Consumer Health Information for Public Librarians

Consumer Health Information for Public Librarians
Author: Lynda Baker
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2002
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 9780810841994

The book focuses on all aspects of providing consumers with health information in public libraries. It covers information needs and seeking behaviors, community analysis, collection development, advertising, outreach programs, training staff, and evaluation techniques.

Consumer Health Information Services and Programs

Consumer Health Information Services and Programs
Author: M. Sandra Wood
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2016-03-14
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1442262745

Consumer Health Information Programs and Services: Best Practices presents examples of successful and long-standing library programs and services that provide health information to consumers—the general public, patients, and families or patients – who seek information about health and diseases. This best practices volume brings together library programs and services currently offered in hospital libraries, public libraries, academic health sciences libraries, and standalone consumer health libraries, covering a range of topics and special programs. Advice and best practices provided by these experienced CHI librarians will help readers who are planning a new consumer health information service, or who are looking to upgrade and expand their current program or service. This best practices book will highlight successful library consumer health information programs and services, offering advice and tips about all aspects of providing health information to the general public and patients, from planning and establishing a CHI program, to offering specialized services to special populations. Readers will find both solid, tried-and-true methods for providing these services, as well as guidance on using newer, updated techniques to reach persons needing health information.

Meeting Health Information Needs Outside Of Healthcare

Meeting Health Information Needs Outside Of Healthcare
Author: Catherine Arnott Smith
Publisher: Chandos Publishing
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2015-08-04
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0081002599

Meeting Health Information Needs Outside of Healthcare addresses the challenges and ethical dilemmas concerning the delivery of health information to the general public in a variety of non-clinical settings, both in-person and via information technology, in settings from public and academic libraries to online communities and traditional and social media channels. Professionals working in a range of fields, including librarianship, computer science and health information technology, journalism, and health communication can be involved in providing consumer health information, or health information targeting laypeople. This volume clearly examines the properties of health information that make it particularly challenging information to provide in diverse settings. - Addresses professional challenges and ethical problems of communicating health information to lay people in non-clinical settings - Focuses on health information as a challenge for different professionals providing health information in different settings - Emphasizes the shared challenges of information practice across different settings as well as those facing professionals in different roles

Building Community Engagement and Outreach in Libraries

Building Community Engagement and Outreach in Libraries
Author: Kathryn Moore Crowe
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2022-07-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1803823690

An important addition to the research on how libraries can work with their communities to provide critical services and resources. Providing valuable insights about the diverse ways that outreach can be accomplished within and through communities, this volume serves as a significant resource for library managers, staff and their partners.

Promoting Individual and Community Health at the Library

Promoting Individual and Community Health at the Library
Author: Mary Grace Flaherty
Publisher: American Library Association
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2018-11-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0838916279

Though today’s consumers have unprecedented access to health information, its quality and veracity varies widely. Public libraries can play an important role in supporting library users in their health information seeking efforts. In this book Flaherty shows how to guide library users to high quality health information by relying on up to date, authoritative sources. She also demonstrates why taking the initiative to offer health promotion programming can be a valuable form of community outreach, serving community needs while increasing visibility. Library directors, programming staff, reference librarians, and health educators will all benefit from this book’s patron-centered stance, which features a historic overview of the consumer health movement and how it intersects with public libraries;guidance on finding and evaluating the best print, electronic, and app-based health information sources, with advice on keeping up to date;an in-depth look at collaborative efforts to provide and sponsor simple health-related activities in public libraries, spotlighting programs in action at libraries across the county;instructions on creating, planning, preparing, marketing, and evaluating a public library health program;discussions of important issues surrounding health information provision efforts, including patron privacy and liability concerns; andguidelines for public libraries’ role in public health efforts, including disaster preparedness. Armed with this book’s expert advice and plentiful examples of successful initiatives, public libraries will feel empowered to make a difference in community members’ health and well-being.

Health Literacy and Libraries

Health Literacy and Libraries
Author: Emily Vardell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2024-02-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1538180804

This book brings together a diverse range of scholars and practitioners working at the nexus of health literacy work in libraries. This engaging resource presents a practical and accessible guide to meet the needs of librarians, health literacy researchers, and information and service professionals seeking to address health literacy needs in their communities. Through chapters offering multiple perspectives on the topic, the book covers specific types of literacy, such as mental health literacy and health insurance literacy, as well as timely applications, such as health misinformation. Chapters in this compilation also feature health literacy and the following communities: LGBTQ+, Latinx, Black, and Immigrants, Refugees, and Migrants. The book is full of numerous examples, thoughtful advice, and discussions addressing the challenges of working with adolescents and young adults, older adults, and parent caregivers of children with rare diseases. Each chapter starts with “Key Messages'' synthesizing the main points and concludes with a proposed set of “Discussion Questions'' to inspire further reflection and to facilitate health literacy conversations. Overall, the up-to-date coverage of health literacy in various contexts explored throughout the book will be beneficial to a range of stakeholders interested in health literacy work.

The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information

The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information
Author: Michele Spatz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-05-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1442225718

Comprised of fifteen chapters written by experienced consumer health librarians, The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information is designed for library and information science graduate students as well as librarians new to health and medical librarianship, regardless of library setting. It is comprehensive in scope, covering all aspects of consumer and patient health and medical information from their humble, grassroots beginnings to the ever-evolving applications of new technology and social media. In between, the mundane aspects of health and medical librarianship, such as needs assessment, costs, budgeting and funding, and staffing are discussed. Adding richness to this discussion are the coverage of more sensitive topics such as patient-friendly technology, ethical issues in providing consumer and patient health information, meeting the needs of diverse populations, and responding to individuals from various cultural backgrounds. No comprehensive picture of consumer and patient health librarianship would be complete without addressing the critical importance of marketing and strategic partnerships; such discussions round out this invaluable guide. Patients today must be knowledgeable enough to participate in their health and well-being. Shorter hospital stays, changing reimbursement patterns and the gradual shift towards focusing on proactively maintaining health and managing disease require patients to be informed and actively engaged. Education, information and understanding are important components of actively-engaged patients. Correspondingly, in today’s e-world, there is a glut of information resources available through the Internet – from YouTube videos to Googling to blogs and Twitter feeds. What is lacking in these information-rich times is the relevance of meaning and context for those who ask, “Does this health and medical information apply to me and my unique clinical picture?” or “How do I use this information?” As knowledge navigators, information technology wizards and content experts, librarians offer focused responses to individuals’ specific and highly personal health and medical information queries. In a new healthcare world order of optimizing health and minimizing hospitalizations, such a service is invaluable. Sadly, there still exists in our highly networked and technological age an information gap for those who struggle in obtaining meaningful health or medical information. These individuals may be foreign-born, non-English speaking, poor, rural, aged or semi-literate. Whatever their status, librarians must have the wherewith-all to find germane resources and also help create responsive mechanisms to bridge that health information gap for vulnerable citizens. The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information will guide you on the road to providing that response.

Growing Community Health Literacy through Libraries

Growing Community Health Literacy through Libraries
Author: Prudence W. Dalrymple
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2020-08-24
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110362643

The capacity to understand and communicate health information is a major international health concern. Sponsored by the Health and Biosciences Section of International Federation of Library Associations, this book highlights the contribution that librarians are making to improving health literacy and enabling citizens to be active participants in the management of their own health. Knowledge is power and the World Health Organization recognizes that health literacy, involving effective access to and understanding of health information, is essential to health and well-being in society by empowering and enabling citizens to participate in their own healthcare. The book presents inspiring studies from an international group of authors showing how libraries and librarians are partnering with diverse sectors of society including universities, hospitals, public health clinics, community-based organisations, voluntary bodies and government agencies, to help citizens understand and manage their health. It provides guidance by example to suggest how libraries can help citizens participate in their healthcare and their communities by collaborating with others to increase health literacy in society.

Digital Libraries: Knowledge, Information, and Data in an Open Access Society

Digital Libraries: Knowledge, Information, and Data in an Open Access Society
Author: Atsuyuki Morishima
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2016-11-24
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3319493043

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th InternationalConference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries, ICADL 2016, held in Tsukuba,Japan, in December 2016. The 18 full papers, 17 work-in-progress papers and 7 practitioner papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 71 submissions. The papers cover topics such as community informatics, digital heritage preservation, digital curation, models and guidelines, information retrieval/integration/extraction/recommendation, privacy, education and digital literacy, open access and data, and information access design.