NAHSL: News

Powerful Outcomes for Health Literacy Through Community Partnerships by NAHSL Annual Meeting Scholarship Winner Rebecca Fisher

I attended the NAHSL annual meeting on Friday November 8, 2019.  I had a great time at the conference. One presentation I found particularly interesting was the Full Steam Ahead Panel Discussion: All Aboard Community Partnerships.  It was great because I learned about the work public libraries in Springfield, Massachusetts and Avon, Connecticut are doing through a partnership with the National Library of Medicine to improve health literacy for the public and for public librarians, as well as how Albany Medical College has partnered with their community. 

Ellen Sulzycki from Springfield City Library told us about the work around health literacy that has been supported by the National Library of Medicine grant. At the Springfield City Library, in a neighborhood described as a “food desert,” they have created community gardens and a seed lending library to get the public involved in nutrition.  Their program is called Health in the Square.  There has been training for librarians as well as nutrition and gardening workshops for the public. Youth nutrition workshops have also been implemented.  Springfield City Library has a program called Tasty Tuesdays, where the children make afterschool snacks with the produce from the community garden. Some of the snacks were guacamole, smoothies and mango salsa.  Adult nutrition classes are held as well, such as the monthly cookbook club and gardening workshops.  The produce from the community gardens, such as strawberries and kale, is given to the patrons. The kale from the community gardens comes with a handout explaining what kale is and how to cook it. The Springfield City Library has events like a garden potluck. Springfield City Library also provides health resources training, teaching patrons how to identify credible sources and compare information from WebMD to information from MedlinePlus.                

 Additionally, Tina Panik from Avon Free Public Library talked about how her library has partnered with NLM to hold a series of mental health trainings for the public called Take Care of Yourself.  The series aimed to raise awareness of mental health topics, ranging from positive body image to grief and suicide prevention training. The most popular training was on mindfulness. Avon Free Public Library partnered with Avon Senior Center’s Jennifer Bennett for some of its programs because many of the town’s residents are over 50.  

Furthermore, Kara Burke and Elizabeth Irish presented about how Albany Medical College worked with local public libraries to host workshops on finding health information and communicating with your doctor.  Albany Medical College was able to offer incentives to public libraries; they were provided 25 iPads for health-related research along with professional development opportunities. They did a lot of traveling to train public librarians and held workshops in five locations. As a result of the workshops, public librarians expressed a much greater comfort level assisting patrons in preparing for doctor’s appointments, a gain that was sustained one year later.

Overall, I was impressed by the outcomes that were achieved. I learned how much can be accomplished towards health literacy goals as a result of these partnerships.

Rebecca Fisher
MLIS Candidate, 2021, Simmons University
Library Assistant, Lamar Soutter Library, University of Massachusetts Medical School