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Health Literacy in Your Community

Developed by National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (http://nnlm.gov/pnr), funded by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services under contract. HHS-N-276-2011-00008-C with the University of Washington.

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Introductions

• Please introduce yourself and tell us what brings you to this training.

• Tell us about your computer experience and experience searching health information.

• What do you hope to gain from this training?

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What is Health Literacy?

• The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

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Health Literacy Contributes to the Ability to:

• Know when to see health care professional• Monitor medications

– Take prescribed medications on time– Have family member/friend check– See your health care professional regularly

to check medication levels• Understand health risks

– Ask your health care professional about your risks– Research to learn more

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How to Keep Ourselves Healthy

How to find health information we can trust to: • Read

• Learn

• Discuss with provider

• Choose

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Tips to Communicate with Health Care Professionals

Here are 2 great websites to help you:• Interact with your health care provider• Ask the right questions• Be an advocate for your health

Ask Me 3http://www.npsf.org/for-healthcare-professionals/programs/ask-me-3/

Questions Are The Answerhttp://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/patient-involvement/ask-your-doctor/index.html

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• Discuss illnesses specific to your community.• On your Health Topic Search Worksheet:

– Write down an illness that occurs in your community and/or that you would like to know more about.

– Write down a mental health illness that you have heard of, but you aren’t quite sure what its full definition is.

– Write down a drug, herb, or supplement you want to learn about.

• You’ll use this information during the lesson.

Community Issues

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Online Health Information

• Internet for health information: – Updated regularly– Available anytime, anywhere

• How to access high quality health information

• How to distinguish good from bad information

• How to choose trusted Websites?

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“Can This Website Be Trusted”? Guidance Questions to Ask:

– Who runs the site? Can you contact them?– Does the site have advertisements? Are they

labeled?– Where does the information on the site come

from? Is the information reviewed by experts? Is it up-to-date? Does it make unbelievable claims?

“Breakthrough”“Miracle Cure”

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“Can This Website Be Trusted”? Guidance Questions to Ask (cont.):

– Maintaining your privacy is important. Do they ask for your personal information?

– Do they want to sell you something?– How is site designed? Is it easy to find your way

around?

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Sample Health Website to Review

Please go to this website:http://thinktwice.comGo through the guidance questions together.What did you find?

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MedlinePlus.gov

Look at your computer screen. You should see the homepage for

MedlinePlus.gov

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MedlinePlus.gov(continued)

• MedlinePlus.gov – free, trusted, family-friendly

• Hosted by reputable government agency: The National Library of Medicine

• No sales• Can search for many health conditions• Read, watch, listen, interact

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Health Topics

• Search by alphabetical listings• Browse by topics• Conditions• Diagnoses• Demographic groups• Health & Wellness

Much of the content of MedlinePlus is represented in the Health Topics section.

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Drugs, Supplements & Herbs

• Alphabetical listings by name• Related topics

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Videos & Cool Tools

• Videos: Anatomy, Interactive, Surgery• Calculators & Quizzes• Medical Terminology• Evaluating Health Information• Senior Information

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Videos & Cool Tools - Navigation

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Guide to Healthy Web Surfing

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Guide to Healthy Web Surfing(continued)

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MedlinePlus.gov – Content Selection

Website selection:

FAQs

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How to Find NIH Senior Health

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NIH SeniorHealth

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Senior Health – Health Topics Page

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MedlinePlus.gov Demo: Diabetes

Search by Health TopicsDisorders & Conditions

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Diabetes Health Topics

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Diabetes Health Topics Page

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Search by Health Topics

Alphabetical Listing

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Email Updates

Sign up for email updates

Scroll to bottom of page

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Search Drugs, Herbs & Supplements

Browse Drugs Herbs & Supplementsby alphabetical list

Related Topics

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Drug Topics

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Videos & Cool Tools

Interactive Tutorials

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Videos & Cool Tools(continued)

Anatomy Videos

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Search Box

• General description

• Links to Topics

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Search Box – by Type & Keyword

Refine by Type

Refine by Keyword

Medical Encyclopedia

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MedlinePlus.gov - Benefits

• Each search from search box covers content of whole Website

• Guide to healthy web surfing• Specific criteria for how content is selected

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Take a Break!

• Water• Stretch• Restrooms

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Hands-On Exercise

• Hands-on Exercise• Refer to handout completed earlier• Try searching the illness you identified by topic, then

using the search box.• Repeat for mental health illness and

drug/herb/supplement.• Please share.

– What did you find? – Which was the easiest/most helpful way to search?– What did you learn?

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Wrap-UpAdd MedlinePlus.gov to your Website

Thank you for attending this workshop and participating in your health!