Senior CHAT: Consumer Health Awareness Training Based on NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus Ladonna Guillot, Mary Lou Strong, Jean Caswell Southeastern Louisiana University South Central Chapter/Medical Library Association Annual Meeting October 19, 2010

Senior CHAT: Consumer Health Awareness Training Project is funded by a NN/LM SCR Express Consumer Health Outreach Award

Senior CHAT Program Objectives Improve health information literacy Promote better health outcomes Create portable health profiles Create a senior citizen consumer health information LibGuide Teach basic computer and Internet skills Promote use of NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus

Community Assessment 86% of Louisiana parishes are designated health professional shortage areas Louisiana is ranked 49 th in the nation in health status 11% of the Tangipahoa Parish population are 65 years or older 20% of Tangipahoa Parish senior citizens have incomes below the federal poverty level Hurricane Katrina demonstrated need for portable health records

Medically Underserved Areas

Target Population Persons 60 or older residing in Tangipahoa Parish 1800 clients served by the Tangipahoa Voluntary Council on Aging (TVCOA) TVCOA staff from the 5 parish senior centers

Hammond Senior Center

Hammond Senior Center Computer Lab

Summer Basic Computer Class Pilot program Basic computer skills Basic Internet searching Evaluation of Internet sources

What We Learned Geaux slow Basic computer skills are essential to success Mouse exercises Things you think are obvious are not Handouts and hands-on are important

What We Loved Extremely appreciative students Highly motivated students Seniors helped and encouraged each other Waiting list of 75

TVCOA Staff Training Class September 29, 2010 NIHSeniorHealth Trainer’s Toolkit Instruction on NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus Evaluating health websites Staff serve as a long-term resource for their clients

Senior CHAT Class Consumer health information training using NIHSeniorHealth Trainer’s Toolkit 6 week session to be offered twice Class of 25 filled immediately Will administer pre-test, post-test, and 3 rd test to assess impact

Preliminary Staff Training Results (Pre/Post Test Surveys) Staff report more confidence in finding reliable health information on the Internet post-training Only one had used MedlinePlus or NIHSeniorHealth prior to class 5/6 report they plan to use databases frequently in the future

Senior Citizen Consumer Health LibGuide Compilation of authoritative consumer health information online sites geared to senior citizens Accessible 24/7 Visit the LibGuide at:

Senior Citizen Consumer Health LibGuide

Contact Information Ladonna Guillot Health Sciences Librarian Mary Lou Strong Reference/Instruction Librarian Jean Caswell Systems Librarian