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

Assessing the Readiness of Rural Public Librarians to Implement Public Health Programs

Although health promotion is not the primary function of public libraries, it is well documented that many libraries engage in health promotion activities, even when resources are constrained. Less understood is the readiness of the public library workforce, particularly in rural communities, to implement evidence-based health promotion programs. This study uses a modified version of the Competency Assessment for Tier 2 Public Health Professionals to assess the readiness of a small sample (n = 21) of Oregon rural library managers to implement evidence-based health initiatives. Results show that outside of communication skills, most rural library workers do not consider themselves to have proficiency in core health promotion competencies. Although some slight differences were found among librarians based on socio-demographic factors, those differences were not statistically significant. Implications include the need for strengthened support to build the capacity for rural public library workers who are interested in delivering evidence-based health promotion programs.

Information and health literacy policies during pandemics: A narrative review

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled governments globally to formulate policies addressing the unique needs of their populations. These policies are critical in disseminating accurate information and enhancing health literacy during crises.

OBJECTIVE

This narrative review aims to identify and assess effective information and health literacy policies implemented during pandemics.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was performed across five electronic information sources (PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest, Emerald Insight, Scopus), supplemented by Google Scholar. The analysis employed Walt and Gilson's health policy triangle framework to categorize and evaluate the findings.

RESULTS

The review revealed that the policies could be grouped into several key categories: educational programs, laws and regulations, knowledge sharing, national programs, and different information sources. The development of these policies involved multifaceted processes influenced by political, scientific, economic, cultural and social factors, as well as the involvement of multiple stakeholders.

CONCLUSIONS

This review offers significant insights and actionable recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders. By understanding the dimensions and components of effective information and health literacy policies, stakeholders can better prepare for and respond to future pandemics and similar health crises.

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.

COVID-19 and Innovation in Medical Library Services: A Scoping Review of Case Studies

The services of medical libraries and information centers has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify the innovative services of medical libraries and information centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scoping review, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, ProQuest, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) databases were searched to identify case studies and case series. After screening the identified studies, 18 studies were selected. The results showed that the main users of medical libraries and information centers during COVID-19 were health care providers and recipients, researchers, organizational staff, and ordinary library users. Innovative services during the COVID-19 were also provided in these libraries, including distance education services, virtual information services, virtual guidelines, providing information resources, and evidence-based response to treatment teams. To provide these new services, medical libraries used traditional, semi-traditional, and modern information and communication technologies such as telephone, email, online library platforms, e-learning, and social networks. Medical libraries and information centers changed the way they provide services in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Analyzing the services provided during this period can provide a model for policymakers, and medical librarians and information professionals to improve their services. The information presented here can be used to inform library services during future, similarly critical situations.

Librarians’ support in improving health literacy: A systematic literature review

The last couple of decades health literacy has gained significant momentum among the issues listed as priority within the public health sphere. In addition, the advances of Information and Communications Technology, the adoption of digital technology to perform basic tasks in our daily lives and thus the re-orientation of health care has led to the introduction of e-health literacy and digital health literacy. Hence, different groups of users needs to develop and acquire the additional digital skills and competences to search, retrieve, access and use health information. This study aims to review the literature concerning librarians’ involvement in health literacy that published between 2010 and 2020 using the principles of systematic literature review. Specifically, search terms such as “health literacy,” “information professional/s,” “librarian/s,” and “library” were run on ACM Digital Library, Scopus, Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Citeseer, Google Scholar, e-prints in Library and Information Science (e-LiS), Digital Library of Information Science and Technology (DLIST), PubMed and Science Direct. The searches were performed during October–November 2020 and were repeated in January–February 2021; and after considering a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria 57 peer-reviewed papers were considered. Six broad areas of interest emerged through a thorough analysis of the identified, relevant literature namely “role of librarians in relation to health literacy development,” “user studies related to health literacy,” “health literacy programs,” “health literacy and LIS education,” “ health literacy initiatives” and “tools used by librarians in health literacy projects.” Main findings showcase that libraries as secure and trusted places can play a key role in developing and promoting health literacy to different groups; new job titles emerge for librarians (consumer health librarian, health information services librarians, health literacy librarian); whereas collaboration is a key element for developing and offering health literacy training programs to diverse group of users as well as the public.

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.

The usefulness of a checklist approach-based confirmation scheme in identifying unreliable COVID-19-related health information: a case study in Japan

Consumers are increasingly able to easily access health information online about food products. However, consumers have difficulty identifying reliable health information from diverse sources along with information about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic because the inundation of information (both true and false) overwhelm consumers. We investigated the usefulness of a checklist confirmation scheme for identifying unreliable COVID-19-related health information. Data were collected from June 30-July 1, 2021. First, we measured 700 participants' baseline health literacy levels by having them read unreliable health information about the efficacy of green tea intake in preventing COVID-19 based on the results of animal experimentation. Second, participants read an explanation with a five-step flowchart of how to identify reliable health information. Thereafter, we remeasured participants' health literacy levels. To identify the factors hindering the effect of the confirmation scheme, a logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, 77.9% (293/376) of those with low health literacy levels at baseline still had low literacy after the intervention. The factor that hindered the confirmation scheme's usefulness was benefit perceptions of food ingredients (OR: 0.493; 95% CI: 0.252-0.966). Consumers with higher benefit perceptions of a target product faced more difficulties using the confirmation scheme effectively. Therefore, the most effective strategies involve filtering information at the organizational level rather than the individual level, which should help consumers correctly identify misinformation concerning food and health and promote accurate decision-making.