Journal of the Medical Library Association最新文献

Background: Health science libraries have invested in virtual reality technology and spaces to support use of this technology for teaching, learning, and research. Virtual reality has many uses within health sciences education such as simulation, exploration and learning, and soft skills development. It can also be used to build empathy in health sciences students through applications that provide an immersive, first-person perspective.

Case presentation: This case describes how a health sciences library and liaison librarians partnered with a course instructor to support a class utilizing the library's virtual reality resources. Librarians were collaborators in the development of the class and facilitated class sessions in the Virtual Reality Studio. Class sessions utilized the Beatriz Lab by Embodied Labs to increase empathy in medical students who were interested in working with geriatric or Alzheimer's patients.

Conclusion: Liaison librarians support teaching and learning through a variety of tools and resources, including virtual reality. By partnering with instructors, librarians can use their instruction and collection knowledge to design and facilitate classes that are meaningful and interactive. Virtual reality applications provide another resource that librarians can incorporate into their course-integrated instruction sessions.

Background: The authors sought to develop and validate a search filter to retrieve research about acute mental health concerns during public health emergencies. They did so as a response to a recommendation from a previously published paper on searching for evidence in emergency contexts.

Methods: The definition of acute mental health was adapted from the DSM-5 and the DynaMed entries on acute stress and posttraumatic stress disorder. The definition of public health emergencies was adapted from the Canadian Medical Protective Association. The authors retrieved systematic reviews on mental health concerns pertaining to people in the community and healthcare workers during public health emergencies from MEDLINE. The authors formulated gold standard sets for each population group using articles included in these reviews. The authors then separated the articles into development and validation sets. Keywords and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms from the title and abstracts in the Ovid records in the development sets were used to formulate the filter. The filter was tested via the relative recall method using the validation sets. The authors then tested the filter for precision by conducting MEDLINE (Ovid) searches for the following topics for acute mental health: (i) children/adolescents and earthquakes; (ii) children/adolescents and Ebola outbreaks; (iii) healthcare workers and earthquakes; and (iv) healthcare workers and Ebola outbreaks.

Results: The MEDLINE filter demonstrated 100% recall against the people in the community validation set and 98% recall against the healthcare worker validation set. The filter demonstrated the following percentages for the precision tests: (i) 94% for children/adolescents and earthquakes; (ii) 81% for children/adolescents and Ebola outbreaks; (iii) 81% for healthcare workers and earthquakes; and (iv) 79% for healthcare workers and Ebola outbreaks.

Conclusion: The authors developed a validated search filter that could be used to find evidence related to acute mental health concerns in public health emergencies. The authors recommend that researchers adapt and modify the search filter to reflect the unique mental health issues of their population groups.

Background: The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is comprised of diverse populations that cumulatively are medically underserved and experience significant air pollution. The SJV regularly has poor air quality and does not meet the state and federal attainment standards for particulate matter (PM) 2.5, ozone (eight hours), and PM 10. Air pollutants contribute to a high incidence of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for conditions like asthma. Because air pollutants correlate with built environments, these outcomes are concentrated geographically, which is a major driver of social determinants of health. Librarians from an osteopathic medical school in the SJV developed an educational outreach session to inform high school students about the causes and health impacts of air pollution and how they can find resources to educate themselves and others in their communities.

Case presentation: Two-hour interactive outreach sessions were provided at three local high schools in the SJV to students in health careers pathways. Librarians and student doctors guided high school students in health professions pathways through activities to understand the causes of poor air quality in the SJV; describe the different parts of the respiratory system and how air pollutants impact it; identify strategies for monitoring air quality and protecting their respiratory health; explore correlations between zip code and health outcomes; and access National Library of Medicine resources for reliable health information.

Conclusion: Librarians can lead effective health outreach programming. High school students who participated in the outreach sessions increased their understanding of AQI, the causes of poor air quality, and the health effects of air pollution.

Background: Many researchers benefit from training and assistance with their data management practices. The release of the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Nelson Memo and the National Institutes of Health's new Data Management and Sharing Policy created opportunities for librarians to engage with researchers regarding their data workflows. Within this environment, we-an interdisciplinary team of librarians and informationists at the University of Michigan (U-M)-recognized an opportunity to develop a series of data workshops that we then taught during the summer of 2023.

Case presentation: The series was primarily aimed at graduate students and early career researchers, with a focus on the disciplines served by the authors in the Health Sciences - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (HS-STEM) unit of the U-M Library. We identified three topics to focus on: data management plans, organizing and managing data, and sharing data. Workshops on these topics were offered in June, July, and August 2023.

Conclusion: The number of registrants and attendees exceeded our expectations with 497 registrations across the three workshops (174/169/154, respectively), and 178 attendees (79/49/50, respectively). Registrants included faculty, staff, students, and more, and were primarily from the health sciences clinical and academic units. We received a total of 45 evaluations from the three workshops which were very positive. The slides and evaluation forms from each workshop are available through U-M's institutional repository. We developed these workshops at an opportune time on campus and successfully reached many researchers.

Background: To compare the library's health information service usage area and customer topics with the hospital's reasons for hospitalizations to examine commonalities and explore potential growth opportunities within the community.

Case presentation: Researchers partnered with the hospital for this project. IRB approval was received. Researchers gathered the health information service's 2022 data, which was de-identified. Data analyzed included zip code and customer topics, which were coded according to the hospital's business line, which was defined as why a patient was hospitalized or used the ED. The health information service's business lines were compared with the hospital's business lines. Lastly, researchers also reviewed the hospital's targeted zip codes to see if those overlapped with the top zip codes that utilize the health information service. The top zip codes that used the library's health information service were 37920, 37918, 37917, 37919, and 37876. Usage of the health information service varied across zip codes and topics. The most requested topics for the health information service and reasons for hospitalizations/ED visits were General Medicine in three of the five zip codes. Based on the data's results, librarians performed outreach to organizations in the targeted zip codes to increase visibility of the library's services.

Conclusion: The reasons people requested health information from the library aligned with hospitalizations and ED visits in most of the zip codes. Providing further outreach to the hospital's targeted zip codes will benefit both the hospital and the library by increasing usage of the health information service.

Objective: Previous work within academic medical centers has indicated the potential value of embedded medical librarian programs within health sciences professional degree programs. This study sought to determine the perceived benefit that an embedded medical librarian (EML) provided to an evidence-based practice (EBP) course within an entry-level physical therapy degree program.

Methods: Learners completed an anonymous survey at the end of an EBP course about the impact of the EML on the course and their own EML utilization. Frequency and percentages were calculated for quantitative data; qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative process for code development.

Results: Forty (98%) learners completed the survey. Seventy-five point six percent of learners utilized the EML 1-2 times per class session and 31.7% outside of class sessions. Learners overwhelmingly "agreed" (53.7%) or "strongly agreed" (39.0%) that they would consult the EML for literature searches required in future courses. Seventy point seven percent "strongly agreed" that the EML improved their ability to conduct a literature search. All learners either "agreed" (43.9%) or "strongly agreed" (56.1%) that the EML added value to the course. Ninety point two percent considered the EML as an integral part of the course. Themes from the qualitative analysis agreed that the EML added value to the course and facilitated skills that would be useful throughout the curriculum.

Conclusion: Learners believe that having an EML improves their ability to conduct a literature search. Providing learners with EML access during their education experience facilitates development of this skill. Early and continued instruction throughout the entry-level DPT curriculum in informatics ensures program compliance with accreditation standards.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess educator views on the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by IPE facilitators and to explore their attitudes toward and experiences with non-clinician facilitators of IPE activities, particularly health sciences librarians.

Methods: This qualitative study utilized a novel questionnaire that included both multiple-choice and free-text questions. The latter were grounded in critical incident technique (CIT), a methodology that uses direct observations of human behavior to solve practical problems. The questionnaire was distributed electronically to the study's population of health sciences administrators, faculty, and staff in Texas who were involved with IPE. Multiple-choice data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, while free-text data were coded and analyzed via inductive thematic analysis principles.

Results: There were 48 responses out of 131 individuals contacted directly for a response rate of 36.64%. Educators recognized a wide range of characteristics needed by IPE facilitators but viewed interpersonal skills as most important. While many reported experience with non-clinician facilitators of IPE activities, fewer had experience working with health sciences librarians in these roles. Educator attitudes toward non-clinician facilitators of IPE, including librarians, were largely positive.

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that educators view interpersonal skills and the ability to elicit engagement as more important skills for IPE facilitators than a relevant clinical background. With proper facilitator training, non-clinicians could build upon their existing skillsets and increase their involvement with IPE, creating a larger pool of potential facilitators. A greater availability of skilled facilitators could increase the incidence of IPE, potentially resulting in more collaborative care and improved patient outcomes.

Background: Evidence and Gap Maps (EGMs) are a visual representation of the available evidence relevant to a specific research question or topic area. They are produced using similar methods to systematic reviews, however, there is little guidance on which databases to search and how many. Information Specialists need to make decisions on which resources to search, often for a range of study designs within a broad topic area to ensure comprehensiveness.

Case presentation: This case study presents two search summary tables (SSTs) from an evidence and gap map on peer support interventions. The first search summary table presents the findings of the search for systematic reviews and the second for randomised controlled trials. Different databases and different searches were undertaken for the two different study types.

Conclusion: The two SSTs indicated that MEDLINE and PsycINFO were key databases required for the identification of both systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials of peer support interventions, with the addition of CINAHL for systematic reviews, and CENTRAL for randomised controlled trials. For both study types, forward citation searching found additional included studies although it was more lucrative for identifying additional randomised controlled trials. Search summary tables are a simple way to share the effectiveness of the search methods chosen for a specific evidence synthesis project. The more SSTs we have, the more data we will have to inform evidence-based decisions on our search methods.

Objective: This proof-of-concept study aimed to evaluate if a library-initiated program of bibliotherapy could be effective in reducing overall levels of stress and anxiety in first-year medical students.

Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of an Interrupted Time Series (ITS) where participants established baseline levels of stress and anxiety by completing the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) three times prior to intervention and three times following, with a bibliotherapy intervention delivered at the halfway point. Four focus groups were held following completion of the ITS with questions designed to solicit feedback related to how enjoyable and valuable participants found the study, as well as priorities for wellness.

Results: An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare mean PSS-10 scores in the pre-intervention group to those in the post-intervention group. The results indicate no significant difference between scores pre-intervention (M= 17.85, SD=6.76) and post-intervention (M=17.21, SD=6.87, t(162)=.604, two-sided p=.547, 95% CI [-1.46, 2.75]). Focus group analysis revealed that participants found involvement in the study to be a useful component of a personal wellness or mental health maintenance program.

Conclusions: Quantitative results did not achieve statistical significance, but analysis of focus groups indicates that participants derived benefit from involvement in the study, particularly related to the regular self-reflection required by completing the monthly PSS-10. The study is a successful proof-of-concept, indicating that medical students derive benefit from a librarian-led bibliotherapy program as part of student wellness.

Introduction: A search filter for studies involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and additional sexual minority and gender identities (LGBTQIA+) populations has been developed and validated; however, the filter contained very small gold standard sets for some populations, and terminology, controlled vocabulary, and database functionality has subsequently evolved. We therefore sought to update and re-test the search filters for these selected subgroups using larger gold standard sets. We report on the development and validation of two versions of a sensitivity-maximizing search filter for queer women, including but not limited to lesbians and women who have sex with women (WSW).

Methods: We developed a PubMed search filter for queer women using the relative recall approach and incorporating input from queer women. We tested different search combinations against the gold standard set; combinations were tested until a search with 100% sensitivity was identified.

Results: We developed and tested variations of the search and now present two versions of the strategy with 99% and 100% sensitivity. The strategies included additional terms to improve sensitivity and proximity searching to improve recall and precision.

Conclusions: The queer women search filters balance sensitivity and precision to facilitate comprehensive retrieval of studies involving queer women. The filters will require ongoing updates to adapt to evolving language and search platform functionalities. Strengths of the study include the involvement of the population of interest at each stage of the project. Future research will include development and testing of search filters for other LGBTQIA+ subgroups such as bisexual and transgender people.