Meeting Health Information Needs Outside Of Healthcare

Dr. Catherine Arnott Smith is an Associate Professor in the School of Library & Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a PhD in Library & Information Sciences/Medical Informatics and an MSIS in Information Sciences/Medical Informatics (University of Pittsburgh, 2002 and 2000 respectively), as well as master’s degrees in library and information science and American History/archives administration (University of Michigan, both degrees conferred in 1992). Her research interests are consumer health vocabularies and consumer interactions with electronic medical records and personal health records, as well as clinical information exchange in nonclinical spaces, such as public libraries and university disability resources centers. Dr. Alla Keselman is a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS), National Library of Medicine, United States National Institutes of Health. She holds a PhD in human cognition and learning and an MA in biomedical informatics from Columbia University. Dr. Keselman conducts research into lay understanding of complex health concepts, health literacy, and consumer health informatics, as well as the role of libraries and librarians in providing health information to the public. Dr. Keselman also oversees the development of life sciences and health education resources for K-12 students and teachers.

• Series EditorAbout the authorsEditors’ forewordAcknowledgmentsOverview1. Designing health information programs to promote the health and well-being of vulnerable populations: the benefits of evidence-based strategic health communication1.1. Introduction1.2. Barriers1.3. Lessons learned: improving health communication for vulnerable populations1.4. Strategies to develop strategic communication1.5. Evaluating health communication1.6. Practice implications2. Health literacy research’s growth, challenges, and frontiers2.1. Introduction2.2. Four milestones in health literacy research2.3. Health literacy’s evolving definition and conceptual underpinnings2.4. The range and vitality of health literacy research2.5. Health literacy research’s current needs and frontiers2.6. ConclusionsLibraries3. Medical information for the consumer before the World Wide Web3.1. Introduction: “Closed to the Public”3.2. Background: the beginnings of consumer health information3.3. Libraries3.4. Librarian3.5. The patron3.6. Content3.7. Conclusions4. Ethical health information: Do it well! Do it right! Do no harm!4.1. Introduction4.2. Responsibility for the best possible information service4.3. The right to privacy and responsibility for confidentiality4.4. Providing fair and equitable access4.5. Intellectual property rights and access to information4.6. Advocacy for information access4.7. Providing information versus giving advice4.8. Conflicting values, dilemmas, and tough decisions4.9. Keep learning5. Health information resource provision in the public library setting5.1. Background5.2. Challenges5.3. Case study: embedded consumer health librarians in Delaware5.4. Conclusions6. Who needs a health librarian? Ethical reference transactions in the consumer health library6.1. Introduction6.2. The reference transaction: asking the right questions, avoiding the wrong answers6.3. Looking for the answers: symptom-checkers and self-diagnosing6.4. What did the doctor say? Health literacy and deciphering a whole new language6.5. When the answers have questions: experimental treatments and integrative medicine6.6. Conclusions7. Consumer health information: the community college conundrum7.1. The community college setting7.2. Health information needs at the community college7.3. Issues in health information provision7.4. Health literacy in the community college setting7.5. The future for community colleges and health information7.6. ConclusionsAppendix A: Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) of the Association of College and Research LibrariesContexts8. Health information delivery outside the clinic in a developing nation: The Qatar Cancer Society in the State of Qatar8.1. Introduction and background8.2. Qatar8.3. Methods8.4. Sources of consumer health information in the GCC8.5. Barriers to health care in Qatar8.6. The Qatar Cancer Society8.7. Cancer information delivery outside the clinical setting8.8. ConclusionsAppendix 1: Questionnaire9. Health information and older adults9.1. Introduction9.2. Background9.3. Settings: where do older adults go for information?9.4. Health information format considerations9.5. Format summary9.6. Health information comprehension among older adults: barriers and solutions9.7. Comprehension summary10. Re-envisioning the health information-seeking conversation: insights from a community center10.1. Introduction10.2. Understanding information behaviors10.3. Health information seeking in a local context10.4. Conclusions11. For the mutual benefit: health information provision in the science classroom11.1. Background11.2. The science classroom as a setting for health literacy11.3. Challenges and opportunities for bringing health education into the science classroom11.4. Conclusions and implications12. “You will be glad you hung onto this quit”: sharing information and giving support when stopping smoking online12.1. Introduction12.2. Interpersonal aspects of advice-giving and showing support online12.3. Methodology12.4. Results and discussion12.5. Conclusions13. Health information in bits and bytes: considerations and challenges of digital health communication13.1. Introduction13.2. The health programs13.3. The digital divide13.4. Don’t make me think13.5. Humanizing technology13.6. Know your audience13.7. Data dilemmas13.8. Conclusions14. Does specialization matter? How journalistic expertise explains differences in health-care coverage14.1. Introduction14.2. Why specialization should matter14.3. Methodology14.4. Results14.5. Discussion14.6. ConclusionsAfterwordIndex