1. LILAC March 2013
Creative pedagogies and health information
literacy: the Storying Sheffield Knowing as
Healing Project
Vicky Grant (presenting) and Rene Meijer
University of Sheffield
Liz Brewster
University of Leicester
An Arts Enterprise funded
project

3. Alexandria proclamation
“Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It
empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate,
use and create information effectively to achieve their
personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is
a basic human right in a digital world and promotes
social inclusion of all nations”
http://www.ifla.org/publications/beacons-of-the-information-society-the-alexandria-proclamation-on-informati

4. Internet informed patients:
cyberchondriacs or active
partners?

5. Cyberchondria
“refers to the unfounded escalation of
concerns about common symptomology
based on review of search results and
literature online”
Wikipedia

7. Information obesity. An abundance of information coupled with a
loss of quality, WHITWORTH, A. 2008. I rm a tio n o be s ity ,
nfo
Oxford, Chandos.

14. “ Every month, month after month,
we get more hits for
than any other condition”
Dr Tim Kenny, founder of
patient.co.uk

15. “ Every month, month after month,
we get more hits for
IBS
than any other condition”
Dr Tim Kenny, founder of
patient.co.uk

16. Health information prescriptions?
• Should we have a PIL for every ill?
(patient information leaflet)
• Or be doing more to make people HIL?
(health information literate)

19. Confused?

20. Study days

21. Health Information Literacy
Events
10,00 Welcome 13.15 Rotating sessions
10.15 Ice breaker 1. Post it note exercises Where do you
10.30 Talk by Dr Tim Kenny of look for health information/ How do
patient.co.uk you decide if the information is
reliable?
11.00 Short films
2. Search exercise. Including demo the of
11.15 Coffee and discussion of films patient.co.uk IBS app.
11.45 Discuss information brought by 3. Storytelling. Create short stories
participants telling your IBS story
12.30 Lunch 14.45 Tea
15.00 Story sharing
15.45 Evaluation and close

26. “I spent a lot of time searching on the
internet ... but you can be terrified ... like
what if it gets worse ... Some of the GPs
can be resentful and will say ‘oh I don’t
know about that’ ...” [participant infers that
GPs don’t agree with internet informed
patients] “But I think that internet informed
patients are a good thing because it [IBS]
is an illness with so many different
symptoms ... Learning from other people
is good ... so its just filtering out the right
things”

27. Feedback
“Now I have more an energy and a motivation to win with IBS”
”I feel a lot more confident talking about my IBS after today, and don't
feel quite so despondent about it, so thank you! ”
“patients do want to know more and sometimes do know more than the
doctor.”
“the medical aspects/jargon are hard to relate to when you’re not a
medical student.”
The best thing “hearing other people’s stories” “don’t feel so isolated”
The worst thing “initially getting over my embarrassment of talking
about my symptoms in front of other people”

29. Next steps
• To enhance • To collaborate with
inclusion by a local artist and
working out in the to plan an
city exhibition

30. Video
Health information obesity: the new epidemic?

31. Make information poverty history
Questions?

32. Acknowledgements
With grateful thanks to
The project supervisors: Prof Brendan Stone and Dr Bernard Corfe
The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts & Humanities for Arts Enterprise funding
The University of Sheffield Library
patient.co.uk and the IBS Network
The Medical Students and IBS Participants who have given their time and their stories to
the project. Thank you