A partnership between academic and public librarians: "What the Health" workshop series

Kentucky Public Librarians and Health Information: Experiences, Resource Use, Community Needs, and Roles for Academic Health Sciences Librarians

Public libraries serve as sources of health information, and partnerships between public and academic health sciences libraries may improve a community's access to and understanding of health information. Librarians at a medical school in Kentucky conducted interviews with public librarians to better understand their experiences with health information with the goal of informing future outreach to public libraries. All participants reported receiving requests for health-related information at least occasionally. Most participants used books to answer health questions, although a wide range of electronic resources were also used. Implications for academic health sciences librarians are discussed.

An analysis of ALA-accredited MLS curricula indicates deficiencies in the initial training provided for public librarians

BACKGROUND

Public librarians often address patron inquiries regarding health concerns. However, prior research indicates that public librarians may be unprepared to meet the health information requests of patrons.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the availability of health-themed courses in American Library Association (ALA) accredited Master of Library and Information Studies/Science (MLIS) programs.

METHODS

Accredited MLIS programs were identified using the ALA directory. Curricula were reviewed for health content and public librarianship, children's, and young adult concentrations. Descriptive and bivariate analyses assessed the percent of programs that offered various health-related course content and the differences in availability of such content.

RESULTS

Of the 59 accredited MLIS programs, only 35 (59.32%) listed at least one health elective and none listed a required health course. No MLIS programs that had a public library concentration (n = 21) listed a required or elective health course, two programs with a children's concentration (n = 25) listed health course electives, and one program with a young adult concentration (n = 25) listed a health course elective.

CONCLUSION

ALA-accredited MLIS programs should consider increasing their offerings or requiring health-related courses to improve the training of public librarians to meet the health information needs of communities.

A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: lessons learned before and during a pandemic

Background

Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users.

Case Presentation

Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs: adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children's programs and circulation statistics of the kits.

Conclusions

This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information-seeking practices.

Collaborative updating of an organizational health literacy tool confirms medical librarians' leadership roles

BACKGROUND

A librarian led task force at the University of Tennessee Medical Center sought to evaluate their medical centre's health literacy attributes utilizing a widely used tool. This research ultimately led to the update of the tool.

OBJECTIVES

To discuss the evaluation of health literacy attributes of health care organizations and detail the process of updating the Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers (HLEHHC) tool.

METHODS

Subsequent to utilizing the HLEHHC, the task force was invited to assist in updating the tool. A collaborative was formed between the original author and task force. The collaborative performed an extensive literature review focused on emerging health literacy issues, reviewed each section and formulated changes.

RESULTS

The collaborative update process yielded an improved instrument for assessing the extent to which a health care organization accommodates low health literacy patients.

DISCUSSION

Through editing, creating new questions and rearranging the format, the HLEHHC was improved and updated.

CONCLUSION

The assessment conducted by the health literacy task force is helping shape changes in the organization. Medical librarians acted in leadership roles in the collaborative process of developing the new institutional assessment tool for health literacy (HLE2).

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge: a health literacy training partnership before and during COVID-19

Background

A request for consumer health information training for public librarians led to the development of a specialized consumer health reference and health literacy training program by professional consumer health librarians from an academic medical center. Professional consumer health librarians created an interactive presentation aimed at improving public librarians' ability to respond to consumer health questions and provide vetted health resources.

Case Presentation

Building on professional expertise, librarians at Weill Cornell Medicine developed a live class demonstration accompanied by a representative subject LibGuide to support public librarians who assist patrons with health questions. Skills involved in effectively communicating with patrons who are seeking consumer health information include conducting reference interviews, matching patrons' needs with appropriate resources, teaching useful Internet search methods, assessing health information, and understanding health literacy issues. Originally envisioned as two in-person live demonstrations, the team proactively adapted the program to respond to the stay-at-home social-distancing order put in place in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Conclusions

The team successfully led an in-person live training session followed by an adapted online training experience, the latter designed to complete the curricula while complying with city and state orders.

Impact of the Internet on Patient-Physician Communication

Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) show that the Internet is the first place people go to when they need information about health or medical topics. Searches for online health information have both benefits and challenges for patient-physician communication. To fully appreciate these issues, it is important to understand the following: (1) who is going online; (2) why are they going; (3) where are they going; (4) what needs are being met; and (5) how, if at all, do they discuss health information found online with their doctors. The objective of this mini-review is to highlight contemporary issues regarding the impact of the internet on patient-physician communication and to present directions for future research. PATIENT SUMMARY: The growing use of the Internet has implications for people seeking information on health matters. Our review shows that the Internet can be helpful for patient-physician communication, but this depends on the quality of health information found and whether the information is discussed during medical visits.