Consumer Health and the Public Library

Issues for Consideration

Lisa PhilpottsINLS 843UNC School of Information and Library Science

The Demand for Health Information

The Demand for Health Information

The emand for Health Information

Health Information!

The Demand for Health Information

•Decreased continuity of care•Health providers have less time•Personal responsibility•Preventative care movement•Patient activists•Aging baby boomers•Medicine in the media•Technological advances•Online health info

The Demand for Health Information

80% of American Internet users over the age of 18 have gone online to search

for health information at least once.

25% of health info seekers felt overwhelmed by the amount of online

information

75% of health info seekers report checking the source and date “only

sometimes,” “hardly ever,” or “never.”

(Fox, 2006)

Health Literacy

the ability to read, understand, and act on health information

the ability to understand basic health care communications, such as prescription

instructions and insurance forms

90 million peoplein the US have difficulty understanding and using health information

(Institute of Medicine, 2004)

Sources of Health Information

•Primary care provider•Pharmacies•Clinics and non-profits•Family and friends•Internet•Mass media•Support groups•Schools•Medical libraries•Public libraries

How does the public library/public librarian fit in? Where does consumer health fit into our mission?

What do we have to offer?

Inquiries about health are unavoidable..

Problems with providing health information?

What to do about them?

One of the top-five or top-ten topics of interest to patrons.

Up to 20% of total reference requests (Wood et al.,

2000)

Collection Development

Legal Liability

HIPAA

Legal Liability

“Our research has not uncovered a single case in Canada, the United States, or Great Britain in which a

librarian has been sued for providing negligent information. That it has not yet happened, however,

does not mean that it will not happen.”

(Sutherland & Gibson, 2007)

the appropriate role for the public library is not to answer any

consumer health information questions at all

Different Viewpoints

a solution to privacy issues:

When asked whether she had a list of community agencies to which to refer users, this respondent replied:

"I don't have a list. Just because if they need that kind of a list, then they need to talk to their doctor. I'm not here to, um, play doctor. And their doctor will give them a good current list. It's

not something that I've had a need to know."

Different Viewpoints

(Borman & McKenzie, 2005)

People come to the library, it's nonjudgmental. They can get basic information that puts them in touch with the right person. There really are not a lot of walk-in places for information in rural areas, which is why the library is all-important. It's one of those places that, uh, community places.... It's a welcoming place, and we have a lot of people that come in just because it's a place to come to. And that is one of the things that we, as a library, try to encourage. We want people to be comfortable here.... And the same thing with the mental health information and the consumer information, any information; a rural library provides a very unique service and we have to be approachable….

(Borman & McKenzie, 2005)

Different Viewpoints

Health Programming

Corona Library Take a Hike! Health and Fitness Expo

Dogwood Library Health Expo

A special National Childrens’ Dental Health Month storytime at the Oak Grove Public Library

More Health Programming: In Pictures

Displays by San Antonio Public Library CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Displays

Photos by http://www.flickr.com/photos/topekalibrary/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Partnerships and Health Spaces

ReferencesBorman, C. B., & McKenzie, P. J. (2005). Trying to help without getting in

their faces public library staff descriptions of providing consumer health

information. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 45(2), 133-136, 140-

146.

Fox, S. (2006). Online Health Search 2006. Pew Internet & American Life

Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Online-

Health-Search-2006.aspx

Institute of Medicine. Health literacy [electronic resource] : A prescription to

end confusion (2004). Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

Sutherland, J., & Gibson, E. (2007). Guiding patrons to online health

information: Can librarians be found liable? Canadian Journal of

Information and Library Science, 31(2), 179-196.

Wood, F. B., Lyon, B., Schell, M. B., Kitendaugh, P., Cid, V. H., & Siegel, E.

R. (2000). Public library consumer health information pilot project: Results

of a national library of medicine evaluation. Bulletin of the Medical Library

Association, 88(4), 314-322.