During the first year of our 2006-2011 contract, three Network members successfully applied for and received Express Outreach Awards. The successful applicants include: Jane Barnwell, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL); Naomi Broering, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine; and Diana Lau, Asian HealthCare Institute, Inc.

The twelve-month projects all received $6,000 in funding. The projects strive to improve access to health information for health professionals and consumers and to promote awareness and use of products and services available from the NLM and the NN/LM. Target groups include urban populations, medically underserved and multicultural communities, as well as low-literacy and non-English speaking populations.

In addition, Sharon Lezotte, Cottage Health System, received $1,000 in funding through NN/LM PSR’s Internet Connectivity Support Program for purchase of a computer workstation to establish an onsite training lab for nursing staff. Congratulations to these awardees on their successful proposals!

Jane Barnwell, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL), Resource Center, Honolulu, HI
Project Title: “Health Information Outreach to American Samoa”

This project seeks to improve health information literacy in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa by providing 4-5 training sessions in NLM and PREL resources to selected public health and library staff. The goal is to improve education and access to quality health information in remote, underserved multicultural communities. As a first step, the project involves training and outreach to professional staff at the American Samoa Department of Health, the L.B.J. Tropical Medical Center, and island library staff. By partnering with community and government agencies, PREL expects to maximize resources to improve health information literacy of key public health and library community members.

Naomi Broering, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM), San Diego, CA
Project Title: “Health Information Literacy Outreach Community Service”

This project expands on health information training outreach activities provided by the PCOM Library since 2004 by reaching a broader citizen population base of minorities, needy, immigrant and adult citizens. The project will also reach health professionals, including oriental medicine practitioners, general practitioners and allied health professionals in the community, and professional attendees at the Pacific Symposium, held annually in the San Diego area. Other training sites include a branch of San Diego Public Library and a community adult center.

Diana Lau, Asian HealthCare Institute Inc. (AHII), San Francisco, CA
Project Title: “Bilingual Asian Healthcare Web Site”

This is a pilot project involving the translation of ten articles on heart disease from NLM’s MedlinePlus web site. The translated materials will be uploaded to the AHII web site in four formats: bilingual English/Traditional Chinese, Bilingual English/Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese only, and Simplified Chinese only. The ultimate goal is to improve and expand access to clinical information and consumer health education material, particularly for low-literacy users, community health clinics, California public hospitals, and non-English speaking groups.

Sharon Lezotte, Cottage Health System, Santa Barbara, CA
Project Title: “Internet Connectivity Support Program”

This funding will be used to support a successful training lab for the nursing staff of Cottage Health System. The combination of the national nursing shortage and the lack of affordable housing in Santa Barbara County has led to low recruitment and retention of nursing staff. An onsite training lab will contribute to increased levels of recruitment and retention, and lead to a better quality of skills for working with patients.

Applications for these funding programs are accepted on a continuing basis. During the second year of our 2006-2011 contract, beginning May 1, 2007, we will fund up to five Express Outreach Awards and Internet Connectivity Support Awards, so it’s not too soon to start developing funding ideas! For information and application instructions for these and other award programs, please consult the NN/LM PSR Funding Opportunities web page. We look forward to seeing your proposals!

Alan Carr