A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: lessons learned before and during a pandemic.
J Med Libr Assoc
; 110(2): 212-221, 2022 Apr 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1811078
ABSTRACT
Background:
Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users. Case Presentation Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children's programs and circulation statistics of the kits.Conclusions:
This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information-seeking practices.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Librarians
/
COVID-19
/
Libraries, Medical
Type of study:
Case report
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Libr Assoc
Journal subject:
Library Science
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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