# Presentation: 659458

## Beyond an Apple a Day:  Providing Consumer Health Information at Your Library

- National Network of Libraries of Medicine
- http://nnlm.gov
- (800) 338-7657

## Agenda	

- Health information needs of patrons
- Challenges of providing CH services
- Planning a consumer health service
- Collection Development
- Consumer Health on the Internet
- The Reference Interview
- Ethics
- Outreach

## Consumer Health – then and now...

- 1972 – Patient Bill of Rights
- 2002 – Pew Internet and American Life
- 2006 – “Googling for a diagnosis”  [BMJ]
- 2006 – Pew Internet and American Life
- Only one quarter of online health seekers said they always or usually check the source and date of health information online!

## Realities of health care today

- Patients are now asked to make decisions about their own disease process.
- Most patients do not have the tools to make these kinds of decisions
- Libraries can help!

## A rose is a rose...

- “A high degree of intelligence, tact, imagination, and resourcefulness coupled with such a background of education, professional training, and experience will enable the medical librarian to administer a library efficiently and to assist readers in the use of the bibliographic and other materials of his collection.”
-  Lucretia McClure quotes Judity W. Hunt from the first edition of A Handbook of Medical Library Practice (1943)
- Source:  McClure, L. A rose is a rose.  JMLA 91(2) April 2003.

## Health Literacy

- The ability to read, understand and act on health information [Pfizer 2002]
- The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions [Healthy People 2010]

## Discussion

- What are your thoughts on health literacy and how it impacts the individual and society?

## Why is health literacy so critical?

- Essential life skill
- Public health imperative
- Essential part of social capital
- Critical economic issue
- Source:  “Navigating Health:  The Role of Health Literacy”, Kickbusch

## Resources for health literacy

- _[MedlinePlus](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/easytoread/easytoread_a.html)__[ – Easy to read](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/easytoread/easytoread_a.html)_
- easy to read resources and a how to write easy to read page
- _[Ask Me 3, Partnership for Clear Health Communication](http://www.askme3.org/)_
- 1. What is my main problem?
- 2.  What do I need to do?
- 3.  Why is it important for me to do this?

## ACTIVITY

- Take 10 minutes to discuss with a partner or a group, some examples of consumer health questions.
- We wrap up this activity with a discussion of your examples together as a class.

## Challenges of the reference interview in the context of health information

- Not being familiar with the resources
- Medical terminology
- Knowing how much to ask
- Using open ended questions
- Being aware of body language
- Not offering personal experiences
- Others?

## The Reference Interview

- ...in the context of health information
- Be empathetic
- Be an active listener
- Use open ended questions
- Respect privacy / confidentiality
- Be prepared for emotions
- Be aware of body language
- Do not be afraid to refer the patron back to his/her health care provider

## Disclaimers 

- “Materials in the Resource Center represent the opinions of the authors and are intended as a complement, not a substitute for the advice of your healthcare providers.”

## Ethical Guidelines

- Privacy / Confidentiality
- Know the limits of your collection
- Do not interpret medical information
- Use a disclaimer or caution statement

## The Librarian is In:

- _[Facing Modern Consumer Health Issues in the Public Library](http://www.iconlibrary.org/hhqvideo.html)_
- Let’s take a few minutes to listen to best practices for common health reference interview.

## Planning the service

- Needs assessment
- DRG’s
- Leapfrog
- Health grades
- Analyze the demographics of your community
- CDC Faststats
- Kaiser State Health Facts
- Public Library Geographic Database

## The many considerations of planning a new consumer health service

- Salaries, Internet access, computers, software, technology, books, medical texts, journals, newsletters, videos, databases, brochures, free research, free printing, telephone reference, office supplies, library supplies, fax supplies, programming, ILL, professional memberships, security services, maintenance
- So many things to think about...

## Collection Development

- Book lists on CAPHIS
- UCONN Healthnet
- Toronto Public Library

## Journals, Videos ...

- Let’s take a look at the collection development guides for journals and videos provided in your handout.

## Consumer Health on the Internet

- The ABC’s of evaluation
- Accuracy
- Authority
- Bias
- Currency
- Coverage
- And, user friendliness

## Web sites you can trust...

- _[MedlinePlus](http://medlineplus.gov/)_
- _[NIH Senior Health](http://nihseniorhealth.gov/)_
- _[Clinical Trials](http://clinicaltrials.gov/)_
- _[NCCAM](http://nccam.nih.gov/)_
- _[National Library of Medicine](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/)_

## More...

- _[American Heart Association](http://www.americanheart.org/)_
- _[National Cancer Institute](http://cancer.gov/)_
- _[Dirline](http://dirline.nlm.nih.gov/)_
- _[Drug Digest](http://www.drugdigest.org/)_
- _[Family Doctor](http://familydoctor.org/)_
- _[Health News in Review](http://www.healthnewsreview.org/)_

## Hands on Exercises

- Please turn to page 12 of your handout.  Try the hands on exercises.  Recommended answers can be found on page 13.

## Collaboration / Partnerships

- _[Your local hospital librarian](http://nnlm.gov/members/)_
- _[Your local hospital administration](http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories/index.cfm)_
- _[Community Based Organizations](http://nnlm.gov/outreach/community/)_
- _[NN/LM](http://nnlm.gov/)_
- _[MLA local chapters](http://mlanet.org/)_
- _[CAPHIS](http://caphis.mlanet.org/)_

## Marketing

- Group activity:  Get together in groups of 2 or 3 and come up with a couple of good marketing ideas to share.
- We will discuss them as a group.

## Resources for further information...

- _[CAPHIS](http://caphis.mlanet.org/)_
- OERC
- The Challenge of Providing Consumer Health Information Services in Public Libraries

## Wrapping up...

- Think of the three most important take home messages from today’s presentation.
- Would someone like to share with the class?

## Thank you!

- Contact information:
- http://nnlm.gov
- (800) 338-7657
- Course developed by Michelle Eberle and Terri Ottosen
- This project is supported under contract #N01-LM-6-3508 with the NN/LM New England Region and contract # N01-LM-6-3502 with the Southeastern Atlantic Region from the National Library of Medicine.