Health Corners in public libraries:
spots of social marketing for public health
Anamarija Rožić , Nada Tržan-Herman , Tomaž Pevec , Tatjana Kodela
1
1
2
3
3
Central Medical Library, University of Ljubljana; 2 Ministry of Health Consultant; 3 Ljubljana City Library, Public Library Oton Zupančič
[email protected]
OBJECTIVES
• Trustworthy consumer health information should be available to citizens to support decision-making about their health and
for improving health literacy which is the foundation for better health and wellbeing solutions in society.
• Public libraries can play an important role in health literacy promotion by offering quality health information to their users.
• The poster presents a training programme for public librarians organised by Central Medical Library (CML) of the
University of Ljubljana in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health of Ljubljana and Ljubljana City Library, the Public
Library “Oton Župančič”.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH –
a brief overview of a project
HEALTH LITERACY ENABLES BEHAVIOR CHANGES
Health literacy has been defined by WHO as the cognitive and social skills which determine the
motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways
which promote and maintain good health.
• In Slovenia we started a project “Public libraries for public health” in 2008
and “Health Corners” have been established in two public libraries since
2010 (1). “Health Corner” is not only the physical place
but rather a concept of health literacy promotion
Health Corner in public library
encompassing broad spectrum of activities.
„Oton Župančič“
• An increased demand for consumer health
information has been noticed in public libraries
therefore the CML has organized training
sessions in providing access to quality
health information.
HEALTH CORNER –
“one site-one sound” effect
• Health Corner integrates a wide spectrum of
activities using social marketing aproaches
which influence public behaviours for the
greater social good.
• Professionals from regional institutes of
public health have recognized Health Corner
as an important channel for social marketing
– a healthy life style promoter.
• The European Parliament endorsed the eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020,
underlining the importance of health literacy for effective implementation of
eHealth (2).
TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR LIBRARIANS
1. Training on basic subjects
PUBLIC LIBRARY
INFORMATION NEEDS
• Informants in public libraries are often
faced with questions of users concerning
health. Knowing the appropriate resources
and providing access to quality health
information can significantly contribute to
the promotion of health literacy and health
promotion and empowerment of individuals
and society.
• Informants need the knowledge and skills
which can be useful in fulfilling users needs
for quality health information.
• Diverse information needs of informants
encouraged CML to integrate health
promotion activities of regional institutes of
public health into training program for public
libraries.
• Low health literacy has been linked to poor health outcomes such as higher
rates of hospitalization and less frequent use of preventive services. Both of
these outcomes are associated with higher healthcare costs.
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The role of librarian in the promotion of health literacy
The consumer health reference interview
The quality of health information on the internet
Consumer health resources
Self help and patient support groups
Patient‘s Rights Act
2. Learning about health and drug information resources
MOST POPULAR ACTIVITIES
OF THE HEALTH CORNER
• Health professionals‘ lectures for consumers:
prevention and treatment of common diseases,
healthy lifestyle and diet, patients‘ rights…
• Self-help groups brochures
• First aid training for library users
• Preventive measures (eg. blood pressure
measurement)
• Collection and presentation of health related books
• Web collection of links to consumer health websites
• Periodic individual consultation by health
professionals
• Presentation and promotion of the Health Corner
activities at the exhibition Nature and Health in
Ljubljana
• International: Medline Plus, consumer health resources,
FDA, NHS, EMA ...
• Slovene: Biomedicina Slovenica, CML Catalogue,
Register of medicinal products in Slovenia...
3. Learning about the role of the Institute of Public
Health of Ljubljana (IPHL)
• Protection and promotion of health
• National preventive programmes
• Prevention of infectious diseases
Brochure on
Patient’s Rights Act
CONCLUSIONS
• Health Corner is a successful concept of delivering consumer health information to public library users.
• Public librarians have taken training with great satisfaction. They especially appreciated the wide range of information obtained that
would find useful in their daily work.
• CML has successfully partnered with the regional public health institutes in the training programme and social marketing efforts.
• Social marketing principles and techniques have been used to benefit public health literacy in general and the target audience of
public libraries in particular.
REFERENCES
1. Rožić A, Tržan-Herman N, Jakac-Bizjak V. Working together for public health: cooperation of health and public libraries in Slovenia. In: Active learning and research partners in health:
workshop programme & book of abstracts of the EAHIL; 2011 Jul 5-8; Istanbul. Istanbul: EAHIL, 2011; 109-10.
2. eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020: Innovative healthcare for the 21st century. Accessible at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52012DC0736
14th EAHIL conference: Divided we fall, united we inform. Building alliances for a new European cooperation, Rome, Italy, 11-13 June 2014