Outreach to Public Libraries, Senior Centers, and Clinics to Improve Patient and Consumer Health Care: An Update

The medical library of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego developed a community outreach project to provide computer training on how to access electronic health information using the NLM and related databases. The goal is to enable local senior residents to improve their health and health care by accessing authoritative information. The original project plan was described in "Senior Health Goes Electronic: Partnership on Access to Health Senior Health Information Services" JCHI 9(2) 2005. This paper is a companion update of that publication covering the project implementation, progress, and its recent expansion. The library consumer health outreach project evolved into a broad environment for teaching health information access to a diverse population at multiple local San Diego community settings. Insights about the library outreach efforts, attendee participation, and the senior health Web page are discussed. Conclusions include the evaluation approach and population diversity of over 3,500 participants (community patients and residents), and over 425 hands-on class attendees from varying ethnic backgrounds, minority groups, low income to middle class adults and seniors. Health professionals (nurses, allied health personnel, and physicians) have also been class attendees. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.