Librarians are important community partners in helping people improve their health literacy skills, allowing them to be active participants in their own health care and to make informed health care decisions. People trust in libraries as a source of reliable, understandable, and trustworthy information as librarians know their community and its informational needs. The development of health literacy skills is crucial to assist in reducing health disparities, improving health equity, and empowering people to live healthier lives. Learn how you can support your community and its members, through helping find accurate health information, evaluating the quality of health information online, building capacity of library staff in providing consumer health information, and providing health programming and partnering. This talk will cover what health literacy is, its impact on patients and their families, resources for good health information, training, and funding opportunities, as well as some creative examples of what librarians are doing to support their communities in improving health.
Community Engagement and Health Literacy Librarian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Terri Ottosen has been a health sciences librarian for over 25 years and is a Distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals. Currently, she is the Community Engagement and Health Literacy Librarian at the Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina... Read More →
