Health literacy and COVID‐19

In early 2020, the world experienced an unprecedented health crisis. When the pandemic of coronavirus was declared by the World Health Organization, it brought with it sudden and dramatic changes to everyday life. In the UK, the key message from the Government was to ‘Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’, sending out a clear warning that failing to stay at home would put other lives and the ability of the NHS to cope at risk. This editorial discusses COVID‐19, how society responded and the vital role that health literacy plays in saving lives during a global health emergency.     

Those Pesky Online Statistics

No abstract available for this article.     

Practices of Locating Health Information in an Electronic Environment: Reflections on Conducted Health Information Skills Training

ABSTRACT

Health information skills in an electronic environment are essential to health science librarians, who serve as educators both within and outside of their health training institutions. This reflective study was conducted to examine the application of online health information skills obtained from the training provided for librarians who are working in health settings. Health sciences librarians, as future information skills educators, therefore need to possess their own health information skill sets. Capacity building is vital in order to promote the development of health information skills for health sciences librarians who can then teach and advocate the concept of health information skills on the Internet within and outside of their places of work.     

国外消费者健康信息学研究综述

[目的/意义]分析消费者健康信息学从诞生至今20多年的发展状况,并在文献评述基础上提出建议,为国内消费者健康信息学研究提供参考。[方法/过程]对近年来国外有关消费者健康信息学文献进行梳理,主要对来自Web of Science、Science Direct、Scopus、PubMed 4个数据库中相关主题的研究性论文、综述性论文及会议论文进行调研和分析。[结果/结论]虽然有关消费者健康信息学的研究成果硕果累累,但是目前对消费者健康信息学的定义尚未统一。未来对消费者健康信息学定义需要达成共识,同时数字健康鸿沟也是该领域研究的重点。     

Health Insurance Literacy and Roles for Reference Librarian Involvement

The role of librarians in addressing health insurance information needs emerged following a request from President Barack Obama for librarians to assist the public with navigating the Affordable Care Act and the Health Insurance Marketplace. The goal of this article is to highlight a number of concrete ways reference work could be expanded, especially in public library settings, to support health insurance literacy concerns by offering illustrative examples and recommendations for authoritative health insurance information resources. Overall, this article contributes to the existing literature by offering practical recommendations that may be relevant to reference librarians supporting the health insurance information needs of their communities.     

赋权消费者:电子健康研究的现状与趋势——第八届国际电子健康会议(eHealth 2016)综述

[目的/意义]电子健康会议（eHealth）在国际健康信息学领域有着重要的影响,通过对本次会议相关研讨主题的总结,以期为国内健康信息学的研究带来启示。[方法/过程]在葡萄牙丰沙尔举行的eHealth 2016会议,共收录研究长论文（full paper）20篇,此外,还收录了部分短论文、思考论文和海报等。通过综述这些论文的主要研究内容、研究方法和结果,展示欧洲主导的健康信息学研究的现状、新兴领域和发展趋势。[结果/结论]第八届国际电子健康会议作为健康信息学领域重要的学术会议,所涉及的主题涵盖了当前健康信息学理论研究与应用实践的最新成果,能够代表国际上此方面学术研究和技术发展的前沿。随着电子健康（eHealth）和移动健康（mHealth）的发展,"赋权消费者"已成为此领域研究的趋势。     

A health literacy analysis of the consumer-oriented COVID-19 information produced by ten state health departments

Objective:The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the public''s need for quality health information that is understandable. This study aimed to identify (1) the extent to which COVID-19 messaging by state public health departments is understandable, actionable, and clear; (2) whether materials produced by public health departments are easily readable; (3) relationships between material type and understandability, actionability, clarity, and reading grade level; and (4) potential strategies to improve public health messaging around COVID-19.Methods:Based on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics from June 30, 2020, we identified the ten states with the most COVID-19 cases and selected forty-two materials (i.e., webpages, infographics, and videos) related to COVID-19 prevention according to predefined eligibility criteria. We applied three validated health literacy tools (i.e., Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, CDC Clear Communication Index, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) to assess material understandability, actionability, clarity, and readability. We also analyzed correlations between scores on the three health literacy tools and material types.Results:Overall, COVID-19 materials had high understandability and actionability but could be improved in terms of clarity and readability. Material type was significantly correlated with understandability, actionability, and clarity. Infographics and videos received higher scores on all tools.Conclusions:Based on our findings, we recommend public health entities apply a combination of these tools when developing health information materials to improve their understandability, actionability, and clarity. We also recommend using infographics and videos when possible, taking a human-centered approach to information design, and providing multiple modes and platforms for information delivery.     

‘Health literacy for all’: exploring the feasibility of an intervention to reduce health disparities among rural children

ABSTRACT

Roughly one in five U.S. children live in rural areas and they are more likely than nonrural children to experience chronic illnesses, unfulfilled medical needs, and poverty – yet health literacy intervention research for rural children is lacking. Thus, this study explores a health literacy intervention in two rural public elementary schools that have very different socioeconomic levels, educational achievement rates, and initial health literacy scores. Findings show significant improvement in health literacy in the low-income school, such that the initial differences in health literacy between the two schools were no longer present at posttest (p?<?.001). There was a slight improvement in School 1 students' perceived confidence to communicate with healthcare providers, but School 2 students' communication confidence did not change from pre to post intervention. The hopeful outcomes suggest implications for future school-based interventions that teach young children about health communication, self-efficacy, and critical decision-making.     

国内外消费者健康信息学研究进展

[目的/意义] 旨在梳理医学信息学的分支——消费者健康信息学（CHI）领域的研究文献和研究进展,发现该领域的研究弱点与空白点。[方法/过程] 采用文本编码的方式,从CHI的范畴界定、健康信息生命周期中的典型阶段考察文献中的研究问题、变量关系等。[结果/结论] 从研究对象涉及到的技术、消费者、使命、目标、任务、学科属性等角度分别综述其界定,并提炼出一个较有解释力的内涵;依据文章界定的CHI内涵,依次梳理消费者健康信息需求、搜寻、获取、接受、利用和评价的具体表现和影响因素等。     

在线健康信息搜寻研究进展及其启示

健康信息搜寻是日常生活信息搜寻研究中的重要内容,与人们的生活休戚相关。随着互联网的发展,越来越多的人选择通过网络浏览、搜索、征询以获取各类健康信息。通过研读分析国内外在线健康信息搜寻的相关文献,从在线健康信息搜寻的影响因素、内容、平台及相关技术等几个方面展开综述,在梳理现有研究进展的同时分析现有研究的不足,并结合国外相关研究探讨其对于我国在线健康信息搜寻研究工作的启示。     

The Librarian's Role in Linking Patients to Their Personal Health Data and Contextual Information

The objective of this project was to make an institution's patients aware of a new patient portal with contextual links to MedlinePlus. Through partnerships with information technology personnel and LSU Health Shreveport clinics, the Health Sciences Library created and distributed promotional and educational materials and instructed patients on how to use MyChart and access reliable consumer health information via MedlinePlus Connect. Although most patients were not interested in coming to the library for demonstrations, many of them expressed interest in using MyChart. The contextual information in MedlinePlus Connect worked well for most topics. The institutional team leader for MyChart expressed gratitude for librarian involvement.     

Statewide Initiative to Embed Consumer Health Librarians in Public Libraries: A Case Study

In 2004 a collaborative, statewide outreach project in Delaware was undertaken where consumer health librarians were embedded in public libraries. In order to explore the effect of the embedded librarians on the quality of health information provision, unobtrusive reference visits were made to half of the public libraries in the state. The query “Do vaccines cause autism?” was posed to library staff; resources provided were recorded. In 67 percent of visits, public library staff provided authoritative health information resources. It appears the embedded librarians had a positive residual effect on the provision of authoritative health resources for addressing an ambiguous query.     

全民健康信息化保障体系建设

文章通过总结、借鉴国内外已有的健康信息化实践经验,提出以全民健康保障为目的、构建以人本电子健康 档案为核心的全民健康信息化保障体系的总体目标,系统分析我国全民健康信息化保障体系的需求、问题和对策,明确 我国全民健康信息化保障体系的建设思路、关键技术、运行机制、服务模式及保障措施。     

基于MOA理论的健康谣言分享意愿影响因素研究

针对社交媒体中大量健康谣言的广泛传播现象,本文基于动机-机会-能力(motivation-opportunity-ability,MOA)模型对用户的健康谣言分享意愿进行研究,重点分析个体动机、机会和能力相关的因素对其健康谣言分享意愿的影响。基于此,本文选择健康意识、时间成本和健康素养3个变量构建了研究模型,提出了3个研究假设。通过3个步骤选择了8则健康谣言素材,设计网络情境实验收集了252名参与者的2016条数据,利用5个多元线性回归模型进行了假设检验。研究结果表明,相比于饮食类的谣言,参与者对癌症主题的谣言具有较高的分享意愿,男性比女性有更低的健康谣言分享意愿,年长者具有更高的健康谣言分享意愿。同时,健康意识和时间成本能够正向影响健康谣言分享意愿,且健康素养能够负向影响健康谣言分享意愿。本研究为解释人们的健康谣言分享提供了依据,并为干预健康谣言传播提出对策建议。     

冲突性健康信息对用户健康信息搜寻的影响:基于不确定性视角的探究

[目的/意义] 近年来,由于互联网上针对各类健康话题的信息体量激增、信息质量参差不齐等,用户在健康信息搜寻过程中遭遇冲突性健康信息已成为一种常见的体验,然而冲突性健康信息对用户的相关影响却鲜有研究。本文从经典信息搜寻理论出发,梳理信息搜寻与不确定性的关系,并针对冲突性健康信息提出研究问题。[方法/过程] 以实验方法为手段构建实验组与控制组,以单因素方差分析检验冲突性健康信息对用户的知识概念状态、困惑感、健康信念的影响。[结果/结论] 实验结果表明,在健康信息搜寻过程中遭遇冲突性健康信息会使用户针对某一健康话题的知识概念状态变得模糊,困惑感上升,健康信念下降,因此用户所面临的不确定性上升。在实验结果基础上,着重讨论相关理论与实践启示。     

Framing social determinants of health within the professional public health community: research translation and implications for policy change

Despite what experts know about the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH), poor health is generally understood by the public as an individual problem ameliorated through lifestyle and/or healthcare. To remedy this knowledge gap and promote policy change, public health professionals are investing in media advocacy to raise public awareness about SDOH and promote collective responsibility for health improvement. However, policy theory suggests this may be insufficient. More attention to the role of professional communities, as mediators of research translation and important policy actors, is warranted. We conducted a content analysis of news articles published by the American Public Health Association and found substantial attention to SDOH. However, the discourse was more biomedical than expected given the evidence regarding the relative importance of the major categories of health determinants. This may be a barrier to policy change and detract from the field’s efforts to promote political action.     

The COVID‐19 (Coronavirus) pandemic: reflections on the roles of librarians and information professionals

This Regular Feature explores the role of health science librarians in the coronavirus pandemic. COVID‐19 has spread rapidly all over the world. All major cities around the globe are in lockdown. In Pakistan, the first case was diagnosed on 26 February 2020, and currently, there are more than 2039 diagnosed cases and 26 deaths as on 31 March 2020. Across the country, there are further 12 000 suspected cases. This will undoubtedly increase if precautionary measures are not taken. Pakistani universities, colleges and schools were in lockdown. The role of university librarians in this emergency included raising awareness through public health education, providing support to medical staff, researchers and providing ongoing traditional services to regular library patrons in Pakistan. The Regular Feature also provides links to useful resources. JM.     

How Are Medical Librarians Addressing Health Literacy Barriers?

The purpose of this literature review was exploring how medical librarians are addressing health literacy barriers, with an emphasis on enhancing the patient care experience. This literature review contributes up-to-date information related to health literacy barriers, with a specific focus on medical librarianship and enhancing the patient care experience. Medical librarians can positively impact health literacy barriers. By partnering with other healthcare professionals, medical librarians are in a position to ensure health information can be understood, which will ultimately improve health literacy and enhance the patient care experience. Improving health literacy rates may improve health outcomes and decrease healthcare costs.