MP28

Informing neighborhood health*_{*Funded in part by NLM Grant No. 1 G07 LM007978-01}

Jeffrey T. Huber, Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, Texas Woman's University, Houston, TX ; Teresa J. Walsh, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Texas Woman's University, Houston, TX ; Beatriz Varman, Assistant Director, Public Services, Reference, Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library, Houston, TX ;

Objective: The overall goal of the Informing Neighborhood Health outreach project is to facilitate information access at select faith-based health clinics in Harris County, Texas, that primarily serve the homeless and working poor.
Methods: The Informing Neighborhood Health project placed Internet-connected workstations at five faith-based clinics in Harris County, Texas, that primarly serve the homeless and working poor. Each participating clinic hosts clinical rotations for Texas Medical Center educational programs. Project workstations were placed in areas convenient for clinical staff to access. A project Web page was created to faciliate access to relevant electronic health information resources. Training was provided for clinic staff and students completing clinical rotations regarding use of electronic health information resources. Each training session included a pre- and post-session evaluation.
Results: Project workstations were used by clinic staff and students completing clinical rotations at each participating community clinic throughout the course of the project. Use of workstations to access electronic health information resources has been integrated into existing workflow processes.
Conclusions: Project workstations provide access to electronic health information resources that support the practice of evidence-based health care. As a result of this, faculty members who oversee clinical rotations at clinics participating in this project are incorporating use of these resources into their curriculum. For example, community health nursing faculty have added a library orientation session to cover electronic health information resources available via project workstations prior to the beginning of clinical rotations as well as an assignment whereby students must use project workstations and resources during clinical rotations.

Jeffrey T. Huber, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, Texas Woman's University, and Associate Director for Research in the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library.  Huber has more than 15 years experience in health sciences librarianship, including developing and implementing successful health information outreach projects targeting underserved populations.
Teresa Walsh, PhD, RNC is Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing, Texas Woman's University, teaching Community Health Nursing. Clinical practice interests focus on facilitating access to healthcare resources in the community and student, provider, and consumer health information access behaviors.
Beatriz Varman, MLIS, is Assistant Director for Public Affairs in the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library.  She has more than 18 years experience conducting demonstration and training sessions regarding information resourcs and providing reference services.