Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

 

Nearly a quarter of the U.S. population struggles with low literacy--and low health literacy. The inability to read, understand, and effectively utilize health information is linked to higher levels of chronic disease, more frequent emergency room visits, and early mortality. The cost and quality of care implications are enormous, and health literacy is a hot topic for policy makers and researchers--and for libraries struggling to respond to patrons’ unmet health information needs.

This authoritative MLA guide will help you understand the vital role that medical, hospital, public, and health libraries are uniquely qualified to play in improving health literacy. You will learn innovative ways to use collection development, the reference interview, community health information, and Web resources, as well as strategies for working with special needs populations, including seniors, the disabled, ESL groups, and people of diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Case studies illustrate best practices, including ways to partner with health care providers and other organizations to create and fund health literacy programming in your community and make your library a vital player in this increasingly important information needs area.

 "This timely publication is likely to be of interest to a broad range of librarians, educators and health care professionals.... well organized and indexed....recommended for large libraries collecting in the fields of librarianship and education..."
-- The Australian Library Journal, August 2009
 
Useful and exhaustive ... This book will be essential to the health of many patrons.
-- Catholic Library World, June 2008
 
The first work to address health literacy in the context of librarianship....every chapter in this book has the potential to provide timely assistance with reference questions and inspiration for future development of research into this important and expanding topic.
-- Journal of the Medical Library Association, April 2009
 
Very useful for instructional and academic environments....researchers in allied health fields, education and library science will find a wealth of information. This book is also a good resource for consumer health and public librarians working with the general public. General hospital librarians will also find this to be a "nice to have" resource.
-- Reference and User Service Quarterly, Volume 48, Issue 3
 
Densely packed with thorough literature reviews but also many practical suggestions...A valuable reference work giving medical librarians and other health professionals the state of the research in this field.
-- Booklist, January 1 and 15, 2009
 
Editors Kars, Baker, and Wilson have compiled a wide-ranging yet focused collection of material on a timely health issue...Each chapter provides useful information directly applicable for librarians working in hospital and consumer health environments. Practical guidance is found in every chapter...This handbook is a powerful tool that should be on the shelf of every health science library. Health care practitioners and students will find it useful as well...Highly recommended.
-- CHOICE, March 2009
 
The content is authoritative...This reference is highly recommended for community college librarians, medical libraries and graduate library school collections in academic libraries.
-- ARBA, August 2008
 

Marge Kars, MSLS, is Manager of the Health Sciences Library and Bronson HealthAnswers, a consumer health information center at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She chairs Bronson’s health literacy initiative, working with other hospital departments to train staff on health literacy issues as well as rewriting patient information in an easy-to-read format. She is a literacy volunteer in Kalamazoo, co-chairing Ready to Read, an emergent literacy collaboration, and literacy programs at the Kalamazoo Juvenile Home.

Lynda M. Baker, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Library and Information Science Program at Wayne State University in Detroit and teaches courses on health sciences librarianship, consumer health, advanced reference, and research methods. She was the principal author of the book Consumer Health Information for Public Librarians, which was published in 2002. She has published a number of articles on readability of consumer health materials. Her main research focus concerns health information needs and seeking-behaviors, and she has conducted research with various groups of people.

Feleta L. Wilson, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at Wayne State University. Over the past 16 years, Dr. Wilson has developed a program of research on patient education and patient health literacy. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles published in Western Journal of Nursing Research, Nursing Science Quarterly, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, Reference and User Services Quarterly, and Public Libraries. In addition, Dr. Wilson serves as Principal Investigator on research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR), and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.

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