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

• E-mail

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

lguillot@selu.edu

• Mary Lou Strong Reference/Instruction Librarian

mary.strong@selu.edu• Jean Caswell

Systems Librarianjcaswell@selu.edu