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Dec
23
Posted by Miles Dietz-Castel on December 23rd, 2024
Posted in: Blog
The NNLM Region 6 office would like to send warm wishes and season’s greetings to everyone this holiday season! As we look ahead to the new year we thought it would be fun to take a look back at 2024 and share a project each person enjoyed working on this year.
I’m excited about the work we did, in collaboration with the National Training Office and the Medical Library Association, to offer nursing continuing education (CNE) for NNLM courses. Since the post was created, we’ve also started to offer CNE for select live webinars, including a rural health webinar hosted by Region 6. Offering CNE makes our classes more valuable and relevant to nurses, and we’ve seen more engagement with nurses as a result.
Offering CNE for free classes is an important step towards the first half of NNLM’s mission, “to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information.”
This year I had a chance to stretch some of my creative skills to develop two posters for the annual Medical Library Association (MLA) Conference. The theme of the 2024 MLA Conference was “Stronger Together”, and I was pleased to help showcase how collaboration is a keystone for our office.
The first poster, “Addressing Health Misinformation: Evidence-Based Strategies and Community Engagement at a Virtual Symposium“, was a cross regional collaboration that highlighted the impact from the 2023 NNLM Virtual Health Misinformation Symposium. The second poster, “Value of State Advisory Groups (SAGs)“, showcased the culmination of the hard work put forth by Region 6 and countless partners in the creation of State Advisory Groups that developed state specific community tools and programs.
When my kids ask, “What is your favorite song, color, memory, etc?” I reply, “I don’t have just one favorite.” Is this because I’m indecisive? Perhaps. But I want to believe it’s because every experience is special. The same applies to opportunities at work. I appreciate each person, project, and program because together we improve access to quality information so more and more people can make informed decisions about their health.
This year, we were able to offer copies of Smile! A Guide to Healthy & Happy Teeth to Amish and Plain Communities. Why is this important? Research has shown that Amish children have high levels of untreated tooth decay. The prevalence for three to five-year-olds is 4-fold higher with the Amish than with the general population: 88.6% compared to 20.48%.[1] Since Wisconsin has the fourth largest Plain Community population in the United States, 24,105 persons living across 64 settlements, the Wisconsin State Advisory Group chose to help this population make informed decisions about their teeth. They accomplished this goal because Elizabeth Miniatt, Library Director for D R Moon Library, has a long-standing relationship with this very closed community. Because the local Bishops trusted Elizabeth and her library staff, they approved of an activity book that helps educate families about why and how to brush and floss daily. They also appreciated the free toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste donated from a local dentist.
This year, it was a thrill to successfully launch a 12-week virtual Spring internship with an LIS student. Darlene and I hoped building out a Moodle “internship hub” in advance would not only enable our student to accomplish their project work, but would also provide an engaging experience. We are currently fine-tuning the Moodle platform in preparation for our Spring 2025 internship – this time around, we will host four students!
The year 2024 saw Region 6 wrapping up Year 3 of our grant with NLM and delving into Year 4. What stands out most for me during this time is the impressive work of our Parter Outreach Program (POP) ambassadors. Outreach topics ranged “From DNA to Beer”; CHIS training for public librarians; Black men’s health and wellness; secondary students learning PubMed; a medicinal garden tour; rural and senior health; and much, much more!
Region 6 is not the only one who thinks our POP ambassadors are outstanding! Two of this year’s POP ambassadors received national kudos for their work. Katherine Chew, University of Minnesota, was honored as the Michael E. DeBakey Librarian Outreach and Community Award for 2024; and Missy Creed, consumer health librarian at The Ohio State University in Columbus, received the prestigious “I Love My Librarian Award” from the American Library Association (ALA). We thank all our POPs for their efforts in 2024 and look forward to our continued collaboration in the new year.
Developing the Community Mental Health Information Community Partnerships Toolkit was a meaningful experience for me this year. It was driven by the Iowa State Advisory Group’s need to address community mental health disparities. Mental health is a pressing public health issue, and access to reliable, evidence-based information is often a barrier for many individuals seeking support. This toolkit was born out of a recognition that community organizations, libraries, public health departments, and other local partners are uniquely positioned to bridge this gap but often lack the necessary resources and guidance to do so effectively.
The need for this toolkit became apparent as we observed increasing rates of mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, across demographics—from teens and seniors to veterans, rural populations, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Reports from the CDC and other health organizations have highlighted these alarming trends, coupled with the reality that mental health resources are often fragmented, inaccessible, or underutilized in many communities. By creating this comprehensive resource, we aimed to provide a clear pathway for community leaders to establish partnerships, promote mental health awareness, and improve access to support systems. I especially valued the chance to create something beyond raising awareness to foster real, measurable change in local communities. The toolkit encourages a holistic approach, including building sustainable partnerships, increasing outreach, and tailoring programs to meet specific community needs. I am proud of the collaborative effort that brought this project to life.
I have really enjoyed seeing the outcome of the State Advisory Groups. We engaged with people who are passionate about improving quality information resources for their communities and the resulting projects show that working together we can create quality resources for very little funding. I also want to thank the staff for all their hard work in making the advisory groups so successful. I know it is very labor-intensive working with so many different individuals and getting consensus on what is most important and what can be done to improve and support the identified topics.
ABOUT Miles Dietz-Castel