health information-literacy

Health Information Literacy

The American Corner Yerevan (ACY)

Saturday 7 July, 2012

Charles J GreenbergSpecial Projects Librarian

Yale Medical LibraryFulbright Specialist, Yerevan,

Armenia21 June – 10 July, 2012

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Terminology

• Health Literacy–An individual's ability to read, understand and use healthcare information to make decisions and follow instructions for treatment

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Terminology

•What are basic health literacy tasks? Understanding doctor's instructions

Following the directions on a prescription pill container

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Health Literacy Video

http://vimeo.com/34584020

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Terminology

• Information Literacy–competencies that enables individuals to recognize needs for information, and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively

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Information Literacy and

Library Research

•locate, evaluate, and use information effectively

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Information Literacy Video

What is a citation?• by Khue Duong

http://vimeo.com/25463298

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Health Literacy

+Information

Literacy=

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Health Information

Literacy

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Health Information Literacy

• Recognize a health information need

• Identify information sources• Assess the quality of the

information• Understand and use the

information to make decisions

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Recognize a health information need

Health Information Literacy

Having Health Problemsby dobrien

http://vimeo.com/2369694

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Identify information sources

Health Information Literacy

“80% of internet users, or 59% of U.S. adults, look online for health information.”

http://www.pewinternet.org/Commentary/2011/November/Pew-Internet-Health.aspx

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Assess the quality of the information

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Health Information Literacy

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Understand and use the information to make decisions

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Health Information Literacy

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Focus this Week• Health Information Literacy

–assess the quality of the information.

Assessing the quality of Information found on web sites:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMb0_5pI-u4&feature=related

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Where can you learn how to assess health web sites?

• Health on the Net Foundation (NGO)• http://healthonnet.org/

• US National Library of Medicine- MedlinePlus• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/criteria.html

• US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine• http://nccam.nih.gov/health/webresources/

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Health on the Net Foundation

http://www.hon.ch/

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Health on the Net (HON) Code

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HON Evaluation Criteria

• Authoritative- author qualifications• Complementary- does not replace experts• Privacy & Confidentiality• Attribution- sources for statements• Justifiability- back up claims• Transparency- identities and contacts• Financial disclosure• Advertising policy- Ads labeled?

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Some Problematic Sites

•http://www.healthcentral.com/

•http://www.hepc-connection.org/

•http://www.sleepeducation.com/

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Recommendations for Consumers (everybody!)

• Start with a Medical Library web site that evaluates and recommends health information. www.medlib.am , www.medlineplus.gov , www.mayoclinic.org

• When find out about a health web site, remember that a web site must never replace your relationship with your physician.

• Ask librarians for assistance in using health information web sites.

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Recommendations for Librarians

• Always do a formal evaluation of a health web site according to HON or other criteria before adding a link.

• Google will offer paid ads and frequently cited pages. If you search Google for a health topic, look at the first page of results for either MedlinePlus or MayoClinic links.

• Build library web pages that teach health information literacy and try teaching it yourself.

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Thank you!

A PDF of this presentation, and a copy of the evaluation form used in my library school class is available on http://www.hyelibrarians.net/materials