Tutorial 1—Trainer's Guide

Three-hour session with computer laboratory, one-hour session with presenter demonstrating on computer

Audience

• Librarians
• Public health, county extension, and school personnel
• Other health information providers

Subject

Topics

• Consumer health information
  • What it is
  • Creators and distributors
• Health literacy
  • What it is
  • Resources
• Professional issues related to consumer health information services
  • Agency policies and procedures
  • Ethics
• Evaluating the quality of consumer health information in print and electronic sources
  • Evaluative criteria
  • Searching for information using generic tools
  • Quality filtered information resources
• The HealthInfoIowa site
  • Purpose
  • Contents
  • Effective use
• MEDLINEplus
  • Purpose
  • Contents
  • Effective use
• ClinicalTrials.gov
  • Purpose
• PubMed
  • Purpose
  • Contents
  • Basic functions
• Additional resources
  • Services offered by Iowa libraries
  • Loansome Doc
  • Services of the State Library of Iowa

General Purpose

Behavioral Objectives

• discuss a positive strategy for dealing with consumer health information as it relates to their agency's policy and information service procedures;
• use the Health on the Internet (HON) Code principles and/or other established guidelines to evaluate at least one source of consumer health information on the World Wide Web;
• use HealthInfoIowa, MEDLINEplus, and other selected resources to locate information on at least one topic that they have identified as being relevant to their work or their customers' health information needs; and,
• identify at least two means of acquiring or borrowing consumer health information materials from Iowa libraries.

Resources

Equipment

• Computer with active Internet connection and recent version of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape
• Computer projector with necessary connecting cables
• Power source
• Projection surface

Required for three-hour session and recommended for one-hour session:

• Computer laboratory with active Internet connections and recent version of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape on all computers used

• Folder from State Library, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, or National Library of Medicine
• Medspeak brochure published by the Medical Library Association (available for purchase or online from the MLA home page [http://www.mlanet.org]
• Print copies
• Training tutorial
• HeathInfoIowa main web site pages
• MEDLINEplus, ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed home pages
• HONcode Site-Checker
• List of supplementary resources customized to audience group
  • Public health personnel
  • School personnel
  • County extension personnel
• Pre- and post-session assessment forms
• Note paper and pen or pencil

Trainer Resources

• Outdated medical book to use as prop
• Attendance sheet
• Presenter reporting form

Online Resources to Bookmark

• Clinical Trials
  [http://clinicaltrials.gov/]
• Health Literacy
  [http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/scr/conhlth/hlthlit.htm]
• Consumer Health: An Online Manual, Health Literacy chapter
  [http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/scr/conhlth/hlthlit.htm]
• HealthInfoIowa
  [http://www.HealthInfoIowa.org]
• Healthy Iowans 2010
  [http://www.idph.state.ia.us/bhpl/healthy_iowans_2010.asp]
• HONcode Site-Checker
  [http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/HONcode_check.html]
• MEDLINEplus
  [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/]
• PubMed
  [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/]
• State Library of Iowa
  [http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/]

Teaching/Learning Activities (three hour session in computer laboratory)

1. Before the session starts, start computers and Web browsers and distribute learner folders. As participants enter the room, ask them to sign the attendance sheet and complete the pre-session assessment forms.

0:00

2. Welcome participants and ask them to introduce themselves by name, agency, and one health information need they identified in pre-session assessment.

3. Introduce presenters and HealthInfoIowa project. Review room arrangements: breaks planned, location of restrooms and break facilities, and use of the computer laboratory.

4. Ask participants to keep in mind the health information need they identified in the pre-session assessment. Ask participants either to ask questions as they arise or to wait until a certain point in the session to ask questions—whichever you feel will work best in the given situation.

0:10

5. Refer participants to the printed handout. Using information on the handout, lead a discussion of health literacy, consumer health information, and professional issues related to providing consumer health information services. Ask participants if their agencies have procedures and policies for dealing with health information provided to the public. Call attention to the fact that non-clinical professionals may be held ethically and legally accountable if the line between providing information and giving advice is crossed.

0:20

6. If you have an outdated medical book, tear out a few pages in class. Ask participants if they would use the health information in the torn out pages. Ask why they think consumers are willing and sometimes eager to believe "miracle claims" they find on the Web. Go to How to Spot Health Fraud [http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_fraud.html] and highlight the arguments used by those touting fraudulent products:

• One product does it all
• Personal testimonial
• Quick fixes
• Natural
• Time-tested or new-found product
• Satisfaction guaranteed
• Promises of easy weight loss
• Paranoid accusations
• Meaningless medical jargon

0:30

7. Go to the About Online Health Information page and talk about the information found there. Show the Health On the Net (HON) Foundation Principles and the HONcode Site-Checker. Go to the following HealthInfoIowa pages and talk briefly about what is included in each section:

• Iowa Health Resources
• General Health Resources
• For Healthcare Providers
• For Librarians
• For Students
• Tutorials

1:45

8. Return to the General Health Resources page. Emphasize that HealthInfoIowa resources are quality-filtered. Introduce another quality-filtered tool, MEDLINEplus, which is included on the General Health Resources page. Using either the anabolic steroids search illustrated in handout or an "on the fly" search on a topic identified during the pre-session assessment, demonstrate the use of the MEDLINEplus Health Topics feature.

9. Either show the MEDLINEplus Tour or ask participants to go through it on their own computers. Ask them to note differences between MEDLINEplus and PubMed as they take the tour. Possible observations:

2:00

(Break)

2:10

10. If time allows, demonstrate the anabolic steroids search in PubMed as it is illustrated in the handout and then discuss the questions following it as a group. Stress use of the Limits and Related Articles features.

11. Hands-on practice. Suggest that participants use some of the resources introduced to explore their own health information interests.

12. Discuss what people found, differences between the tools they used.

2:50

13. Talk about using local public and/or health sciences libraries and State Library of Iowa services.

14. Ask participants to complete post-assessment forms. Ask them to respond to a brief follow-up survey if they are contacted (30 to 60 days following the session).

3:00

Teaching/Learning Activities (one hour session with leader using computer projection)

1. As participants enter the room, ask them to sign the attendance sheet and complete pre-session assessment forms.

0:00

2. Introduce presenters and HealthInfoIowa project. Ask participants to keep in mind the health information need they identified in the pre-session assessment. Ask participants either to ask questions as they arise or to wait until a certain point in the session to ask questions—whichever you feel will work best in the given situation.

3. Refer participants to the printed handout. Using information on the handout, talk about health literacy, consumer health information, and professional issues related to providing consumer health information services. Point out resources for procedures and policies related to providing health information to the public. Ask participants if their agencies have similar procedures and policies. Call attention to the fact that non-clinical professionals may be held ethically and legally accountable if the line between providing information and giving advice is crossed.

0:10

4. If you have an outdated medical book, tear out a few pages in class. Ask participants if they would use the health information in the torn out pages. Ask why they think consumers are willing and sometimes eager to believe "miracle claims" they find on the Web.

5. Go online to the About Online Health Information page. Go through the page, emphasizing the Health On the Net (HON) Foundation Principles and the HONcode Site-Checker.

0:25

6. Go to each major section of the HealthInfoIowa site and talk briefly about what is included in each section:

• Iowa Health Resources
• General Health Resources
• For Providers
• For Librarians
• For Students
• Tutorials

0:35

7. Return to the General Health Resources page. Call attention to MEDLINEplus. Using either the anabolic steroids search illustrated in the handout or an "on the fly" search on a topic identified during the pre-session assessment, demonstrate the use of the MEDLINEplus Health Topics feature.

8. Suggest that participants take the MEDLINEplus Tour at a later time to learn more about MEDLINEplus and two additional tools: PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov.

0:50

9. Talk about using local public and/or health sciences libraries and State Library of Iowa services.

0:55

10. Ask participants to complete post-assessment forms. Ask them to respond to a brief follow-up survey if they are contacted (30 to 60 days following the session).

0:60

Evaluation tools: [pdf]

• Pre-session self-assessment
• Post-session assessment
• Follow-up measures (30-60 days following session)

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Copyright © 2001 Iowa Consumer Health Project
Disclaimer and Privacy Statement

HealthInfoIowa, a consumer health information resource from the State Library of Iowa,
is funded by the National Library of Medicine under contract NO1-LM-6-3523 with the
University of Illinois at Chicago.

Updated: 16 July 2001