Factors affecting the provision of consumer health information in public libraries: the last five years

Library Trends, Wntr, 2005 by Mary L. Gillaspy

ABSTRACT

BETWEEN 9000 AND 2005 SEVERAL CHANGES have created an impact on libraries that provide consumer health information to the public. They include increased Internet connectivity; quality and amount of consumer health information available; realization that American lifestyles are leading to health problems; maturation of the consumer health movement and greater acceptance of it among health care professionals; emphasis on health literacy; and September 11th. Some changes were notable in 2000 but remain issues for providers of consumer health information. They include the number of health news items available in all media; the aging baby boomers and their impact on health care financing; less time for physicians and nurses to provide health information and patient education during regular office visits; and the popularity of complementary therapies. The impact of these issues on the provision of health information in U.S. public libraries is discussed.

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In 2000 this author published an article entitled "Starting a Consumer Health Information Service in a Public Library" (Gillaspy, 2000). The present article expands on the basic information provided in the original document, noting especially what has and has not changed in the intervening five years that potentially affects consumer health information in the public library setting.

Walter Broadnax, who in 1995 was the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, stated that families in 2015 will be health literate, by which he meant, "They make informed decisions about health issues. They understand the link between behavior and health.... We have a moral imperative to make health information available to every American" (Broadnax, 1995; italics mine). Fulfilling such a goal demands that public libraries be part of the network of health information delivery, and the phrase "moral imperative" implies urgency. However, in too many communities, public libraries are struggling with slashed budgets, reduced staff, and competing priorities. How can they meet yet another demand?

The truth is that as many as 20 percent of reference requests received by a sample of public libraries in the late twentieth century were health related (Wood et al., 2000), and that number may be far less than the actual total of people who search on their own rather than request reference assistance. Public libraries are critical to diminishing the "digital divide" in the United States; since in 2004 a full 95 percent of public libraries in this country offered Internet access. Significantly, 80 percent of library systems in the United States are located in rural areas, where access to quality health information might be limited without online systems. To illustrate how rapidly public libraries have become wired, only 28 percent of systems had Internet access in 1996 (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, n.d.), compared to the near-total access only eight years later. In other words, public libraries are meeting challenges, especially for economically disadvantaged citizens. The Gates report states that families with incomes of less than $15,000 per year use computers in public libraries at rates two to three times greater than families with annual incomes of more than $75,000 (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, n.d.).

This being said, there is little doubt that public libraries can enhance their consumer health services. An examination of trends and events that impact consumer health information (CHI) services in public libraries can elucidate areas where enrichment or improvement might occur.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, AND WHAT Do THE CHANGES MEAN FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES?

Seven trends or events have occurred between 2000 and 2005 that significantly impact the delivery of consumer health information in all settings, but particularly in public libraries, the institutions most invested in serving the information needs of all citizens in a community. These items include the following: (1) increased access to the Internet; (2) increase in the quality of health information available on the Internet; (3) realization that American lifestyles are leading to serious health problems, even in the young; (4) maturation of the consumer health movement; (5) increase in high-quality print resources for consumer health; (6) emphasis on health literacy; and (7) September 11th. Certainly other factors could be listed as having had an impact, but these seven are notable for the breadth and depth of change that has occurred because of them.

Increased Internet Connectivity and Access

Many more people have access to the Internet in their homes than was true five years ago; moreover, the Internet is far more ubiquitous in society generally than it was at that time. In a 2003 report the Pew Internet Project reported that 93 million Americans, comprising 80 percent of adult Internet users, had used the World Wide Web to search for health information (Fox & Fallows, 2003). This is a change from the 52 million Americans who had relied on the Internet to make health decisions in 2000 and the 73 million in 2002 (Fox & Rainie, 2002).