J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Apr 1;110(2):212-221. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2022.1413.
Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users.
Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs: adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children's programs and circulation statistics of the kits.
This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information-seeking practices.
公共图书馆是获取免费、可信健康信息的社区中心。因此，它们为当地社区提供了一个教授健康和健康素养的理想场所，尤其是在 COVID-19 等公共卫生危机期间。自 2018 年以来，学术医学图书馆和公共图书馆之间建立了一个外展合作伙伴关系，开发、提供并持续评估针对公共图书馆用户的健康教育计划。
健康教育活动被整合到三个现有的公共图书馆项目中：成人研讨会、儿童和家庭编程以及流通家庭活动包。在 COVID-19 之前，活动在公共图书馆举行，随后在大流行期间转向在线。一个跨专业团队的方法结合了学术医学和公共图书馆员、医学院教师和工作人员以及医学生的专业知识，用于开发教育项目。提供了 12 个现场和 5 个虚拟项目，并推出了 5 个流通健康教育家庭工具包。通过对成人和儿童项目的计划评估调查以及工具包的流通统计数据来评估活动。
本案例报告展示了在 COVID-19 之前和期间实施学术医学图书馆和公共图书馆之间的长期外展合作伙伴关系所吸取的经验教训。跨专业团队的方法以及在现场和虚拟环境中灵活的计划设计和交付对合作伙伴关系的成功至关重要。这种伙伴关系可以作为其他有兴趣在教育当地社区健康行为和健康信息搜索实践方面进行跨专业合作的图书馆的典范。
