The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Southeastern/Atlantic Region: Release of New Health Ministry LibGuide

By Nancy Patterson, Community Outreach Coordinator, NN/LM, SE/A Region

As the Community Outreach Coordinator, I have taken my experience working with health ministries in the region into account and created a Health Ministry Guide. The guide is complete with ready-to-use outreach models, training and evaluation materials, links to reliable health information resources, sources for “Free Stuff,” statistics and funding, and much, much more. The guide is useful for health ministries that are just being formed as well as for health ministries that have been in operation for years. Any faith-based organization or community group can easily adapt and utilize the information in the guide, and information within it will be useful to outreach librarians as well.

URL: http://guides.nnlm.gov/ministry

 

I have created customizable Power Point presentations that any health ministry or community group can adapt to use as they wish. There are four Power Points designed for use covering topics from planning and implementation to evaluation:

A: Healthy Ministry: Health Information for All – a Power Point to guide you through your first planning meeting. Gather a core group together and begin!

B: Health Disparities & Health Literacy – A Power Point that illustrates the health disparities crisis in the US and how increasing health literacy is part of the solution.

C: Health Information: Be Equipped – A Power Point that provides a basic introduction to getting clear and reliable health information online and from your doctor.

D: Reliable Health Information from NLM – A Power Point introduction to MedlinePlus, NIHSeniorHealth, Clinical Trials, Genetics Home Reference & AIDSInfo.

Also included are an ‘Introduction Sheet’ that explains the templates, exercises to print out and use for hands-on class activities in conjunction with Power Point D, and ‘Question and Answers’ to hand out so class participants can remember how to find information long after the class is over.

These presentations are intended for groups to customize as they wish; add them together, use them separately, remove unwanted slides, revise existing slides, create new slides, etc. They are designed to assist in reaching your health outreach goals, and I encourage you to make them your own.

Being a new resource, I am interested in all input about how to improve the guide as it evolves. I am still populating it, and will continue to add and change information as necessary to keep it current. Please don’t hesitate to send any comments or suggestions to Nancy at:npatters@hshsl.umaryland.edu. 

Here’s to your community’s health!