Information Seeking Behaviors of Local Public Health Practitioners:

A Case Study from a Kentucky Health Department

Robert M Shapiro, MALS; Alex F Howard, MPH ATC; Zachary G Young, MSLS; Richard C Ingram, MEd

Midwest Chapter MLA/ WHSLASeptember 24-28, 2010

What is PHS(S)R

• Public Health Systems and Services Research

• Public Health Services and Systems Research

• Public Health Systems Research

…is a field of study that examines the organization, financing, and delivery of public health services within communities, and the impact of these services on public health.

Policy Makers

PractitionersResearchers

Methods

• Development of survey– Face validity established by both LIS and Public

Health professionals• IRB approval• Kentucky Health Department Directors

meeting

Methods

• Survey sent to Directors with instructions to forward the survey link to all FTEs

• Directors received a thank you/reminder after 2 weeks; the survey link closed after 3 weeks

Results

• 114 responses (n~5,000)

• 50% from one health department

• New “n” of 57, representing 79% of FTEs 31 non-clinical (54%) 26 clinical (46%)

Results - DemographicsAge* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative 18-25 1 (2%) 1 (2%) 4%

26-35 8 (15%) 8 (15%) 30%

36-45 7 (13%) 7 (13%) 26%

46+ 12 (22%) 10 (19%) 40%

*3 missing

Sex* Clinical Non-clinical

Male 0 7 (13%)

Female 26 (48%) 21 (39%)

*3 missing

Results - DemographicsHighest Educational Attainment*

Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

High School 2 (4%) 10 (19%) 22%

Some College 2 (4%) 2 (4%) 7%

Associates Degree 15 (28%) 3 (6%) 33%

Bachelor+ 7 (13%) 13 (24%) 38%

Length at current position*

Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Less than 1 year 3 (6%) 3 (6%) 11%

1 – 3 years 9 (17%) 3 (6%) 22%

3 – 10 Years 8 (15%) 15 (28%) 43%

11+ years 6 (11%) 7 (13%) 24%

*3 missing

Results – How often

How often Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Never 1 (2%) 3 (5%) 7%

Almost Never 3 (5%) 6 (11%) 16%

Monthly 10 (18%) 6 (11%) 29%

Weekly 3 (5%) 9 (16%) 21%

Daily 9 (16%) 6 (11%) 27%

Results - Need to seek informationReason Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Clinical Services 11 (19%) 5 (8%) 28%

Design a new program

3 (5%) 2 (4%) 9%

Formulate Policy or design protocol

2 (4%) 5 (9%) 12%

Fulfill a request by a supervisor

5 (9%) 10 (18%) 26%

No Need 1 (2%) 4 (7%) 9%

Other 4 (7%) 5 (9%) 16%

Results – Frequency of use

Article Databases (eg: PubMed, ERIC, Web of Science)*

Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Never 7 (13%) 9 (16%) 29%

Almost Never 6 (11%) 10 (18%) 29%

Monthly 9 (16%) 8 (14%) 31%

Weekly 1 (2%) 3 (5%) 7%

Daily 2 (4%) 0 4%

*2 missing

Results – Frequency of use

Colleagues* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Never 1 (2%) 1 (2%) 4%

Almost Never 2 (4%) 3 (5%) 9%

Monthly 4 (7%) 4 (7%) 15%

Weekly 5 (9%) 10 (18%) 27%

Daily 14 (25%) 11 (20%) 45%

*2 missing

Results – Frequency of use

Web Search Engines (eg: Google, Yahoo, AltaVista)*

Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Never 4 (7%) 3 (5%) 13%

Almost Never 1 (2%) 5 (9%) 11%

Monthly 1 (2%) 4 (7%) 9%

Weekly 9 (16%) 8 (14%) 30%

Daily 11 (20%) 10 (18%) 38%

*1 missing

Results – Making decisionsResource* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Colleagues 26 26 91%

Other HDs 15 18 58%

Journal articles 7 14 21%

Grey literature 2 1 5%

Books 5 8 23%

Statistics Databases 4 6 18%

Listservs 6 3 16%

Online Discussion Boards

0 1 2%

Nat’l Org. Websites 13 11 42%

*Only positive responses reported

Results – Web 2.0Resource* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Social networking sites

4 1 9%

Blogs 1 3 7%

Wikis 1 1 2%

RSS Feeds 1 0 2%

YouTube and other videos sharing websites

2 3 9%

Twitter and other microblogging sites

0 2 4%

Flickr and other photo sharing sites

0 2 4%

None 21 24 79%

*Only positive responses reported

Results – Public health problems

Resources* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

CDC 21 19 70%

Kentucky DOH 23 25 84%

Kentucky IOM 5 3 14%

NIH 6 1 14%

NLM 1 0 2%

*Only positive responses reported

Results - BarriersBarrier* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative

Cost 8 6 25%

Type of Media 7 2 16%

Knowledge of Available Resources

13 12 44%

Lack of Resources (eg: computer equipment, internet access, or library affiliation)

5 3 14%

Searching Skills 12 4 28%

Time Limitations 15 9 42%

None 4 7 19%

*Only positive responses reported

Discussion

• How to be their colleagues?– (Models like ATTRACT and NLH)

• How to make them aware of available resources?• Further support for tailored information based on

roles• Rethink the effectiveness of Web 2.0 in

facilitating communicaiton

Thanks!Questions?

shapiro.rm@uky.edu