Health Information Literacy Pilot Project

April-June 2008Complete report:

J Med Libr Assoc. 2009 October; 97(4) 293–301

Purpose of the project• Gather data on “administrators’ and

hospital-based health care providers’ perceived value of consumer health information resources and of librarians’ roles in promoting health information literacy in their institutions.” (J Med Libr Assoc. 2009 October; 97(4): 293–301 )

• 9 sites selected in the United States and Canada to participate

• Institutions chosen DO NOT currently offer consumer health information services

How we implemented the project• 3 training sessions at the Billings Clinic,

one booth at the annual Employee Health and Safety Fair at Billings Clinic

• Made contact with approximately 150 health care providers

• Distributed literature from both the National Library of Medicine and handouts and flyers developed by the Billings Clinic Library

• We also developed our own version of the InfoRx pad and included those in our packets as well

Readability Example

Examples of our handouts

Original InformationRx form and our modified version

Outcomes

As a whole• Positive, measureable outcomes in raising

awareness about the role librarians can play in patient education

At the Billings Clinic Medical Library• Increased awareness of the Library’s resources and

services as consumer health information providers• Increased awareness of the costs to both patients

and healthcare institutions of health information literacy-and the measureable positive impact consumer health education has financially and in individuals’ personal lives

How has this inspired us?