The projects described below were funded by the National Library of Medicine through the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region, UCLA Biomedical Library.

More detailed information about each project can be found in the appendices of the NN/LM PSR Quarterly reports. A list of previous projects is available on our Project Archive webpage. If you are looking for more specific information about a project please contact us at psr-nnlm@library.ucla.edu

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Express Outreach Awards

Lunch & Learn Health Education Series
ValleyCare Health System, Pleasanton, CA

Project Director: Margaret Hsieh
Period of Performance: September 2008 - August 2009
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $4,015

In this project, the ValleyCare Health Library will collaborate with the Regional Cancer Center and Diabetes Education Center, both affiliated with the ValleyCare Health System, to conduct a series of Lunch and Learn workshops, to be held throughout the year to promote the understanding of disease progression, treatment options and preventive measures for certain diseases selected from our needs assessment study. Programs will also include information on the ValleyCare Health Library's health resource services in order to improve consumers' access to health information and to publicize the availability of quality health resources at the library via PubMed and MedlinePlus. The overall project goal is to do outreach to consumers living with certain chronic diseases and offer opportunities for social and learning experiences they would not normally have access to, so they will be more empowered to make informed decisions about their health.

Students to Seniors: Connection for Health Information
Savitt Medical Library, University of Nevada, Reno, NV

Project Director: Terry Henner
Period of Performance: September 2008 - August 2009
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $5,805

This project proposal requests funds to extend and build on the successes of an existing program funded through a one-year grant, ending June 30, 2008, from the State of Nevada Trust Fund for Public Health entitled "Students to Seniors Connection for Health Information." This project addresses the needs of senior citizens who are on the wrong side of a widening "digital divide," and without intervention are unlikely to make effective use of this necessary technology. Training will be provided using a train-the-trainer approach utilizing a cadre of volunteer undergraduate students, who are enrolled in a new combined BS/MD program at the University of Nevada. The project will also expand the breadth and depth of an existing website targeting the needs of Nevada seniors, ElderhealthNevada.org, by enhancing the web site with online tutorials, streaming videos, and other features.

Palau Health Information Literacy
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) Resource Center, Honolulu, HI

Project Director: Jane Barnwell
Period of Performance: October 2008 - September 2009
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

This project proposal seeks support to provide 4-5 training sessions to public health and library staff in Palau, covering key health information resources. The material covered in the proposed workshops would include effective access and searching strategies for National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources, and in resources such as EBSCOHost and Stat!Ref, which are provided to the region through Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). The target audience for the workshops would be selected public health and library staff from throughout Palau. The overall goal is to improve health information outreach, education, and access to quality, reliable health information in remote and underserved multicultural communities in the Republic of Palau by partnering with government and community agencies, including the Republic of Palau Ministry of Health, the Palau Community College, and the Palau Association of Libraries.

Seminar in Immigrant Literacies: Health Literacy
San Francisco State University J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco, CA

Project Director: Pam Howard
Period of Performance: June 2008 - May 2009
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

This project involves a multi-week seminar, exploring the role of language in everyday situations in which immigrants engage in, including home life, work community and health care. A large focus of this seminar is Health Literacy. The project targets individuals that are preparing or are in careers of Adult ESOL, and health and community development. The specific objectives for this project include promoting awareness among the course attendees about the range of existing NLM resources, such as MedlinePlus, PubMed, TOXNET, and the Drug Information Portal. Attendees will include representatives from community-based organizations from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Empowering the Community with Health Literacy
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego, CA

Project Director: Naomi C. Broering
Period of Performance: April 2008 - March 2009
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

Building on the success with Health Information Literacy, the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Library (PCOM) will implement an outreach training partnership based at four San Diego community centers and libraries in 2008-9. The PCOM library will conduct a series of health information computer workshops and hands-on classes to a broad audience. The sessions will be held at various San Diego Public Libraries, the Riford Adult Community Center, the El Cajon County Library, and the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine classrooms and library computer lab. Content will include how to access MedlinePlus, PubMed and other reliable websites.

Bilingual Asian Healthcare Website
Asian HealthCare Institute, Inc., San Francisco, CA

Project Director: Diana Lau
Period of Performance: April 2007 - April 2008
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

This is a pilot project aiming at the translation of 10 articles on Heart Disease from the NLM MedlinePlus website. The translated materials will be put online in four formats: bilingual English/Traditional Chinese, Bilingual English/Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese only, and Simplified Chinese only. These translations will be uploaded with simple graphics to AHII's website, complete with optional voice narration of the text in 3 options: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Specific project objectives include: 1. To promote awareness and use of NLM MedlinePlus Health Information website to the Asian community and health professionals; 2. To improve access to health information for those health professionals and health consumers without adequate access to library and information services; 3. Provide health information in consumers' own Asian languages to increase health literacy, understanding and treatment plan of their chronic health condition to promote self management; 4. Make website provisions to serve visitors with eyesight or literacy limitations; 5. To serve as pilot for a larger-scale project to translate the entire NLM MedlinePlus Health Information website.

Health Information Literacy Outreach Community Service
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego, CA

Project Director: Naomi C. Broering
Period of Performance: November 2006 - November 2007
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

The PCOM Library Health Information Literacy Program is designed to provide San Diego community residents and health professionals with knowledge, training and experience to access authentic and reliable information by using MedlinePlus, PubMed and related NLM/NIH resources. The objectives are to: 1. Train & educate health professionals and consumers in the San Diego area about MedlinePlus, PubMed, and NLM/NIH databases. 2. Emphasize broad and special topics including obesity & diet, alternative medicine, general medicine and drug information. 3. Publicize the training workshops and seminars broadly in the community through flyers, newspapers and newsletters. 4. Provide the instructional workshops at four locations: Pacific Beach Branch of San Diego Public Library, Florence Riford Adult Community Center, the PCOM Library and the Pacific Symposium held annually at the Catamaran Hotel in San Diego.

Health Information Outreach to American Samoa
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL), Honolulu, HI

Project Director: Jane Barnwell
Period of Performance: April 2007 - April 2008
Project Type: Express Outreach Award
Funding Awarded: $6,000

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 Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) resources to selected public health and library staff. Its goal is to improve education and access to quality health information in remote and underserved multicultural communities in American Samoa. By partnering with community and government agencies, PREL will be able to maximize resources to improve health information literacy of key public health and library community members in American Samoa. Specific project objectives include: 1. project participants will successfully complete training sessions on basic information retrieval skills to access and use up-to-date online resources; 2. project participants will discuss culturally and linguistically appropriate ideas for using this knowledge to improve health outcomes for the target audience; and 3. project participants will help publicize health information literacy resources provided by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning and the National Library of Medicine within their respective workplaces.

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Internet Connectivity Support Awards

Internet Connectivity Support Program - Cottage Health System
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, CA

Project Director: Sharon Lezotte
Period of Performance: January 2007 - January 2008
Project Type: Internet Connectivity Support Program
Funding Awarded: $1,000

The goal of the NN/LM PSR Internet Connectivity Support Program is to improve access to the Internet for Cottage Health System nurses by providing funding and support which will enable them to access National Library of Medicine Internet resources. This proposal will fund a computer workstation for a nurses' training computer lab.

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Outreach Agreements

Arizona Outreach to American Indian, Hispanic and Border Communities and Populations
Arizona Health Science Library, Tucson, AZ

Project Director: Jeanette L. Ryan
Period of Performance: May 2006 - March 2009
Project Type: Outreach Agreement
Funding Awarded: $40,000

The Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL) of the University of Arizona seeks to improve access to health information for Arizona's American Indian, Hispanic, and border populations. By improving access to health information, we provide health practitioners with better access to the information they need when making decisions about the healthcare of their patients and consumers will be better informed about their health. Community leaders will know and be comfortable in contacting AHSL when knowledge-based information is needed. Better health for all Arizonans will result.

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