Cool Information Tools for Public Health

Cool Information Tools for Public Health Workers Michelle Brasure & Martha Hardy Health Sciences Libraries University of Minnesota – Twin Cities October 2, 2008

Part 1: Tools for Consumer Health: MedlinePlus and My Health Minnesota Go Local Michelle Brasure Health Sciences Libraries, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities College of Saint Catherine, MLIS program

Health Information and Public Health

HP 2010: Health Communication

Goal: Use communication strategically to improve health

Essential Public Health Services

3. Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.

Health Information Seeking

Consumers seeking health information rose from 38.2% in 2001 to 55.8% in 2007.

The largest increase was among those seeking health information on the Internet (doubling from 16% to 32%)

Center for Studying Health System Change,

August 2008

Health Information and the Internet

Most Internet users start at a search engine to find online health information

Very few check the source or critically evaluate the information they

Not all health information on the Internet is good information

Searchers become overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, or frightened

Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2006

Health Literacy

“ The degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions.”

Institute of Medicine, 2008 available at

http://www.iom.edu/?id=31489

Evaluating what you find

Source

Quality

Be cyberskeptical

Evidence

Currency

Bias

Privacy

Consult with your health provider

http://www.hon.ch/

Save time and avoid frustration

Use pre-evaluated resources produced by authoritative sources

MedlinePlus

National Library of Medicine

Evaluated and carefully selected links to health information

Health topics, drug and supplement information, medical dictionary and encyclopedia, health news, and much more

MedlinePlus Demonstration http://medlineplus.gov/

My Health Minnesota->Go Local

NLM sought to expand MedlinePlus to connect health information to local health services, programs, and providers

MedlinePlus and Go Local complement each other

Partnership with libraries, library consortia, and other organizations

Currently there are 35 Go Local projects

Goal is nationwide coverage

Types of services

Hospitals and clinics

Nursing homes

Public health departments

Health screening programs

Pharmacies

Alternative and complementary health

Support groups

Advocacy services

Clinical trials

Libraries

Group homes

Health care equipment

And more

My Health Minnesota -> Go Local Demonstration http://medlineplus.gov/minnesota

Minnesota Health Information

Governor’s Health cabinet created to help all Minnesotans better understand health care options, costs, and quality.

http://www.minnesotahealthinfo.org/index.html

Contact information

My Health Minnesota

http://medlineplus.gov/minnesota

[email_address]

Outreach Opportunities

Michelle Brasure

[email_address]

Part 1: Bibliography

Pew Internet and American Life Project. 2005. Health Information Online. http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Healthtopics_May05.pdf

Center for Studying Health System Change. 2008. Striking Jump in Consumers seeking health information. http://hschange.org/CONTENT/1006/

Healthy People 2010. http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume1/11HealthCom.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Public Health Performance Standards. The Essential Public Health Services. http://www.cdc.gov/od/ocphp/nphpsp/EssentialPHServices.htm

Part 2: What is Web 2.0? An Introduction to the Participatory Web Martha Hardy Health Sciences Libraries University of Minnesota – Twin Cities October 2, 2008

What is Web 2.0?

“ Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of the World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably collaboration among users.”

Web 2.0 Wikipedia

Other Terms

Web as Platform

Read/Write Web

Social Media

New Media

Participatory Web

Tim O’Reilly: Web 2.0 Meme Map

Pros and Cons of Web 2.0 Tools

Pros

Easy to Use

Cheap (relatively)

Accessible from anywhere

Perpetual Beta

Sharing

Collaboration

Cons

Privacy

Cost

Technical Requirements

Training

Intellectual Property

Credibility & Accuracy

Examples of Web 2.0 in the Health Sciences

Web 2.0 in the Health Sciences

“How Web 2.0 is Changing Medicine”

Dean Giustini (medical librarian)

Editorial published in BMJ in December of 2006.

Highlights how Web 2.0 applications such as podcasts, RSS, blogs and social bookmarking can benefit health care professionals in their practices.

“ rather than intrinsic benefits of the platform itself, it's the spirit of open sharing and collaboration that is paramount.”

Examples of Web 2.0 Applications

Wikis

Blogs

RSS feeds

Podcasts

Social networking

Social bookmarking

Photo sharing

Videos

Personalized pages

Communication

Collaborative document creation

Part 2: Bibliography

BBC News. “Berners-Lee on the read/write web.” 9 Aug. 2005. Retrieved 30 Sept. 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4132752.stm

Giles, Jim. “Internet Encyclopedias Go Head to Head.” Nature . 15 Dec. 2005. 438: 900-901.

Giustini, Dean. “How Web 2.0 is Changing Medicine.” BMJ. 23 Dec. 2006. 333: 1283-1284. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1283

O’Relly, Tim. “What is Web 2.0 : Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software” http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Part 2: Bibliography, cont.

Rothman, David. “Web 2.0: Plenary Session.” Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois. May 2008. http://www.slideshare.net/davidlrothman/mla-plenary-session-iv-rothman20080513-static and http://www.visualwebcaster.com/stratosphere/48592/event.html