailed coding manual developed, narrative data were coded independently by two investigators (κ. 85), and data analyzed. Interviews were conducted with 61 eligible individuals (response rate 88%). The most common applications of social and behavioral science were individual-level behavior change to prevent HIV transmission and community-level interventionsl utilizing community organizing models and/or media interventions for health promotion and disease prevention. There are generally positive attitudes about the benefits of utilizing these sciences; however, there are also reservations about expanded use because of resource constraints. While NYCDOH has successfully applied social and behavioral sciences in some areas of practice, many areas use them minimally or not at all. Increasing use will require additional resources. Partnerships with academic institutions can bring additional social and behavioral science resources to health departments and benefit researchers understanding of the health department environment.     

浦东新区社区卫生服务中心医疗卫生服务状况分析

目的分析2008—2010年上海市浦东新区社区卫生服务中心的医疗卫生资源配置和服务状况。方法收集浦东新区医疗机构管理中心有关社区卫生服务中心运行的数据。结果近年来社区卫生服务功能进一步完善,社区卫生服务效率不断提高,但社区卫生服务面临着发展瓶颈。结论如何通过恰当的社区卫生服务中心的资源配置,以满足社区医疗卫生服务的需求,保障医疗卫生服务的安全和质量,使上海市医改重点落到实处,值得关注。     

Engaging Local Public Health System Partnerships to Educate the Future Public Health Workforce

The Institute of Medicine concluded that keeping the public healthy required a well-educated public health workforce, thus leading to its recommendation that “all undergraduates should have access to education in public health” [2]. In response to this call, the authors examined the current practice, feasibility, and value in strengthening (or building) a functional collaborative model between academic institutions and practitioners from local health departments to educate tomorrow’s public health workforce. Local and regional health departments in New England were surveyed to: (1) establish a baseline of existing working relationships between them and nearby academic institutions; (2) examine the barriers that inhibit the development of collaborations with academic partners; (3) assess how they jointly promote public health workforce development; and (4) analyze which essential public health services their partnership addresses. Despite the lack of financial resources often cited for the absence of academic-local health department collaborations, some New England states reported that their academic institution and local public health department partnerships were valued and productive. The authors discuss how effective academic-community collaborations have the potential to facilitate a broad-based appreciation of public health among students via a wide array of public health curricula and applied experiential learning opportunities in public health settings. The authors propose a model for how to combine basic public health lessons with practical experience and leadership offered by local health departments, in order to foster a real understanding of public health, its importance, practice, and relevance in today’s society from a public health workforce perspective.     

Access to Behavioral Health Care Services in New Jersey

Patients with health insurance may find that obtaining an initial appointment for behavioral healthcare is an arduous process. A stratified sample of licensed New Jersey psychiatrists and psychologists was surveyed by telephone. Results revealed that patient access to care under 10 large insurance plans in New Jersey varies by plan, but overall was difficult. Suggestions for dealing with the problem are offered. Behavioral health practitioners and their professional organizations should address these issues more directly and vigorously.     

Consumer Health Resources for Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

Culturally appropriate health materials for consumers can be difficult to identify. Many federal resources exist to help support minority health initiatives. In addition, national nonprofit organizations and state agencies provide materials to address the health needs of African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders. This listing offers an initial list of primary resources that librarians can use to address consumer health inquiries from the public.     

上海市浦东新区医疗卫生机构人力资源分布均衡性评价

目的从纵向与横向两个角度,评价浦东新区医疗卫生机构人力资源分布的均衡程度。方法收集现有资料和开展医疗卫生机构人员调查,并进行描述性分析（％）、卡方检验（X^2）和Gini系数测量。结果社区卫生服务机构人员占总量（26837人）的1／4左右,公共卫生机构人员占4％;不同类别机构卫生人员在职称、学位构成上都存在显著差异（P〈0．011）;北片区域在卫生人员数、高级职称数与硕士以上学位人数上都占70％以上;社区卫生机构人员配置Gini系数均〈0．1。结论社区卫生与公共卫生人员不足、整体质量较低,公立医疗机构人力资源地域公平性有待改善,需进一步加强基层和郊区医疗机构卫生人力配置．     

Libraries as Partners in Health Literacy

Abstract

Health literacy is becoming an important issue for nurses, pharmacists, health educators, and other health professionals. Studies are currently suggesting that low health literacy affects health care budgets, health outcomes, and adherence to medication regimens, not to mention an individual's ability to control or prevent illness and disease. At the same time, the amount of health information available to consumers increases every day, most of it written for a highly literate audience. National and international initiatives are developing to address the issue of health literacy, but few consider the library an obvious partner for these important projects. This paper overviews the key issues surrounding health literacy, outlining several initiatives and the methodologies used to evaluate levels of health literacy. Strategies for developing easy-to-read health materials will be explored. Finally, possible roles for libraries and librarians in health literacy will be examined, along with suggestions for further reading.