13th EAHIL Conference - New roles of health librarians

Publishing Literature Searches on the Internet - what is the most user-friendly interface?

hanne.rustlie — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:19:13 +0000

Authors:

Rustlie, Hanne Elise, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Norway

Abstract:

Introduction

The Library Service at Innlandet Hospital Trust has since 2009 conducted literature searches for evidence-based clinical procedures, pathways and care plans. All of the searches are published on the Internet. Innlandet Hospital Trust follows the principle of transparency and publishing literature searches is one of our contributions. The structure of the literature search is based on Brian Haynes’ 6S Knowledge Pyramid. The search for pre-appraised evidence is essential because this literature have gone through a filtering process to include high quality studies that are regularly updated (1). Innlandet Hospital Trust has developed a search engine called the Knowledge Egg (2) based on Brian Haynes’ Knowledge Pyramid. The Library Service’s goal is to make the result page for the literature searches as user friendly as possible, and to look like the Knowledge Egg. We have learned from oral feedback that the employees associate the egg with the pyramid. There have been major challenges in relation to the hospital’s firewalls regarding publishing literature searches. The conclusion in 2009 was to use Google Sites to publish the searches outside the firewalls. Once made, the pages worked well behind the firewalls. Early 2012, the Library Service plans to create a new look for the results pages because it is now possible to move the literature searches behind the firewalls. The new web platform is SharePoint.

Question

What is the most user-friendly interface for literature searches conducted for evidence-based clinical procedures, pathways and care plans? We used the SPICE model to structure the question formulation (3).

Methods

The method to find out what the empoyees wanted was an anonymous user survey (4). Both quantitative and qualitative research method was used in this survey. They were asked to compare two result pages (5, 6) and to express specifically what they wanted in the new result page. The user survey was sent by e-mail to 34 employees. 19 of the employees answered, which represent 55.88 %. Based on the results from this survey the Library Service created a new result page appearance. In addition to the survey a systematic literature search was performed. 25 databases were searched (7).

Results

The literature search gave no interesting findings. From the survey it turned out that the employees liked the egg shaped result page best. Some suggested minor changes. We followed up 5 out of 7 suggestions for changes. Based on these results we designed a new result page to use in SharePoint.

Discussion

The new result page was first made as a single web part in SharePoint with pictures of an egg formed in a table for best possible stability. When working in SharePoint we work inside the hospital’s portal using a VPN client for Mac computers. The VPN client is highly unstable and sometimes we used hours trying to access. When we first entered the hospital’s portal, our supplier of SharePoint also is very unstable. We got kicked out every 5-20 minute, which made us quite stressed while working. This was not a good solution. The framework will still be in the hospital’s web platform SharePoint but the actual literature searches needed another format. The solution was a presentation made in Keynote, Apple’s answer to PowerPoint. When converting the Keynote presentation into PDF all of the links followed correctly and we didn’t need any expensive software (8). In SharePoint we uploaded the PDF files, a process that went smoothly. The clickable PDF files works well in Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox. This solution turned out to be time-saving. The Keynote main template of the result page could be worked on offline. To prepare for a literature search we only needed to copy the main template. When working with a search, we could easily work on the Internet outside the hospital’s firewalls. Approximately, we save 1 hour or more per literature search. It was also important to consider that documenting literature searches should be easy to learn for other librarians. Keynote is much less complicated to learn than SharePoint. At the new start page in SharePoint for the literature searches, we present the searches by subject and alphabetically. We expect to use this interface in 2-3 years.

Keywords:

Literature, Searches, Publishing, Internet, Interface

References:

DiCenso A, Bayley L, Haynes RB. Accessing pre-appraised evidence: fine-tuning the 5S model into a 6S model. Evidence-Based Nursing. 2009 ; 12 (4).
The Knowledge Egg (Norwegian): www.kunnskapsegget.no
Gerrish K, Lacey A, editors. The research process in nursing. 6th Ed. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell; 2010.
The user survey (Norwegian): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dC1EUEE4SlZRSTI4M25ka19rTmpvZnc6MQ
Result page 1 (Norwegian): https://sites.google.com/site/fagressursportalen/litteratursoek/dialyse-fg/resultat/dialyse---kateterlaas
Result page 2 (Norwegian): https://sites.google.com/site/fagressurs/Helsehndboka/litteratursoek/kirurgi/appendektomi---postoperativ-sykepleie
Search history: http://literaturesearch.fastweb.no/search-history_152.html
The new result page (Norwegian): http://www.sykehuset-innlandet.no/SiteCollectionDocuments/Litteratursøk/Artritt.pdf

Session:

Session B. Servicing our users

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

International variation in the evaluation of consumer health information. A phenomenological study.

chiara.cipolatmis — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:19:29 +0000

Authors:

Janet Papadakos MEd, Manager, Oncology Patient & Survivorship Education Program (*Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada)

Chiara Cipolat Mis, Librarian, Patient Education Program (°Centro di Riferimento Oncologico IRCCS. Aviano (PN), Italy)

Michelle Snow MIST, Librarian, Patient Education Program*

Mauro Mazzocut, Librarian, Web specialist°

Ivana Truccolo, Manager, Scientific and Patient Library, Patient Education Coordinator°

David Wiljer PhD, Director, Knowledge Management & Innovation*

Audrey Jusko Friedman, Director, Patient Education & Survivorship*

Aileen Trang, Research Analyst, Patient Education Program*

Grace Eagan, Medical Interpreter*

Alaina Cyr, Coordinator, Patient Education Program*

Abstract:

Introduction

Cancer related information grows at an exponential rate. However, it varies in validity and quality. Thus, the assessment and selection of appropriate resources can be difficult and overwhelming for patients and their caregivers. Libraries in cancer centres offer access to crucial health resources to those who seek informational support. This includes segments of the population who may be underserved or encounter barriers when seeking information. Librarians have criteria for assessing the suitability of consumer health information; the quality of resource, language level, author credibility and currency. However, these criteria may vary across centres. The Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Toronto, Canada and the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO) in Aviano, Italy both have formal protocols that librarians use to inform collection development. The purpose of this study was to: (1) examine the formal guidelines and collection development policies used for resource selection, and (2) describe the resource review and selection experience of librarians at both cancer centre libraries. Differences found across sites were also described.

Methods

This study was conducted using transcendental phenomenology where the focus was on the description of the librarians’ experiences rather than those of the researchers’ interpretations. Bracketing was also used to reserve the researcher’s experience and views from influencing those collected from the participants. Before the study began, the researchers wrote a report documenting their own experience and impressions of the resource review and selection process, and attempted to answer their own research question, as a way of applying bracketing.

Participant recruitment provided a total of four participants; two librarians from the Patient and Family Library at PMH and two from the Patient Library at CRO. A package of four resources was sent to each librarian consisting of two online treatment information resources and two paper-based supportive care resources. The package was available in English for librarians at PMH and in Italian for those at CRO. Participants were asked to independently evaluate each resource and document their assessment. Following the independent review, a 60-minute, semi-structured telephone interview was conducted and recorded with each participant, in their preferred language (i.e., English, Italian). This was followed by a 15 to 30 minute questionnaire about their library collection and approach to its development. Formal documentation of the library collection guidelines and/or development policies were also collected and analyzed. Methods and criteria used to vet and select resources were also compared to those outlined in the formal document. Interview recordings were transcribed in their respective languages. The Italian transcriptions underwent English translation by a certified medical interpreter for analysis. Data analysis and interpretation was conducted by two researchers. Method of analysis followed the general phenomenological analysis approach which consists of identifying significant statements that depict the phenomenon in the transcript (horizonalization), which will be grouped into themes (clusters of meaning). The clusters will guide the written descriptions of the reported resource vetting and selection experience (textural description) and the context that influenced how the librarians experienced the phenomenon (structural description). Textural and structural descriptions verified between the two researchers were used to formulate the compiled description. A summary of the researchers’ own experience during the investigation and the context that may have influenced their experience were also reported in the discussion section. Calculations showed inter-rater reliability was established which can assist in solidifying findings because saturation was not reached. In addition, all results were presented back to the participants for validation.

Results

Preliminary results indicate that both centres use similar formal criteria in evaluation. Two of which had the most consideration included credibility and timeliness of the resources. When vetting resources, librarians placed importance on the accuracy of resource content and a clearly stated source of information, such as the organization and/or the name of the author(s). They also express confidence in resources that were clearly dated which reflects how current the information is.

However, informal criteria varied significantly between centres. The variation was based on the types of images presented, the presentation of the concept of cancer and discussion of death and dying. These informal criteria were influential in the librarians’ determination of whether a resource was suitable for inclusion in the library collection.

Discussion

As explained by Jasper (1994), the generalizability in a phenomenological study is to generate theories and provide descriptive data so that they may be used to further prospective investigation of the phenomenon. Findings from this study present preliminary insight into (1) the review and selection of resources for health centre libraries, and (2) how vetting guidelines and collection development policies are implemented in that process. The results indicated credibility and timeliness as being key criteria and often the initial starting point for assessment.

The study also found that context was a major informal criteria that determined a resource’s inclusion in the library collection. Based on these results, cancer related health information (including use of language and images), vetted by librarians must be of high validity and quality while being supportive and assistive to the cancer patients and their families. A good way for empowering the patient education, is to share with cancer patients’ and their family attending the libraries, the key criteria for assessing health information. This is important for three reasons: a) to help patients in their own research of reliable information; b) to avoid the upset due to a bad managing of uncertainty; c) assist patient with navigating their way through the health care system to properly access to procedures and consultation.

Without careful consideration for the context patients are in, selection of resources may include materials that may cause unwanted effects such as discomfort, uneasiness and anxiety. It is suggested that selection of consumer health information for health centre libraries should include careful consideration and sensitivity to how content is presented and how it could be perceived by patients and family members.

Keywords:

Library collection development; neoplasms; hospital libraries; consumer health information; patient education

References:

Biermann, J.S., Golladay, G.J., Greenfield, M.L., & Baker, L.H. (1999). Evaluation of cancer information on the Internet, Cancer 86(3), 381-390.
Briceno, A.C., Gospodarowicz, M., Jadad, A.R. (2008). Fighting cancer with the internet and social networking. Lancet Oncol 9, 1037-1038.
Borman, C.B., & McKenzie, P.J. (2005). Trying to help without getting in their faces: Public library staff descriptions of providing consumer health ifnormation. Reference and User Services Quarterly 45, 133-146.
Dervin, B. (2005). Libraries reaching out with health information to vulnerable populations: Guidance from research on information seeking and use. Journal of the Medical Library Association 93(4), 74-80.
Kwon, N., & Kim, K. (2009). Who goes to a library for cancer information in the e-health era? A secondary data analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Library & Information Science Research 31, 192-200.
Parker, R., & Kreps, G.L. (2005). Library outreach: Overcoming health literacy challenges. Journal of the Medical Library Association 93(4), 81-85.
Truccolo, I., Seroppi, P., Ricci, R., Michilin, N., Bianchet, K., Steffan, A., et al. (2006). Linee guida al processo di valutazione di qualità di documenti che trattano temi inerenti alla salute e dedicati alla comunità non scientifica. E-LIS 1-17. [Internet] http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00007685/ Last verified 29 November, 2011

Session:

Session C. Outreach

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Participation of medical librarians in a national project: „Establishment of the universal, open, hosting and communication, repository platform for network resources of knowledge to be used by science, education and open knowledge society.”

malgorzata.fleituch — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:10:24 +0000

Authors:

Anna Uryga, Jagiellonian University Medical Library, Krakow, Poland, e-mail: anna.uryga@bm.cm-uj.krakow.pl

Jolanta Cieśla, Jagiellonian University Medical Library, Krakow, Poland

Lucjan Stalmach, Jagiellonian University Medical College Computer Centre, Krakow, Poland

Małgorzata Sieradzka-Fleituch, Jagiellonian University Medical Library, Krakow, Poland

Elżbieta Ryś, Jagiellonian University Medical Library, Institute of Public Health, Krakow, Poland

Abstract:

Introduction

In 2011 the Jagiellonian University Medical Library staff entered a strategic multidisciplinary scientific project (SYNAT) financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland. This project has been developed in the years 2010-2013 by 16 Polish universities and Polish Academy of Sciences institutes and its aim is to integrate already existing, dispersed resources, both content and infrastructural, develop a technological support system for a better knowledge transfer (mainly from Polish resources) to the scientific community (virtual scientific environment), and create a universal, unified, and friendly access to the information services.

Librarians, and among them medical librarians are engaged in development of a knowledge base (PASSIM) of contemporary science and technology. The integrated PASSIM system will enable acquisition of information from disseminated and heterogeneous databases to support scientists, researchers, lecturers, reviewers, students of all levels and scientific publishers in their work.

Objectives

The purpose of our presentation is to discuss participation of the Jagiellonian University medical librarians in implementation of the SYNAT/PASSIM project.

The Jagiellonian University Medical Library is the only SYNAT partner dealing with medicine, so our tasks have been related to medical science (research-analytical team of about 25 specialists in scientific medical information with various educational background and different skills and abilities. The tasks were divided according to the participants’ skills and preferences.

Our main role has been to register the Polish and foreign resources of biomedical and health-related information and to analyze the structure and content of the digital resources of the Polish archives in order to determine if they can be included into the PASSIM system and shared with researchers as basic source data both in the harvesting model and the main database of the developed system.

Methods

We have focused on the search, identification, expansion, and analysis of the existing resources, analysis of the availability of dictionaries, thesauri, ontologies, web pages, and databases. Our analyses will also include estimation of the resources sizes, determination of the access types (all Web, OAI-PMH, internal format), description of the metadata formats and applications of the copyright law to open access.

Results

The expected results of this project include:

Development of an integrated system which will enable acquisition of information from disseminated and heterogeneous databases,
Creation of a multifunction repository of raw data dedicated to safe, long-term storage and distribution of digital initial objects,
Universal, open, hosting and communication, repository platform, which enables the exploitation of individual application software and sharing of information and services available from the servers of hosting organisation/s

Our team analysed carefully the selected collections, extracted metadata, and developed guidelines to support work in the following fields:

Analysis of the present state of cataloguing and the access to digitalised doctoral and habilitation dissertations in medicine prepared in Poland and abroad. The database of full-text doctoral theses was supplemented with 786 new records (MeSH) and migrated from the alfresco platform to dLibra.
Analysis of the cataloguing systems and the access to full-text bibliographic, bibliometric, and factual databases in biomedicine, in Poland and abroad. The database of the publications of researchers of the Jagiellonian University Medical College was supplemented with 4855 new records and contains 50402 records now. Over 3000 records were linked with the full texts with the use of 360 Link tool.
Analysis and classification of the Polish and foreign reference resources and cataloguing of medical e-books. The most important achievement in this field is full adaptation of 25 NLM classification tables and their use in arrangement of printed books on the shelves and in structuring a collection of 5548 bibliographic records on virtual shelves. Cataloguing has been performed according to the NLM classification, Cutter-Sanborn tables and MeSH.
Analysis of the state of cataloguing of biomedical special collections and XIX prints collection in catalogue systems and digital platforms in Poland and abroad. 983 bibliographic records of XIX books and 298 bibliographic records of 1901-1945 printed materials were catalogued A strategy of digitalization and conservation works of the old books was planned.
Analysis and structuring of Polish reference resources and nomenclature systems in connection with the UMLS ontology and other international semantic networks of health-related sciences.
Continuation of efforts to standardize the Polish version of Medical Subject Headings, which has been developed in two variants: of university libraries (MeSH-Pl) and the Main Medical Library (Tez-MeSH).
Continuation of the development of Multilingual Thesaurus of Public Health.
Analysis of Internet resources in medicine and related sciences. We searched web pages of all Polish universities and colleges offering training in medical occupations, medical libraries with their catalogues and other bibliographic lists, medical journals and popular medical magazines, publishing houses (including small, found via Internet bookshops or other web pages), medical or health-related scientific institutions, organizations, governmental agencies, nongovernmental and not-for-profit organizations, health or social insurance agencies, medical or health-related learned associations and professional corporations, web pages containing Polish laws and regulations related to health. We also searched numerous popular medical services and portals: services for patients, web pages for particular conditions or diseases, portals of medical manufacturers or health services providers, and many other commercial web pages. Furthermore, we catalogued some foreign resources: of commonly known international organizations as UE or WHO of which Poland is a member. We assessed web pages according to reputable organizations certificates, e.g. HONCode http://www.hon.ch/home1_pl.html or Internet tools measuring popularity of certain web pages, e.g. www.alexa.com . The main criterion of a resource quality was its expected usefulness for the future users. The popular websites were evaluated according to guidelines included in „Europe 2002: Quality Criteria for Health Related Websites”. The commercial or popular web pages addressed to all Internet surfers were selected according to e-health criteria: transparency, authority, data protection, information updating, accountability, and accessibility but we neglected the assessment of websites formats, graphic solutions or “user-friendly features”. The web pages of professional institutions were grabbed unquestioningly. We assumed that the authority of these organizations was sufficient recommendation.
Structuring and cataloguing of the Internet resources: Polish and foreign portals, services, and information systems in all medical specialties. 1762 records were created in RefWorks, with links to web pages, portals, services, textbooks, papers, databases, films, social networking services (blogs, forums, discussion groups). These resources were catalogued according to the general standards (Dublin Core metadata standard) and standards applied in health sciences (MeSH).

Discussion

Participation in the SYNAT project is very advantageous for the Jagiellonian University Medical Library, particularly for the development and improvement of the tools of formal and subject cataloguing:

Polish version of MeSH
Adaptation of the NLM classification tables
Ontological analysis of the UMLS system

We will acquire new skills:

Various methods of the information retrieval
Assessment of the quality of Internet resources
Standardization of the description of the retrieved resources
Collaboration with other, non-medical librarians in development of virtual scientific environment

The magnitude of our library databases will significantly expand (catalogue, digital library, born-digital resources). SYNAT is an advanced IT project; for the libraries it is a step into the future of scientific information.

According to a survey performed by the National Library of Poland (within the SYNAT project) on various user groups, the vast majority of respondents agreed that the scientific information was the best in medicine and health-related sciences, mainly owing to the complex and universal character of the Medline database. Development of the SYNAT/PASSIM platform will expand the possibilities of the medical information retrieval.

Keywords:

Digital resources, Open repositories, Metadata, Information quality, Medical librarians

References:

SYNAT. System Nauki i Techniki. [Internet] Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju, Warszawa, Polska. [updated 2012 March 23; cited 2012 May 7]. Available from: http://www.synat.pl/
Suominen O, Hyvönen E, Viljanen K, Hukka E. HealthFinland—A national semantic publishing network and portal for health information. Web Semantics: Science, Services and Agents on the World Wide Web. 2009;7:287–297.

Session:

Session A. Professional Development

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

The use of Web 2.0 tools in the Health Sciences Libraries in Spain: building Libraries without frontiers.

JMCamara — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:17:31 +0000

Authors:

Grupo de Ciencias de la Salud, SEDIC, Madrid, Spain

De-La-Camara De-Las-Heras, Juan-Maria, Hospital Universitario de La RIbera, Valencia, Spain

Gomez-Sanchez, Alicia-Fatima, CNIC Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

Primo-Peña, Elena, Biblioteca Nacional de Ciencias de la Salud. Instituo de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

Garcia-Martin, M-Asuncion, Hospital Universitario de Cruces, Bilbao, Spain

Abstract:

Introduction

In the last few decades the specialized libraries have developed new services and now focus more on expanding, collaborating and disseminating information, in addition to the traditional management of specialized information and classic library services (such as cataloguing, interlibrary loan, bibliographic searches, etc.).

In short, the main objective of today’s Health Sciences libraries is to facilitate the access to medical information, especially to researchers, clinicians and in general health workers. In the last few years 2.0 tools became very useful to achieve this, because they allow libraries to offer new ways and more information services, using the Internet for collaborative and interactive applications.

Objectives

We started looking for the kind of tools that are being used in our field and the amount of biomedical libraries that are using it. In a first approach we found that this information was not collected anywhere. Giving this, we considered as our main objective the development of a National Catalogue of Web 2.0 Resources in Health Sciences libraries in Spain, in order to fill this gap. We expect this catalogue to allow us to monitor the level of Web 2.0 tools used in medical libraries in our country.

Secondary objectives are to determine whether these resources are authored by the institution itself, which means the library, or by an individual librarian, and also to check if there is official support to the use of these tools and if the institution provides policies and guidelines for it.

Methodology

We performed a descriptive study, as it reports on the findings of an online survey. The steps we took were as follows:

Firstly we decided the kind of institutions to be analysed, and to start we based this investigation on all kind of Hospital Libraries (public or private hospital libraries, hospital consortium libraries and university hospital libraries) and also on the major Spanish Regional Virtual Health Libraries found in the Serials Union Catalogue of Spanish Health Sciences Libraries (C17). We excluded medical Libraries from Universities or Public Research Entities (OPIs).

Secondly we made an on line questionnaire to collect information about the Web 2.0 tools used by the selected libraries and sent this questionnaire by e-mail to the persons in charge of these libraries (addresses were obtained from the C17 Serials Union Catalogue of Spanish Health Sciences Libraries mentioned above). Moreover we disseminated the questionnaire among specialized internet forums in the field as Bib-Med.

The questionnaire consisted of 17 questions between multiple choice questions, open questions and closed questions and was launched through the online survey site Encuesta facil (http://www.encuestafacil.com/). Despite the fact that we gave the librarians the possibility to indicate their usage of other tools as for example Netvibes, Slideshare, Youtube or Delicious amongst others, we decided to focus our analyse only on the three most common Web 2.0 tools in our context: blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

Results

A total of 180 libraries were initially selected for the survey, and we received the contribution of 59, which indicates a slightly higher percentage than 30%.

The results show that the use of 2.0 tools by the Spanish hospital libraries and regional virtual libraries taken part of our study is still low and reaches between 28% and 35% depending on the tool. Twitter is the most popular, being used by the 35% of the libraries; Facebook is used by the 28% of the libraries and a total of have almost 34% blogs.

The distribution of the analysed tools regarding the time of its implementation shows that the oldest tool being used is the blog (about the 40% of the blogs are older than two years). The use Facebook is more recently and increased at most in the last year (about a 35% of the profiles are younger than one year). As regards Twitter, which is the tool most used in our context, the accounts were between 1 and 2 years old. Finally, we found that in the last year the use of other tools 2.0 has increased, around 45% of this were younger than one year.

Regarding the authorship of the studied 2.0 tools, results show that the library (meaning the institution) is mostly the author talking about Facebook and the other new tools, whereas blogs and Twitter accounts are managed by the librarian individually.

With regard to the official support of the institution, the survey shows almost the 55% receives this support, but at the same time, 62% of the institutions don’t provide the library with official of the respondents use the web 2.0 tools with, only 17% of the institutions have official guidelines for using them. We found also quite interesting that about 20% of the librarians that were responding to the survey, couldn’t answer either of the questions.

Finally, comparing the type of library, we found that this kind of tools are more recent in the regional virtual libraries –all of them has being used since less than two years–, than in hospital libraries. The reason could be that in general the virtual libraries are much younger and less well established. We received information from 8 regional virtual libraries and the 2.0 tools used are only 2 blog, 2 Facebook profile and 3 Twitter account. However it is remarkable that in all of them the authorship is attributed to the library as an institution and in more than 80% counts on the official support of the institution.

Conclusions

Web 2.0 tools have begun to be used regularly in Spanish health sciences libraries, albeit normally with a very limited institutional support. The study showed that although participants pointed out that ‘time’ and ‘staff adaptation’ are the major obstacles using web 2.0, new technologies could facilitate information and knowledge sharing when the staffs becomes familiar with it. The institutional official support is quite outstanding but only a few institutions have developed guidelines for the use of these tools, it would be important to do it in order to strengthen this support.

The results show also that there is not a big difference between the usage of the three main studied tools: blogs, Facebook and Twitter, however their implementation has been gradual over time, beginning with blogs and being latest the creation of Facebook profiles.

We should also remark two important limitations on our study: First, due to the small sample size we consider not to have an enough good set of data that allows us extrapolate the results to the Spanish hospital libraries as a whole. Second, it is not really possible to make generalisations about the patterns of Web 2.0 because we worked on a random sampling instead on a convenience sampling. A more large scale study would be needed to reach stronger conclusions. Nevertheless, we can conclude that establishing web 2.0 within an organization requires lots of input, such as human resources technologies, time for its implementation and user training.

In the future, we would like to extend this study to other health libraries from universities or other kinds of research centres in order to obtain a map of 2.0 tool usage in the Spanish health libraries and we will disseminate the results in the library community.

Keywords:

Spain, Libraries Hospital, Libraries Digital, Blogging, Social Media.

References:

Boulos, M. N. K., Maramba, I. & Wheeler, S. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Medical Education 2006, 6, 41.
Murray, P. Web 2.0 and social technologies: What might they offer for the future of health informatics? 2008: Accessible at: http://hcro.enigma.co.nz/website/index.cfm?fuseaction=articledisplay&FeatureID=010608 (accessed 01 April 2012).
Hardey, M. Public health and web 2.0. The journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health 2008, 128, 181-189.
McLean, R., Richards, B. H. & Wardman, J. I. The effect of Web 2.0 on the future of medical practice and education: Darwikinian evolution or folksonomic revolution? Medical Journal of Australia 2007, 187, 174 - 177.

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Poster

Health Literacy and Health Education: a new partnership funded by the European Commission

maurella.dellaseta — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:01:18 +0000

Authors:

Cammarano Rosaria Rosanna, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Della Seta Maurella, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Falcone Maria Alessandra, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Ferrari Paola, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Leone Luisa, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Pizzarelli Scilla, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

Abstract:

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to present the preliminary results of the “Health Literacy and Health Education” partnership, funded by the European Commission within the Grundtvig Learning Partnership-Lifelong Learning Program.

The Grundtvig Learning Partnership Program is a framework for small-scale cooperation activities among organizations that work in the field of adult education in the broadest sense.

Health literacy was defined in Health People 2010 report of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as: "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions". Health literacy and health education empower patients and citizens to participate to the full in their health care and to communicate on eye level with their health professionals, possibly overcoming health inequalities caused by social determinants of health.

Recent initiatives of the European Parliament foster the importance of advancing health literacy in all member states. In this context, librarians and information specialists are in a position to play a key role in retrieving, validating and disseminating health information for the general public.

The “Health Literacy and Health Education” partnership, which will last from 2011 to 2013, fosters health literacy as an important part of adult and continuous education.

The four partnership organizations involved in this project are:

Frauengesundheitszentrum – Women’s Health Centre – Graz, Austria www.fgz.co.at

Komiteen for Sundhedsoplysning – Danish Committee for Health Education – Copenhagen, Denmark www.sundkom.dk

Careum – Zurich, Switzerland www.careum.ch

Istituto Superiore di Sanità – National Institute of Health – Rome, Italy www.iss.it .

Objectives

This learning partnership aims at offering an opportunity to get to know and work together with staff of European adult education organizations, NGO and public institutions, in order to build up alliances for advocating health literacy at a national and a European level. Furthermore, this learning partnership aims at raising intercultural skills among participants, as well as at enhancing knowledge and expertise on health literacy as a central issue in lifelong learning. It gathers experts, practitioners, researchers, advocacy groups and allows getting to know how colleagues from across Europe approach health literacy. Participants are able to discuss challenges and issues to advance health literacy at a national level with colleagues, and may compare approaches and find solutions.

More specifically, the learning partnership objectives are:

getting in touch with European adult education organizations, NGOs and public institutions experienced in health literacy;
discussing different approaches, strategies and policies advancing health literacy across European countries;
sharing skills, experiences and ideas;
exchanging and discussing various national target group-specific training programs for improving health literacy;
strengthening long-term partnerships and networks among European adult education organizations to build a critical mass of stakeholders promoting health literacy among European citizens.

Methods

The partnership core consists of four face to face meetings, planned, organized and hosted by the four partnering organizations in their respective European countries (Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy) in Autumn 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012 and Spring 2013.

The meetings bring together staff members of the involved organizations, working on health literacy and health education. The methodology adopted in the meetings is to use the resources of all participants by distributing work packages such as giving presentations, organizing communications, taking over methodological parts and sharing skills and experiences.

The partners have therefore the possibility to learn from each other and benefit from the collaboration with organizations coming from the public and private sector, research and training sector; as a consequence, they may be able to transfer models of good practice to their home country and to incorporate new strategies and policies into their ongoing activities.

Results

Two meetings were held in November 2011, Graz and April 2012, Copenhagen.

The first meeting, whose topic was “Health literacy and health education”, was aimed at getting to know each other, by the presentation of each organization activities in these fields. The health literacy status in the partnering countries was deeply discussed, together with the role that each organization plays to foster health literacy and health education in its country. Examples of public health campaigns and interventions addressed to citizens were examined by the participants, together with possible evaluation methods of such initiatives.

The second meeting focused on “Training programs for patients and general public”. Each country presented the initiatives developed, e.g. training programs for young people on the subject of substance abuse and alcohol drinking; a women health training program; a training program on orphan drugs targeted to patients’ associations and families of patients with rare diseases. Different training methods used by participants of different countries were compared and analyzed.

The third and fourth meeting, to be organized in Zurich and Rome, will respectively focus on “Health information and guidelines available on the Internet”, and on “ Strategies and models of good practice for advancing health literacy”.

Discussion

The expected impact of the partnership at the end of the project in 2013 is primarily to get new impulses for all areas of participants work, and strengthen their role as organizations advocating health literacy. Furthermore, the possibility of comparing and refining training activities addressed to consumers and patients may contribute to improve program outcomes, as well as personal skills in building capacities for user-oriented programs in the health care and social sector.

At meetings, partnership members have already had the opportunity of learning from different approaches, strategies and models of good practice and of raising their intercultural skills. At the end of the project they might be able to build up alliances for advocating health literacy at a national and a European level.

Keywords:

Health Literacy, Health Education, European Union, International Cooperation

References:

Bostock S, Steptoe A. Association between low functional health literacy and mortality in older adults: longitudinal cohort study. BMJ. 2012 Mar 15;344:e1602. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e1602. PubMed PMID: 22422872.
Edwards M, Wood F, Davies M, Edwards A. The development of health literacy in patients with a long-term health condition: the health literacy pathway model. BMC Public Health. 2012 Feb 14;12(1):130. PubMed PMID: 22332990.
Sorensen K, Van den Brouche S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, et al. Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health. 2012 Jan 25;12:80. PubMed PMID: 22276600.
Pomerantz KL, Muhammad AA, Downey S, Kind T. Connecting for health literacy: health information partners. Health Promot Pract. 2010 Jan;11(1):79-88. PubMed PMID: 18544664.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Poster

Information without barriers: Librarians as Support to Health related Information published in Social Media

Francesca.gualtieri — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:16:42 +0000

Authors:

Gualtieri, Francesca, Rottapharm Spa, Italy

Gatti, Serenella, Bracco Imaging Spa, Italy

Fantini L., Eli Lilly Spa, Italy

Coccia P., Ipsen, Italy

Miranda GF., GIDIF-RBM, Italy

GIDIF Pharmaceutical Industry Working Group (Italy)

Abstract:

According to an healthcare survey conducted by Bupa Health Pulse and supported by a report of the London School of Economics, 12.262 people from different countries get health information surfing the web. At least 6 out of 10 interviewees declared to use Internet to get answers about health questions. In pole position among questions that were asked, the survey found those about drugs (68% of interviewees are Italians) or auto-medication and diagnosis while 39% of people usually asks advice or opinion about health to other patients online (blogs)(1).FDA provided direction on the use of digital communications in the pharma space(2). The European Union on the other hand prohibits direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs and, therefore, European pharma companies have not been investing so much in digital communication on social media, contrary to the US.In Italy the law defines as advertising every information that may promote the prescription, sale or use of drugs(3). Moreover, the Italian Health Department and the association of pharma companies(4) have recently sent out guidelines on information regarding over-the-counter drugs and Internet. In Europe a debate is running on a new directive regarding the information on prescription drugs to avoid that direct-to-consumer advertising increases the pharmaceutical expenditure (5). New media present a culture clash, whose peculiar nature is a two-way interaction and content that it is easily portable and sharable (6), aim to meet people’s need of health information. Nowadays Facebook and Twitter, the largest social media web sites, have more than 350 million users worldwide; there are about 168 millions blogs and the number of videos watched per day on YouTube are 2 billions (7). A growing number of pharma-companies is testing the waters of social media such as YouTube videos, Twitter, Facebook and blog pages, even if - due to the added communication restriction imposed by the authorities and internal legal and regulatory department (8) (9) - Social Media use in the pharmaceutical industry can be significantly more complex than in other industries (10).It is well-known that many web applications allow users to customize, personalize and even do mashpus of information as they share it within their online communities(6). These lead to a more complicated situation for pharma companies because, in addition to authority’s rules, a new Facebook policy will require all them to leave wall messages or comments enabled on their Facebook pages. Moreover Google, with its “Sidewiki” application, can layer a social network of commentary onto any existing static Web site, with or without the site owner’s consent (7).Therefore, this leaves pharma-companies open to public criticism and also complicates federal rules requiring companies to report all stated drug side effects to authorities, a rule set in 1993, long before the social media advent (11). Such situations create the risk of taking the original information out of context or even changing meaning entirely (6) and, in addition, of losing control over the content of the message. Legal and regulatory uncertainties are important concerns when it comes to pharmaceutical participation in social networking (3) and it will be necessary to draw a line dividing a pharma company own media (company web side or company chat area) from other online resources about a disease or drugs(7). Social media is about people connecting with people, it’s about sharing information and making connects, it’s about building a network of people who share resources around common topics of interest. The general audience is looking at pharmaceutical companies to be a resource of scientific information (10): thus, some pharma companies have health related social media applications to connect people with the same disease experience (3). It’s important for companies to develop their own guidelines for online content monitoring and communication based on standards for other promotional channels, including what constitutes a reportable adverse event. Having a formal plan on how to monitor, seek out, and respond to the conversations of online consumers can help manage risk and give employees the proper frame (3).

The Gruppo Italiano Documentalisti Industria Farmaceutica e Istituti di Ricerca Biomedica (Gidif.Rbm) - an Italian non-profit association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Biomedical Research field, funded in 1983 in Milan - has organized a working group to explore communication through social media, to compare the different applications of these new tools in different fields and to discuss how health librarians can contribute to this new task. For this reason our acronym can be read as Good Information Dissemination without Frontiers. The difficulty to translate information without running afoul of legal and marketing restriction rules and the very nature of pharmaceutical communications that is highly controlled and vetted, needs quality peer review. We think that librarians should be asked to participate in this process and give support not only - as usual - in evaluating the information choice (quality, updating, authoritativeness etc.) but also to be creative with entrepreneurial spirit. Health librarians are used to work in an information field with strict rules providing results and references to scientists. In the future they need to transform the same quality and authoritative scientific information in a much more concise, friendly, and appealing-to-spread (to lay people) information and news. In particular Librarians should collaborate and cooperate with the Communication Departments supporting them to issue clear scientific and referenced health related contents for consumers. Another topic is to exploit the librarian capability and competences to create ontologies in order to classify information on diseases and therapies to allow consumers a rapid and easy comprehension of health-information and a friendly use of social media.Librarians can help also to promote the usefulness and convenience of web 2.0 among the pharma company staff informing them on the power of the new tools (12).

Keywords:

Pharma Industry, Communication, Social media

References:

Mcdaid D, Park A-la. Online Health: Untangling the Web. 2011. Available from: www.bupa.com/healthpulse
FDA. Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About. 2011;(December 2011):1–15.
Manhattan Research LLC. Pharma & Social Media: Practical Social Media Strategies for the Pharmaceutical Industry. 2009.
Farmindustria PER LA CERTIFICAZIONE DELLE PROCEDURE RELATIVE ALLE ATTIVITA’ DI INFORMAZIONE SCIENTIFICA Edizione 2009. 2009; 1–33. http://www.farmindustria.it/pubblico/lginfsci.pdf?menu2expand=elSeven
Ministero della Salute. MINSAN circolare No. 6436 2010.pdf. 2010;1–15.
Webb S. Drug marketing and the new media. Nature biotechnology. 2010;28(5):396–8. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20458296
Greene J a, Kesselheim AS. Pharmaceutical marketing and the new social media. The New England journal of medicine. 2010;363(22):2087–9. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21105789
Parlamento Europeo. Direttiva CE 2001/83 [Internet]. 2001;:1–127. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/files/eudralex/vol-1/dir_2001_83_cons/dir2001_83_cons_20081230_it.pdf
Presidente della Repubblica Italiana. Attuazione della direttiva 2001 / 83 / CE (e successive direttive di modifica) relativa ad un codice comunitario concernente i medicinali per uso umano , nonché della direttiva 2003 / 94 / CE 2006; 1–133. Available from: http://www.aimn.it/lex/DLgs_219_2006_medicinali.pdf
Nicholson S. 10 Best Practices Pharma Should Follow When Engaging In Social Media. 2010;16–9. Available from: http://www.socmedsean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Ten-Best-Practices-Pharma-Should-Follow.pdf
Marketsentinel. New Facebook Rules: A Challenge and an Opportunity for Pharma [Internet]. White Paper. 2011;44(0):1–9. Available from: http://www.marketsentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/Pharma_On_Facebook_White_Paper.pdf
Chu SKW, Woo M, King RB, Choi S, Cheng M, Koo P. Examining the application of Web 2.0 in medical-related organizations. Health Information & Libraries Journal. 2011; 29:47–60. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2011.00970.x

Session:

Session E. New technologies

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Librarians as trainers in a network of collaboration to promote health information diffusion. The NECOBELAC train-the-trainer model and the use of topic maps.

paola.decastro — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:03:13 +0000

Authors:

De Castro, Paola, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Marsili, Daniela, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Poltronieri, Elisabetta, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Napolitani, Federica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Rodriguez, Teresa, University of Guadalajara, Mexico

Salinetti, Sandra, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to point out at the training responsibilities of librarians and information specialists with special reference to the NECOBELAC experience in a wide geographical area, including Europe and Latin America. NECOBELAC is a project funded by the European Commission in the years 2009-2012 (www.necobelac.eu) and supporting cooperation activities among institutions operating in the field of public health and ITC. The project partners are represented by institutions seated both in European and Latin American countries, thus conveying different skills and experiences in information dissemination practices, namely: Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Italy (project coordinator), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Spain, the University of Nottingham (UNOTT), United Kingdom, BIREME/PAHO/WHO, Brasil, the Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP) Colombia, the Universidade do Minho (UMINHO), Portugal.

The Project training program is now in its second year of activity (April 2010-August 2011); the results achieved, together with feedback gained up to now, and in particular, the use of the NECOBELAC topic maps as an innovative support for training, represent the basic ground for the evaluation process of such activity. Up to December 2011, over 30 training initiatives were developed, in particular 7 train-the-trainer courses were organized by the project partners, in chronological order, in the following countries: Brasil, Italy, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Portugal and Mexico, in cooperation with local public health institutions and universities; the train-the-trainer courses were followed by over 25 training replication activities organized at local level http://www.necobelac.eu/en/training.php .

Topic maps were planned as a teaching tool, based on the web semantic technology, linking concepts referring to scientific publication and open access publishing and associating them to graphic schemes, texts, online resources, etc. http://62.204.194.27/necobelac/indexing.jsp Contents are available in the four Project languages: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese on the Project web site. The specific concept of “quality” will be shown as an example of the interrelation among concepts; in fact such concept appears in different places in the topic maps: within the modules of “Quality of journals”, “Peer review and Quality indicators”, “Metrics”, etc. Topic maps are particularly useful to stimulate discussion during the courses and as a reference tool to introduce selected online resources.

The feedback received by the attendants of NECOBELAC courses through online surveys, telephone interviews and personal contacts will be analyzed and discussed under different perspectives, with special reference to the use of topic maps and to courses carried out in Italy and Mexico. (Were topic maps used only by project partners in their role of teachers in training-for-trainer activities or were they used also in replication activities at local level, and how? Were the topic maps useful for the learning process? ).

The NECOBELAC network currently includes over 200 institutions seated in 15 European and Latin American countries http://www.necobelac.eu/en/contacts.php

This study may help reflecting on the NECOBELAC training approach and use of the topic maps as a valid support for training.

Keywords:

Training, Scientific writing, Open access publishing, International cooperation

References:

De Castro P, Poltronieri E, Marsili D. NECOBELAC, a European project to promote the diffusion of scientific information in public health. European Science Editing 2009, 35 (3), 81-82 2.
De Castro P, Marsili D, Poltronieri E, Agudelo Calderón C. Dissemination of public health information: key tools utilized by the NECOBELAC network in Europe and Latin America. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2012.00977.x

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Poster

Implementing the critical friend method among teaching librarians in an academic setting – a case study.

Yvonne.Hultman_Ozek — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:26:49 +0000

Authors:

Hultman Ozek, Yvonne , Lund University, Sweden

Edgren, Gudrun, Lund University, Sweden

Jander, Katarina, Lund University, Sweden

Abstract:

Objective

The role of the academic librarian has rapidly become increasingly educative in nature. In this study, the critical friend method was introduced among teaching librarians in an academic setting of medicine and health sciences to ascertain whether this approach could be implemented to improve the teaching skills of these librarians as part of their professional development.

Methods

An extensive literature search was conducted on relevant topics. Seven teaching librarians and one educator from the faculty of medicine participated, and they all provided and received feedback. These eight teachers worked in pairs, and each of them gave at least one lecture or seminar during the study period. The performance of one teacher and the associated classroom activities were observed by the critical friend (the other member of the pair) and then evaluated and discussed. The outcome and effects of critical friendship were assessed by use of a questionnaire.

Results

The present results suggest that use of the critical friend method among teaching academic librarians can have a positive impact by achieving the following: strengthening shared values concerning teaching issues; promoting self-reflection, which can improve teaching; facilitating communication with colleagues; reducing the sense of “loneliness” in teaching. This conclusion is also supported by the findings of previous studies.

Conclusion

The critical friend method described in this study can easily be implemented and developed among teaching librarians, without the being influenced by the constraints and conflicting interests of the organization. This will benefit the individual teaching librarian, as well as the organization at large, as long as the goals and visions of the library organization are clear and are approved by management.

Keywords:

academic librarians, teaching skills, critical friendship, professional development, teaching and learning,

Session:

Session A. Professional Development

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Evolution of the health liaison librarian: from information literacy trainer to academic skills teacher

p.a.spoor — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:02:05 +0000

Authors:

Clowes, Mark, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Spoor, Pat, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Abstract:

Introduction

In recent years the teaching element of the academic health librarian’s role has become increasingly formalized; no longer perceived as extra-curricular trainers but as valued members of the academic team, some librarians have sought professional accreditation for this aspect of their role, and nearly all have benefited from the wider recognition of the “seven pillars” of information literacy(1).

However, as new systems for information discovery and retrieval are emerging, it is an appropriate time to review the progress we have made and consider the next steps in the development of our teaching role. Will the emphasis we have hitherto placed on information retrieval and management continue to be appropriate, or is it time to broaden our focus and promote IL as part of a suite of transferrable skills which students need to develop in order to succeed both at university and in their future careers?

Objectives

In recent years UK higher education has seen an increasing emphasis on the skills agenda, driven by several different factors.

Firstly, an era of increased participation in higher education initiated by the New Labour government (1997-2010) has led to an increasingly competitive graduate marketplace where a university degree is no longer enough to get a job; employers are looking for students to demonstrate “employability skills” in areas such as teamworking, problem solving and communication(2). This is particularly true for health students as many professional codes now emphasise the need for similar competencies.

Secondly the introduction of student fees (and their subsequent trebling from September 2012) have led to a culture where students are demanding to see the value of the investment they have made in their education; making university educators increasingly explicit about the relevance of their courses to life-long learning and evidence-based practice.

In an ever-expanding information universe, students’ (and future health professionals’) ability to think critically and evaluate sources is more crucial than ever; librarians can enhance their teaching of these principles of information literacy by linking them more closely with related areas such as effective notemaking technique (to avoid plagiarism), mind-mapping (to help plan and structure essays) and academic writing style.

Methods

Wingate argues that “learning how to study effectively cannot be separated from subject content and the process of learning”(4). To teach IL effectively many librarians have established strong liaison links with their schools; however when students wanted to learn about essay writing they have usually been referred back to their lecturers (or to generic support staff).

This division between information literacy and other academic skills is a somewhat artificial one, created by librarians as a way of ring-fencing territory and demarcating student support responsibilities rather than being designed from a student’s perspective.

At the University of Leeds, the convergence in 2008 of the Library and Skills Centre presented a unique opportunity to break down these boundaries and offer a more joined-up service. The Skills Centre already offered a series of generic workshops and a drop-in enquiry service which students accessed either independently or via referral from their department. While these services have always been favourably evaluated by those students who have accessed them, they could only scratch the surface of an alarmingly high proportion of students who admit finding the academic demands of University more difficult than they expected.

Merging the academic skills unit with the Library and involving the Faculty Teams, gave us the opportunity to deliver learner development which is holistic, integrating information literacy and other academic skills; contextual as it is situated within and informed by the curriculum; and universal: a chance for anyone who is motivated to get better marks in their assignments or increase their employability – rather than a remedial service for those who fail.

This radical evolution of the liaison librarian role would not have been possible without the development of LibTeach, an in-house staff development package designed to equip liaison librarians with the skills and confidence to support a broad range of academic skills. Through a programme of blended learning comprising practical workshops and e-learning activities, LibTeach has nurtured a community of practice of library teachers who are ready to diversify their teaching to meet the broader learning development needs of the student community. This presentation will discuss the experiences of participants in, and organisers of, the programme and its impact on our teaching practice.

Results and discussion

Following the LibTeach programme, all liaison librarians are now offering a range of academic skills teaching. Expanding the role of the subject librarian in this way at a time of cutbacks raised many questions about workload but through working smarter we have been able to achieve much more with only a modest increase in effort.

An online tutorial has replaced many face-to-face induction lectures; meanwhile librarians have been able to re-use generic materials developed by Skills Team while adding value by giving them context based on their knowledge of the curriculum in the departments where they teach.

Another objective of LibTeach was to help librarians develop confidence in their own teaching practice, and the programme was designed to prepare them for accreditation by the Higher Education Academy; most participants have now achieved Associate Membership and some are already working towards Fellowship. This has given a boost to staff morale at a challenging time in the sector, and helps to demonstrate to our academic colleagues our commitment to learning and teaching.

Keywords:

Librarians, Professional role, Universities, Professional competence

Legend Figure:

Word cloud representing Skills@Library activities

References:

SCONUL (2011) The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy: new ‘core’ model. [Internet]. [cited 2012 April 30]. Available from: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pillars.html
Sheldon, M. (2009). Future Fit: preparing graduates for the world of work. London: CBI / Universities UK.
Wingate, U. (2006). Doing away with study skills. Teaching in Higher Education. 11(4):457-469

Session:

Session A. Professional Development

Ref:

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Oral presentation

Systematic review of studies describing the process of development and validation of instruments designed to assess the quality and suitability of patient education materials produced in printed form.

ewa.dobrogowska-schlebusch — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:38:49 +0000

Authors:

Dobrogowska-Schlebusch, Ewa

Abstract:

Introduction

The following study is continuation of the research that was presented during the EAHIL conference in Lisbon, where it was shown how medical librarian could support the process of patient education by helping physicians in the quality assessment of patient education materials (PEMs) produced in printed form. In her oral presentation the author introduced the results of suitability and readability assessment of written health education materials being used for education of patients in the Division of Pain Research and Treatment of the University Hospital in Cracow (Poland). The quality assessment of the health education materials was performed by using the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) instrument. This tool was invented by Cecily and Leonard Doak [1] in order to help health care professionals and the authors of PEMs to choose/ produce the most suitable health education materials for their patients, in terms of their relevance for low literacy patients. SAM is only one of the few instruments which are commonly used by people involved in patient education to perform the quality assessment of PEMs. Medical librarians, especially these working in hospital libraries and health education centers should be aware of these tools and should be able to apply them in practice in order to support the process of evaluation of PEMs.

Aims

The first aim of the study was to identify all published instruments, which were designed to help people involved in patient education to evaluate or select the most appropriated PEMs, produced in printed form (leaflets, pamphlets), for their patient population. The second aim of the study was to assess the methodological quality of the studies, where the instruments designed to perform the quality (suitability) of PEMs were described.

Methods

Systematic review of the studies published in English from 1995 to 2011 and available through library databases, which purpose was to develop the instrument/ checklist to assess the quality/ suitability of PEMs in printed form. Studies describing the validity and reliability of produced instruments, as well as the process of their development and describing the pilot studies of the produced instruments were included in the review. Studies do not describing how the instrument was develop or not measuring its psychometric properties and the studies describing other types of instruments (for e.g to assess the quality of web information or decision aids) were excluded from the review.

Quality assessment of included studies

According to the author best knowledge, there is no special method to perform a critical appraisal of the methodology of the studies describing the development of the instrument to be used to assess the quality of PEMs in printed form. Therefore the alternative method was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. It was checked if the authors of the studies aiming at the development of such instruments took into account all the necessary stages in the development and validation of criterion-referenced measures. It was performed by comparing the phases of the studies included in the review to the stages in the development and validation of criterion-referenced measures as it was proposed by Waltz by Waltz in the book: Measurement in Nursing and Health Research (2010) [2], especially taking into account the process of validation, reliability testing and pretesting of the developed instrument.

Results

Nine studies describing the instruments designed to assess the quality of PEMs produced in printed form, met the inclusion criteria and were qualified for further analysis. All of the included studies have a good methodological quality and take into account all the necessary stages in the development and validation of criterion-referenced measures. For one of the tools, SAM, which is introduced in the book “Teaching Patients with low literacy skills” the lack of some procedures necessary in the development of criterion-referenced measures (like how the measure was constructed and field-tested) was noted. Nevertheless the tool was included into the systematic review, as SAM belongs to one of the most widely used tools of its type [3] for assessment of the health education materials produced in printed form. Only four of the identified instruments: SAM, DISCERN, EQIP and TEMPtEd seem to be finished and are ready to be used by the potential users, the other tools seem to be still in the process of development (SAM + CAM, ELF), were never finished (BIDS) or are not considered to be produced for the broader use (Checklist, EVALPEM). The identified instruments were classified according to their purpose (for e.g instruments developed to assess the health literacy demand of PEMs, instruments assessing general quality of PEMs or their presentation quality), population they suppose to serve (authors or producers of health information materials, healthcare providers, representatives of patient population, librarians etc.) or their type (checklists and rating forms) (table 1).
It is expected, that this research might help medical librarians to choose the most relevant instruments for assessing the quality of materials that are produced or supplied in the hospitals and public health centers they are working in or cooperating with. Medical Librarians of XXI century must redefine their traditional role and expand their activities also to these areas of health care practice, where their support was so far limited and unknown, but might be necessary needed.

Keywords:

health education, patient education materials, patient information quality, health literacy, printed education materials, PEMs, quality assessment

References:

Doak CC, Doak L, Root JH. Teaching Patients with Low Litteracy Skills. 2 nd ed. Philadelphia: J.B.Lippincott Company; 1996.
Waltz, C. F., Strickland, O. L., & Lenz, E. R. (2010). Measurement in nursing and healthresearch (4th ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company
Laura H. Clayton. TEMPtEd: Development and psychometric properties of a tool to evaluate materials used in patient education. Morgantown, WV: School of Nursing, West Virginia University; 2007.

Category:

New roles of health librarians

Type of presentation:

Poster