Train-the-Trainer Workshop: Supporting Communities Advancing Health
Librarians and other information navigators will engage with NLM health information resources that support the advancement of community health, and explore NLM professional development opportunities. This program plan is designed to be adaptable to multiple health topics; lead poisoning awareness and relevant NLM resources can be substituted accordingly.
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- This train-the-trainer workshop provides librarians and other information navigators with NLM health information resources to support their communities around health issues, with lead poisoning awareness as a practical example.
- Beyond offering trusted health information resources, NLM also offers broad support for developing skills around understanding and using these resources effectively for people at all stages of their professional journeys. Participants will plan valuable professional development through NLM’s health information training resources.
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- Directory of Topic-Specific PubMed Queries
- MedlinePlus, specifically:
- Heavy Metal Blood Test and Prueba de sangre de metales pesados (Spanish): provides information on blood tests used to measure the levels of potentially harmful metals in the blood including lead.
- Lead Levels and Niveles de plomo en la sangre (Spanish): An article about lead levels and getting tests
- Lead Poisoning and Envenenamiento con plomo (Spanish): Provides information and links about lead and lead poisoning including information on diagnosis and tests, prevention and risk factors, and other related issues.
- Openi (Open Access Biomedical Image Search Engine), specifically:
- Exposure on tap: drinking water as an overlooked source of lead: Article on how lead in water is overlooked when testing for sources of exposure
- Dangerous wait: Article on landlords not being able to afford cleaning their rental properties of lead
- Lead Poisoning: Pictures and articles all about lead
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- Environmental, planning, or health advocacy groups
- Local city or county public health department
- Network of the National Library of Medicine
- Representative from your regional Medical Library Association chapter
- Toxicology, environmental health, or sociology expert
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Time
- Planning: 5 hours
- Implementation: 2 hours
Budget
- No funds are required to run this program as described
Suggested supplies (provide these or distribute a supply list)
- List of links to health information resources and training opportunities
- Worksheets with reflection questions
- Optional: Tablets/designated workstations for website demonstrations and health information research
Before the program
To meet the objectives of the program, you may simply imagine that lead poisoning has been identified as a top health issue in your community and that a local community group would like to take on the issue, or excerpt one of the following examples:
- Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) from Bloomfield Township, New Jersey, which highlights lead poisoning prevention
- Iowa Department of Public Health Maps of Health Needs by Iowa Public Health Focus, which includes lead poisoning
If you have the time and interest, to find actual evidence-based sources identifying local health issues in your community, lead-related or otherwise, here are some pointers:
- Contact your local public health department (usually county-level, but may be municipal or multi-county depending on your community’s population) or your state health department for reports.
- Search online for “[“your city” or “your county” or “your region/area”]” plus “Health Improvement Plan” (also known as a HIP or CHIP) or “Community Health Needs Assessment” (also known as CHNA or CHA). Most of these reports include an executive summary and/or an outline of the top health needs identified in your community, which can provide a good starting point for this exercise.
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- Frame the program for participants as follows: a local community organization learned that lead poisoning is a widespread issue in your town and has come to you looking for resources that can help them understand and spread awareness about the facts on the topic.
- Working in small groups, have participants select 3 NLM health information resources from the list provided above or another NLM e-resource and respond to the following questions:
- Who is the intended audience for this resource?
- What kinds of information can be gained from this resource?
- How is the information presented (languages, format, etc.)?
- Would you recommend this resource to the community organization? Why or why not?
- After reviewing all the resources, which resource(s) do you want to learn to use more effectively?
- Participants can all come back together to share and reflect on this experience: what was new or surprising about their findings?
- To conclude, offer the following list of NLM library career development opportunities, and encourage participants to write down at least one opportunity they will commit to exploring or completing:
- NLM Intramural Research Training Program
- Medical informatics resources to support health IT and researchers
- NLM Associate Fellowship Program for Librarians
- NLM internships and fellowships in User Services and Collection Division and the Lister Hill Center for Biomedical Communications
- NLM’s course on Finding and Using Health Statistics
- NLM grants and research support programs
- Search or browse all tutorials and courses in NLM’s Learning Resources Database