A
Note From the Chair
CAPHIS Membership Campaign
is Underway
Hi
Everyone,
I
am writing this open letter to personally invite you to join CAPHIS
and become an active member of our Section. If you are already a loyal member, I encourage you to renew your
membership for 2004. I want
to also encourage you to be an active partner in our innovative and
exciting Section.
There
are many wonderful CAPHIS activities taking place in 2004 that you
can take advantage
of. We have so much to be
proud of and you should benefit from some of the great things that
CAPHIS does for its membership.
First
of all, CAPHIS will be honored guests at the MLA Annual Meeting’s
elegant SwetsBlackwell reception.
This is an event you won’t want to miss.
The CAPHIS officers and board members will join me to welcome
and recognize all our members, especially new ones.
If you become a member now, you will be automatically placed
on the invitation list. So act fast and sign up for membership. 
Did
you know that CAPHIS is the second largest MLA Section?
We have over 650 members.
I personally find it beneficial to be part of such a large
group to exchange information, meet with fellow colleagues who share
similar challenges in their libraries, and to just meet new friends
and colleagues.
There
are great opportunities to grow professionally by joining CAPHIS committees. Our committees of energetic members work together
as volunteers on special projects.
For example, we provide opportunities to work on committees
with national impact, including the CAPHIS Top 100, Database Development,
Communications, Consumer Connections Newsletter, Website, Bylaws,
Nominating, Historical Project, and Website Task Force.
We hope your interest in CAPHIS will encourage you to serve
on a committee or to run for office.
Members will find the Committee Application Form at:
http://caphis.mlanet.org/activities/caphis_serve_form.html
Another
benefit is publicizing your library and its services on the CAPHIS
National Directory of Consumer Health Libraries.
This database contains information
about member libraries in the United States and from around the world.
There are over 200 libraries in the database and it’s growing
rapidly. Members can list
their libraries and provide pertinent information at: http://caphis.mlanet.org/directory/index.html.
Do
you want to try adding publications to your resume? Well then, consider
writing for CAPHIS. You are invited to write articles for Consumer
Connections (the CAPHIS newsletter), or you can work with the MLA
CAPHIS Column editor to submit news clips to MLA News. You might prefer to contribute book reviews
to the Book Review section in Consumer Connections. To become involved in these activities, go to our website’s
“Committee Chairs and Appointed Officials” page and scan
the list for contacts at: http://caphis.mlanet.org/activities/CAPHIS_officers.html
Some
additional benefits to membership include:
This is a major portal to the best and latest health information for you
and your library patrons. The
database links are authoritative and extensive.
I
hope this message inspires you to become a member of CAPHIS, an exciting
group of colleagues. Personally,
I have enjoyed the camaraderie and the opportunity to work and learn
from so many talented librarians.
It has been rewarding for me as it will be for you, and I hope
you decide to join us. So when renewing your MLA membership, remember
to check off the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section as
part of your registration. It’s a great bargain for only $15. If you’re joining via the Web, go to:
http://www.mlanet.org/joinmla/mbrappf.html
and check CAPHIS in the Section listing.
You’ll be glad you did!
Respectfully,
Naomi C. Broering, MLS, MA, FMLA
Chair,
CAPHIS 2003-4
Articles
Eris
Weaver on Health Literacy
Eris
Weaver, director, Redwood
Health Library (Petaluma, CA) and presenter in the MLA’s “Reading
Between the Lines,” was invited to share some thoughts on health
literacy.
I had the pleasure of participating
in the Medical Library Association (MLA) health literacy teleconference,
Reading Between the Lines, on September 10th. While
I was ostensibly there as an instructor, I sure don’t feel like
I’m an expert on the issue and I learned a tremendous amount
from my co-presenters during the two days we spent together.
On November 15-19th,
I attended the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) annual
meeting where I went to a session on health literacy and health communications;
I was interested to see how another profession addressed the issue.
What was interesting in contrasting this presentation with the teleconference
was that the APHA panel did not get as down and dirty with the practical
issues: what do you actually need to DO to: 1) recognize that the
person with whom you are interacting may have literacy issues and,
2) address them in your communications with patients. This is an area
in which I believe librarians excel: devising and utilizing techniques
that work in our day-to-day practice. We’re also great at avoiding
the reinvention of the wheel, through our ability to network and find
information on what others have already done.
If you haven’t thought
much about health literacy issues and would like to learn more, there’s
another event coming up for folks in the West. The upcoming Joint
Meeting of the Northern California and Nevada Medical Group (NCNMLG), the Medical Library Group of Southern
California and Arizona (MLGSCA),
and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association
(PNC/MLA) will feature a day-long
symposium on the topic. (For more information, see http://ncnmlg.stanford.edu/calendar/jtmtg2004/symposium.html)
The whole issue boils down
to this: People with limited literacy skills have poorer health outcomes
and have more trouble accessing the health care system. Medical librarians
are addressing the problem in different ways, depending upon the setting
in which we work. Academic librarians are training the next generation
of health care practitioners; hospital librarians are training current
practitioners; and consumer health librarians are providing understandable
materials to patients.
Health literacy is more
than just being able to read; it involves the whole spectrum of activities
involved in becoming and staying healthy. One issue that I think is
often overlooked is something I’ll call contextual literacy.
I may be very health literate here in North America and possibly western
Europe; but plunk me down in a rural Indian village with even a minor
health problem and I would be totally out of my element. Most of us
are comfortable and know what to expect in universities, libraries,
hospitals, and clinics. Many people don't, and their anxiety at being
in a totally alien setting impairs their coping abilities even more.
Many times when we attempt outreach programs in non-English speaking
communities we bring our own comfort bubble with us and don’t
really see how those folks inhabit their world. We either expect them
to come meet us in our world, or we bring our world to them. Then
we wonder why they don’t use the nifty computers and things
we gave them, when our tools may be almost as foreign to them as that
Coke bottle in The Gods Must Be Crazy.
My challenge to anyone
interested in doing any kind of literacy or other outreach project
is to go put yourself in an environment in which you feel completely
lost and alien. Someplace you’ve never been before and would
never have a reason to go. That might be a neighborhood where a different
language is spoken; the services of a religious faith very different
from yours; a sporting event where you haven’t a clue what the
rules are; or a bar with a clientele very different from you. (My
first experience with dim sum in Chinatown comes to mind.) Try to
figure out how to navigate and get your needs met. Experience what
it feels like not to be in control, to be a minority for a change.
Then come back to your own library and try to look at it with new
eyes and see what aspects of it may be bewildering to someone who’s
never been in one before. Use this understanding as you craft your
personal response to the issue of health literacy.
Household
Products Database:
New
Information Service Provides Information On Health and Safety of Everyday
Products by Colette Hochstein, D.M.D., MLS, National Library of Medicine,
Division of Specialized Information Services
On
August 1, 2003, the National Library of Medicine's Division of Specialized
Information Services announced the release of a consumer's guide that
provides easy-to-understand information on the potential health effects
of more than 4,000 common household products.
Some
household products contain substances that can pose health risks if
they are ingested or inhaled, or if they come into contact with eyes
and skin. The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Household Products
Database (http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov) provides information
on these substances and their potential health effects in consumer-friendly
language. For more technical information, users can launch
a search for a product or ingredient from the product's page into
NLM's TOXNET system (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov), a cluster of databases
on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas.
Information
in the database is provided to NLM under a license agreement and is
taken from a variety of publicly available sources, including brand-specific
labels and information provided by manufacturers and manufacturers'
web sites. The database does not contain all brands and products.
Initial selection of the products has been based on market share within
each product category, and on shelf presence in retail stores in the
Washington, D.C. and the San Francisco areas.
The Household Products Database has no pharmaceuticals, no
generics, and no food items.
NLM
has provided an important set of databases for toxicologists and other
scientists for many years. The target audience of the Household Products
Database, however, is both scientists and the general public. The
database allows users to browse a product category, such as 'Pesticides'
or 'Personal Care,' by alphabetical listing or by brand name.
Products can also be searched by type, manufacturer, product
ingredient, or chemical name.
The
Household Products Database lets users find out what's in the products
under the kitchen sink, in the garage, in the bathroom, and on the
laundry room shelf. It is designed to help answer questions such as:
ˇ What chemicals are contained in specific brands and in what
percentage?
ˇ Which products contain specific chemicals?
ˇ Who manufactures a specific brand? How can the manufacturer
be contacted?
ˇ What are the potential health effects (acute and chronic)
of the ingredients in a specific brand?
ˇ What other information is available about such chemicals
in the toxicology-related databases of the National Library of Medicine?
An
example of how the database can be used can be found with the homeowner
who is trying to decide which algae-killing product to use in her
swimming pool. She could select the "Landscape/Yard/Swimming
Pool" category in Household Products and click on "algaecide."
She could then choose several brands to examine for chemical content
and possible health hazards.
The
record for each product shows her the ingredients from the Material
Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Designed to provide workers and emergency
personnel with the proper procedures for handling or working with
a particular substance, these MSDS sheets are produced by the manufacturer
of the product as required by federal law.
Planned
next steps for the Household Products Database include adding new
types of products, based primarily on user feedback, adding more brands
in the existing 7 categories (Auto Products, Pesticides, Landscape/Yard,
Personal Care, Home Maintenance, Hobbies, Home Inside), and keeping
the existing information in the database current and accurate.
For
information about this and other databases from NLM's Division of
Specialized Information Services, please contact: tehip@teh.nlm.nlm.gov
Health
Librarian on the Street – Trends in Consumer Health Libraries
An
unscientific, but hopefully enlightening look at issues of interest
to consumer health librarians.
Sometimes
we learn the most from the folks in the trenches, so when we talked
to some CAPHIS members we asked them to tell us what trends they see
in consumer health libraries. We heard from professionals who work
in a variety of library settings: live online reference, academic,
public and special. For the third installment of “Health Librarian
on the Street” we are taking a look at various ways our profession
is evolving.
Broadening
consumer health library services through outreach and collaboration
appear to be major trends in the provision of consumer health information
services. Budgets are shrinking and patron expectations are changing.
As more people google their way to health information, they
are beginning to realize that the Internet, often does not provide
all, or much of the information they need. Palo Alto, Calif.-based
library consultant Sonia Dorfman sees patrons rediscovering the physical
library and finding extensive material that they can’t access
at home. Some patrons are often amazed that books can be the best
resource to find answers and many are beginning to differentiate between
a free web search and the accessible material from subscription databases. At Lousiana State University (LSU), family practice physicians are
relying on librarians to provide them with information on subjects
such as diabetes. The doctors then distribute
the information to the community through satellite health centers.
Librarian David Duggar, acknowledges that the interaction is not directly
librarian to consumer. It is notable, however, that librarians are
being utilized as purveyors of health information of value to the
community at large. “The trend at LSU appears to be rare actual
use of the medical library by the community,” Duggar said. “More
often, librarians are working to provide computerized information
resources for other organizations and public facilities. There is
an increased effort for us to be involved in grants providing information
indirectly to the community.”
For
the past five years, LSU has been providing consumer health information
to public libraries in the northern part of the state through a grant-funded
program called Health e-links (www.healthelinks.org). According to Duggar,
the service is popular and utilized by patrons and librarians alike.
However, it was expected that the public librarians would call on
LSU for more detailed information, literature searches and other assistance.
Those demands have not materialized. Users are satisfied with the
web site alone.
Collaboration
is one way to effectively provide service in times of restricted budgets.
So says Roz Kutler, information services librarian at the Redwood
City (CA) Public Library. “Public libraries are joining with
special libraries to offer collaborative programming and selection
strategies,” Kutler said. “That way, we can maximize the
availability of current, relevant materials for all consumers. Fortunately,
funders recognize the win-win nature of collaboration and proposals
that build relationships between libraries and other health agencies
are viewed favorably. The relationships we develop through collaboration
in hard times will continue to benefit consumers when better times
return.”
Mary
Beth Train, coordinator for the San Francisco Bay Area’s “Q
& A Café,” concurs. “Clinic-library partnerships are
invaluable,” she said. “An excellent example is the online
ask-a-nurse service provided through the collaborative efforts of
MetroHealth and the Cleveland Public Library.” Several years
ago, “Q & A Café” offered live medical reference for
the first time, collaborating with the Stanford Health Library.
Both
Kutler and Train cite California’s statewide virtual reference
project, newly renamed AskNow.Org (Formerly known as 24/7, AskNow
includes Q & A Café in its network.) as an excellent example of
a successful collaboration. Participating health science librarians
around the state support this public library project by providing
live online medical reference. Kutler notes that this service both
helps publicize the expertise of consumer health librarians and provides
incentives for public librarians to keep their online searching skills
up-to-date.
Libraries
are finding creative, new ways to reach patrons directly, too. At
Stanford University Hospital, the in-hospital library provides business
services, such as Internet access, faxing and copying, gratis to patients
and family members. A computer lab inside the LSU library allows students,
staff, patients and family members to access information, prepare
reports and presentations and print at no cost. Duggar notes that
providing these non-traditional services is time consuming for librarians.
In
all types of libraries, providers of medical information to consumers
are enhancing their services and developing partnerships with other
organizations. It appears
that creativity and innovation are fast becoming prerequisites for
consumer health librarians.
News
& Events
Stake
Your Claim to Health Literacy
If
you haven't already registered, please join us for "Stake Your
Claim to Health Literacy," a day-long, regional symposium focusing
on language and cultural access to health information.
It will be held on Wednesday, January 28, 2004, before the
"2004 Gold Rush" Joint MLA Chapters Meeting in Sacramento,
California. Cost of the event is $35. Please consider inviting others from your institution
to join us!
Our
goal is to provide you with practical tools and skills, and to help
you identify specific actions you can take in support of clear communication
and improving access to resources that are linguistically and culturally
appropriate.
Speakers
include keynote Dean Schillinger, M.D., national health literacy advocate
and key contributor to the California Health Literacy Initiative;
Joyce Backus of NLM; and Neil Rambo, chair of MLA's task force on
health information literacy. A panel of experts will tell you how to choose
appropriate low literacy materials.
Breakout sessions will address Readability Tools; Regulations,
Standards, and Financial Impact; Cultural Considerations; and Non-print
Resources.
The
Symposium is sponsored by the Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library
and the NCNMLG, MLGSCA, and PNC Chapters of the Medical Library Association.
For
more information and to register, visit the Symposium webpage at:
http://ncnmlg.stanford.edu/calendar/jtmtg2004/symposium.html
Poor
access to health information is a costly condition; our symposium
offers you a cost-effective antidote!
We hope to see you there!
Publication
Information
Statement
Consumer Connections
(ISSN 1535-7821) is the newsletter of the Consumer
and Patient Information Section of the Medical LibraryAssociation
and is published quarterly.
Content for each issue
is cumulated online at http://caphis.mlanet.org/newsletter,
primarily during the first two months of the quarter; the issue is
considered complete at the end of the quarter. Notification of publication
is sent quarterly via the CAPHIS listserv. Newsletter articles and
book reviews are copyrighted; please contact the editor for reprint
permission.
Submissions
Please submit items for
Consumer Connections during the third quarter for publication in the
following quarter.
| Submit
by this newsletter |
For publication
newsletter issue: |
| March |
April-June |
| June |
July-September |
| September |
October-December |
| December |
January-March |
Please send submissions
in electronic format to the editors:
Howard Fuller
E -mail: howard.fuller@medcenter.stanford.edu
Telephone: (650) 725-3308
or
Nancy Dickenson
E -mail: nancy.dickenson@medcenter.stanford.edu
Telephone: (650) 725-8100
FAX: (650) 725-1444
