National Public Health Week 2019: How NLM Brings Together Libraries and Public Health

Posted by ssawyer on April 9th, 2019 Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members

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Recent articles in Preventing Chronic Disease and The Nation’s Health chronicle how public libraries can complement the efforts of public health workers in community outreach and engagement. Data tell us that more Americans visit public libraries in a year (1.39 billion) than they do health care providers (990 million). More so, over 40% of computer-using patrons report using libraries to search for health information. However, we also know many individuals struggle with accessing and understanding the health information they encounter every day.

This challenge begs the question, “How does the National Library of Medicine (NLM) increase access to trustworthy health information to improve the health of communities across the United States?” Read more from here.