Consumer Health Information at Healthinfo Island: The Workshop

Intended for those with little or no experience with consumer health information services. Expect to walk (or fly!) away with a basic awareness

of the following issues, skills, and resources:

i• Consumer health information• Reference • Resources: basic and more advanced• Health literacy• Credibility• Conclusion

Funded by the National Library of Medicine in association with the Alliance Library System

Consumer health information is simply health or medical information produced or intended for people who are not health professionals.1

1 National Library of Medicine, “The Growing Need for Health Information” http://nnlm.gov/outreach/community/community.html2 Gray, C. “Medical resources information for the consumer: Helping you make informed

decisions.” C&RL News, December 2000. http://tinyurl.com/58e9y9

The rising cost of medical care, along with advances in medical technology, has made it increasingly important for consumers to be well informed about their medical choices. Access to current information also facilitates discussion between physician and patient while making decisions concerning treatment options.2

Objectives of consumer health information services:

Participation

Access

Health literacy

Liaison and referral

EMPOWERMENT

i

• Help / F1 / copy in URL: http://iconlibrary.org/liblinks//hhqvideo.html • Select “Emotional customers”• You’ll need to have a media player (like Realplayer) set up to see this.

Reference: Conducting the interview

• Identify need• Mirror question• Elements: prior knowledge, literacy level• Empathy, not identification• Disclaimer

mms://winstream.creighton.edu/hsl/icon/emotional_customers.wmv

 

The video is from the ICON Library Consortium, produced by Reference Department at the University of Nebraska Medical Center McGoogan Library of Medicine.

Consumer Health Basics 1: The Reference Interview

“Ready Reference” MedlinePlus.gov

Support & Referral MedlinePlus ‘go local’ Inworld: This group! SLHealthy wiki

Special Focus Low literacy CAM

Consumer Health Basics 3: The Information4: The Resources

Take 2 to explore

Who wrote the information or provided content?

Look for an "about us" page. Check to see who runs the site, and find contact information.

What is the evidence base of the information provided?

How current is the information?

Can the information be verified by other, authoritative resources?

“Tell your friends!”

“100% effective cure!”

Scare tacticsConsumer Health Basics 6

Health Literacy: “the ability for patients and health care consumers to read, understand, and apply medical information in a meaningful way”

(Coulter 1999).

Just 12 percent of America's 228 million adults have the skills to manage their own health care proficiently, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research (AHRQ).

Consumer Health Basics 7: Health Literacy

Credibility = Transparency

Be real

Know your limits

Emphasize quality criteria

Consumer Health Information Conclusion

This is where I plug the SL Health Librarians Group (including the Google group), and suggest that if you are not already a member, you join by contacting me. The group is here to collaborate (and while we’re doing that, have some fun!)

iToday’s class was just a start. I will be working on a 2nd class with more resources, more hands-on, and more discussion.

Thank you!

Consumer Health Basics

1 Reference interview

2 Establishing credibility

3 The information

4 Resources

5 Health information …evaluation

6 Health information …provision guidelines

7 Health information literacy

Touch the number to get a copy of the document. Each of these (and more) is also available on the SL Health Librarians Google group site.