Guest post by M. Nichelle Midón, Project Scientist, Office of Engagement and Training, National Library of Medicine.
Earlier this year, NLM Director Dr. Patricia Flatley Brennan shared insights about how we, at NLM, support individual and organizational health literacy. As the world’s largest biomedical library, NLM provides physical and digital access to trusted, quality health information with the ability to reach people where they live, work and play.
One way we do this is through our Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), which leverages more than 8,000 academic health science libraries, hospital and public libraries, and community organizations across the United States to promote health literacy and ensure that NLM resources are accessible to the public. NNLM develops and offers programs that affect communities in meaningful ways.
One of NNLM’s recent success stories is Project TORDS (Technology Outreach to Reduce Health Disparities and Stigma). Tony Nguyen, MLIS, AHIP, executive director of the NNLM Southeastern Atlantic Region, recently described the program, saying “Project TORDS is designed to increase access to technology in rural and underserved communities in southern West Virginia by providing training on the use of technology while showing participants how to access, evaluate and use online health information, such as NLM’s MedlinePlus.”
According to Darryl Cannady, the executive director of South Central Educational Development, Inc., a local, community-based organization participating in Project TORDS, “Living in rural, poverty stricken Southern West Virginia, where residents live with many health disparities and social determinants of health, we have to create innovative ways to reach the most disenfranchised communities and provide the needed access to health education and access to quality health care. Project TORDS helps bridge gaps and connect the dots to health education and resources, while simultaneously reducing stigma through education.”
Watch all about it: Project TORDS
Other NNLM health literacy outreach programs include the Wash and Learn and Promotores de Salud programs.
The Wash and Learn program transforms local laundromats into informal learning spaces where people can access early-learning literacy materials as they wait for their clothes to wash and dry.
NLM’s outreach to Promotores de Salud, the Spanish term for “community health workers,” reaches vulnerable and underserved members of the Latino/Hispanic community with health information and resources. These outreach efforts include sessions that promote awareness of culturally appropriate health information from NLM.
Watch all about it: Wash and Learn
Watch all about it: Promotores de Salud
Join us in celebrating Health Literacy Month this October – what does health literacy month mean to you?
M. Nichelle Midón works with NLM’s National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) to provide researchers, health professionals, public health workforce, educators, and the public with equal access to biomedical and health information resources. She holds a Bachelor of Science in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Science in library and information science from the Catholic University of America, and a Master of Science in instructional technology from Towson University.