Community health information needs assessment in the mid-south region of the United States indicates new roles for public libraries.

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q2 INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE Health Information and Libraries Journal Pub Date : 2024-06-04 DOI:10.1111/hir.12538

Sohye Lee, Irma Singarella, Christine Bertz, Kathryn Hicks, Susan Elswick, Seok Won Jin, Y'Esha Williams-Click, Jordan Howard

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Abstract

Background: Libraries provide public access to information that may be used to inform healthcare decisions. Exploring the health information needs of library-users could improve community health outcomes, especially during times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the health information needs of library-users to explore the potential role of libraries in advancing community health.

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey was employed.

Results: One hundred and fifty participants in the (Memphis) Tennessee metropolitan area, ranging from 18 to 84 years of age, completed the survey between September 2020 and April 2021. Most respondents reported seeking physical and mental health-related information from libraries. In addition, nearly half of respondents reported delaying medical care due to risk of exposure to COVID-19, cost or appointment issues.

Discussion: Study results indicated that there were urgent health information needs among library-users in this community, that COVID-19 further limited or delayed access to information, and that library-users accessed health information during library visits.

Conclusion: Public libraries have the potential to serve as information hubs to improve community health outcomes. Additional research should be conducted to collect qualitative community health information needs and the ways in which public library systems can address them.

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美国中南部地区社区卫生信息需求评估表明公共图书馆应发挥新的作用。

背景：图书馆为公众提供可用于医疗保健决策的信息。探索图书馆用户的健康信息需求可以改善社区健康成果，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行等危机时期：本研究旨在确定图书馆用户的健康信息需求，以探索图书馆在促进社区健康方面的潜在作用：方法：采用定量、描述性、横断面调查的方法：在 2020 年 9 月至 2021 年 4 月期间，田纳西州（孟菲斯）大都会地区的 150 名参与者完成了调查，他们的年龄从 18 岁到 84 岁不等。大多数受访者表示从图书馆寻求与身心健康相关的信息。此外，近一半的受访者表示，由于存在接触 COVID-19、费用或预约问题的风险，他们推迟了就医时间：讨论：研究结果表明，该社区的图书馆用户有迫切的健康信息需求，COVID-19 进一步限制或延迟了信息的获取，图书馆用户在访问图书馆期间获取了健康信息：结论：公共图书馆有可能成为改善社区健康状况的信息中心。应开展更多的研究，收集定性的社区健康信息需求以及公共图书馆系统满足这些需求的方式。

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来源期刊

Health Information and Libraries Journal INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE-

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

10.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ) provides practitioners, researchers, and students in library and health professions an international and interdisciplinary forum. Its objectives are to encourage discussion and to disseminate developments at the frontiers of information management and libraries. A major focus is communicating practices that are evidence based both in managing information and in supporting health care. The Journal encompasses: - Identifying health information needs and uses - Managing programmes and services in the changing health environment - Information technology and applications in health - Educating and training health information professionals - Outreach to health user groups