Medical Library Association

Capitol Hill Day 2010

NLM Outreach Projects: Overview and Examples

The National Library of Medicine has a mandate not only to collect and organize the literature of the health sciences and to provide information services, but also to develop an outreach program to “publicize the availability of [its] products and services. . .” [42 U.S.C. 286]. NLM conducts much of its outreach in partnership with other libraries and community organizations across the nation, including through eight Regional Medical Libraries that are funded by NLM and are responsible for identifying and responding to health information needs among the health professionals and general public within their regions. NLM’s outreach programs pay special attention to the needs of minority and other underserved populations, as well as health professionals practicing in rural and inner city communities and health professionals unaffiliated with an institution maintaining a health sciences library. Some programs focus on specific populations, such as the AIDS community. The examples below provide a sample of the breadth and diversity of ongoing projects.

University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL: The Promoting Clearer Communication between Health Professionals and Patients project will provide instruction on health literacy assessment to nurse practitioners, College of Nursing faculty and nursing students from clinic facilities. The Empowering Health Ministry Leaders project identifies leaders from local African American congregations in Mobile, Alabama to form an association to combat health disparities in their communities.

Marshall Medical Center Health Library, Placerville, CA: The community Health Library without Walls project will fund a health information outreach campaign, conducted by the Community Health Librarian that will target community physicians, rural health clinics, community support groups, El Dorado County public librarians, El Dorado County public health nurses, and El Dorado County Senior Services groups.

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning Resource Center, Honolulu, HI: The Palau Health Information Literacy project, a partnership between government and community agencies and academic institutions, is designed to improve health information outreach, education , and access to quality, reliable health information in remote and underserved multicultural communities in the Republic of Palau by partnering with government and community agencies and academic institutions.

Heartland Alliance, Heartland Health Outreach, Chicago, IL: The New Americans Library and Internet Access Project is a partnership between the University of Chicago Library of the Health Sciences and the Chicago Public Library to improve the health literacy skills of immigrants and refugees by expanding access to quality electronic medical information.

University of Iowa, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, Iowa City, IA: The Consumer Health Information Access for Clinical Sites of the Iowa Institute on Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) project is to improve access to consumer health information in four of Iowa’s most diverse and disparate communities by placing computers in four clinics.

University of Kansas Medical Center, Archie R. Dykes Library of the Health Sciences, Kansas City, KS: The Informacion de Salud para Promotoras project will train lay-health advisors (Promotoras) to be the point of contact in their communities for health information and resources by working with El Centro, Inc., a community based organization in Kansas City.

Families Helping Families of Northwest Louisiana, Shreveport, LA: FAMILIES Health E-Info project will focus on improving access to electronic consumer health information for consumers, the underserved and minority health care professionals, public health workers, public libraries, and community-based and faith-based organizations.

Morgan State University, Baltimore , MD partnered with several community groups and coalitions to implement peer training of quality health information resources and couple it with the use of evidence-based data about risky behaviors and health lifestyles. They also integrated use of NLM resources into curricula in the Department of Social Work and the School of Community Health and Policy and, by mid way through the funding year, had trained more than 450 individuals.

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Bio-Medical Library, Minneapolis, MN: Health Literacy Program for Minnesota Seniors (HeLP MN Seniors) project is to develop an evidence-based approach to build capacity and enhance efforts to improve the health literacy status among Minnesota seniors.

Montana State University College of Nursing, Bozeman, MT: Enhancing Health Literacy of Rural Seniors project is to improve the health literacy of rural seniors so that they can make well-informed health care decisions, better manage their own self-care, and enhance their overall health and well-being.

Touro-Harlem Medical Library, New York, NY: The Health Start program involves a partnership between the Touro-Harlem Medical Library, the Touro College of Pharmacy, Project Aspire and P.S. 197 to develop age appropriate curricula and lesson plans and teach medication safety and health literacy skills to students in Pre-K through grade 2.

The Ohio State University (John A. Prior Health Sciences Library), Columbus, OH: multiple Language Resources for Vulnerable Health Consumers Served by Ohio's Public Libraries will improve health access to health education materials in culturally diverse, low-literacy populations served by three large Ohio public library systems and enhance the subject content available to consumers from Health Information Translations and MedlinePlus.

Chickasaw Health Information Center, Ada, OK: Work with the Chickasaw Nation will implement a consumer health information center at the Carl Albert Indian Health Facility to raise awareness and provide patients and the public with convenient access to Medline Plus and other patient education materials.

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN: The ETSU Quillen College of Medicine Library staff will collaborate with the Carver Park and Recreation Center on Color My World Healthy to provide training sessions on locating quality health information on the health issues of African Americans, Hispanics , and other minority groups.

Literacy Source, Seattle, WA: Improving Health Literacy in King County's Immigrant and Refugee Community will focus on adult immigrants and refugees currently residing in the greater Seattle area, with a particular focus on those of low socio-economic status and with limited English language skills, to assess and determine the best method(s) to improve their access to and comprehension of health information.

Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI: Empowering Patients with Accurate Health Information at Holy Redeemer Church and Clinic will improve access to accurate health information to community members and to health care providers who serve them in a free health clinic in a Medically Underserved Area of Milwaukee.