Senior CHAT: Consumer Health Awareness Training Based on
NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus
Ladonna Guillot, Mary Lou Strong, Jean CaswellSoutheastern Louisiana University
South Central Chapter/Medical Library Association Annual Meeting October 19, 2010
Senior CHAT: Consumer Health Awareness Training
Project is funded by a 2010-2011 NN/LM SCR Express
Consumer Health Outreach Award
Senior CHAT Program Objectives• Improve health information literacy
• Promote better health outcomes
• Create portable health profiles
• Create a senior citizen consumer health information LibGuide
• Teach basic computer and Internet skills
• Promote use of NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus
Community Assessment
• 86% of Louisiana parishes are designated health professional shortage areas
• Louisiana is ranked 49th in the nation in health status
• 11% of the Tangipahoa Parish population are 65 years or older
• 20% of Tangipahoa Parish senior citizens have incomes below the federal poverty level
• Hurricane Katrina demonstrated need for portable health records
Medically Underserved Areas
Target Population
• Persons 60 or older residing in Tangipahoa Parish
• 1800 clients served by the Tangipahoa Voluntary Council on Aging (TVCOA)
• TVCOA staff from the 5 parish senior centers
Hammond Senior Center
Hammond Senior Center
Hammond Senior Center Computer Lab
Summer 2010 - Basic Computer Class
• Pilot program
• Basic computer skills
• Basic Internet searching
• Evaluation of Internet sources
What We Learned• Geaux slow
• Basic computer skills are essential to success
• Mouse exercises
• Things you think are obvious are not
• Handouts and hands-on are important
What We Loved
• Extremely appreciative students
• Highly motivated students
• Seniors helped and encouraged each other
• Waiting list of 75
TVCOA Staff Training ClassSeptember 29, 2010
• NIHSeniorHealth Trainer’s Toolkit
• Instruction on NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus
• Evaluating health websites
• Staff serve as a long-term resource for their clients
Senior CHAT Class• Consumer health information
training using NIHSeniorHealth Trainer’s Toolkit
• 6 week session to be offered twice
• Class of 25 filled immediately
• Will administer pre-test, post-test, and 3rd test to assess impact
Preliminary Staff Training Results (Pre/Post Test Surveys)
• Staff report more confidence in finding reliable health information on the Internet post-training
• Only one had used MedlinePlus or NIHSeniorHealth prior to class
• 5/6 report they plan to use databases frequently in the future
Senior Citizen Consumer Health LibGuide
• Compilation of authoritative consumer health information online sites geared to senior citizens
• Accessible 24/7
• Visit the LibGuide at: http://selu.libguides.com/seniorchat
Senior Citizen Consumer Health LibGuide
Contact Information• Ladonna Guillot Health Sciences Librarian
• Mary Lou Strong Reference/Instruction Librarian
[email protected]• Jean Caswell
Systems [email protected]