Litchfield County (CT): Focused Outreach Report Back

Posted by benniefinch on June 25th, 2024 Posted in: Blog, Weekly Newsletter
Tags: Focused Outreach, mental health, public libraries, recovery, resources, substance use disorder

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Each year (for us that is May 1- April 30), Region 7 “focuses” on learning about two geographic areas.  In this blog post, there is a brief introduction to our Focused Outreach model and some of the things we learned and want to share about that work in Litchfield County, CT. You might recognize this photo of the West Cornwall Covered Bridge, located in Litchfield County, from the NNLM.gov “About Us” page for Region 7.

What is Focused Outreach again?

As part of the work of the NNLM, Region 7 conducts outreach to specific rural counties in CT, ME, MA, NH, NY, RI, and VT. Rural Health is one of our Regional Priorities. The goal is to introduce, or re-introduce, the Network of the National Library of Medicine as a source of training in health information resources and funding for health-related projects. In addition, this provides an opportunity for us to learn more about the health information access needs and priorities of the communities we serve, providing valuable insight for our work and to bring back to the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Our process involves conducting interviews with librarians, educators, public health workers, and others involved in health information outreach. Note: our work focuses on health information resources and delivery rather than health care itself. Our focus includes access to the internet and technology devices.

We also search for available data for local health information priorities. Data supports and expands on the health concerns shared in the interviews.

We try to identify areas of partnership and how we can support health information access. We offer training on National Library of Medicine resources such as MedlinePlus for consumer health information.

Finally, we report on findings to our interviewees, the Regional Office (R7), and the National Library of Medicine User Experience Program (UEP).

Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County is in the northwest corner of Connecticut. Litchfield County is the largest county in area and the least densely populated of Connecticut. The area is quite beautiful including a portion of the Appalachian Trail, the covered bridge above, and much more.

Connecticut is made up of 169 “towns” each of which function fairly independently. There are 26 towns in Litchfield County. Connecticut counties have no centralized government, so each town is responsible for their own services, such as schools and libraries.

What we did

From May 2023 to April 2024, we met with representatives from one hospital library, two public libraries, the director of adult education for the regional educational service center, representatives from the Area Agency on Aging, State Office of Rural Health, local Council of Governments and one community-based organization.  I also had the opportunity to meet with a group of library directors and to attend a NWCARES meeting to learn more about the community and to share about NLM and NNLM resources.

What we learned

Despite the uniqueness of each town government in Connecticut, one of the key things we found is the many partnerships, collaborations, and networks that exist in northwest Connecticut.

The Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG) includes 21 of the 26 towns in Litchfield County. “NHCOG’s mission is to make Northwest Connecticut a better place to live, do business, and visit by providing a forum for local officials to discuss issues of intermunicipal concern, promote regional cooperation, and direct various regional initiatives to enhance government planning, efficiency and service delivery.”

NW CARES is the “Northwest Coalition of Agencies Related to Elder Services in Canaan, Falls Village, Lakeville/Salisbury, Norfolk, Sharon, Cornwall, Warren and Kent. Our mission is to identify, clarify and seek solutions to issues in service and activities that affect the elderly and their families.  And since these possible solutions affect young as well as old, our scope extends to programs available to all ages.  This resource guide was developed to provide information to help you choose more effectively from the array of services available in our area.”

Community Resources

• Libraries supporting older adults through technology support, home delivery, and intergenerational programming.
• Existing networks support social service organizations and provide public directory of local resources.
• Connecticut Office of Rural Health secured a CDC grant to fund a Rural Health Resource Coordinator in partnership with Northwest Hills Council of Governments to complete needs assessment and resource mapping. Funding secured for continuation to develop networks to support adolescent mental health.
• Through NW CARES partnership, the Area Agency on Aging applied for and received grant funding to support a system of transportation for older adults in the service area.
• NHCOG also supports transportation to “non-emergency medical appointments for the elderly and disabled living in the NHCOG region” through the Rural Independent Transportation System.
• Regional educational service center offers services across the lifespan, beginning with prenatal education. In addition to supporting school systems, early childhood education, they serve adult learners including those with limited English proficiency and citizenship classes.
• Programming in schools to support healthy relationships.
• Library partnerships with agencies and organizations.
• Library collections which support health.
• Other organizations and collaborations referenced by those we met such as: Litchfield County Opiate Task Force, The Northwest Corner Prevention Network, Western Connecticut Coalition, Community Action Agency of Western CT and  New Opportunities.

Themes

These are some of the health-related issues that were raised throughout meetings and interviews.

• Environmental Health Concerns – Housatonic River (post-industrial water contamination), air quality during the forest fires in the summer of 2023, Ozone identified by City Health Dashboard, lack of affordable housing, rent burden, presence of lead in older buildings, flooding in summer 2023
• Aging Population
• Bridging the Digital Divide -Broadband Access, infrastructure issues, need for skills training for devices as well as information literacy skills for evaluating health information
• Access to health care – Difficulty getting appointments due to medical practices closing/limited number of health care providers, potential of losing maternity care at Sharon Hospital, transportation to specialty care; small libraries may not have private spaces to support telehealth
• Mental Health – social isolation, loneliness, youth mental health, LGBTQ Health and Mental Health, stigma around mental health
• Health conditions – Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Nutrition, Diabetes, SUD, Naloxone
• Language Needs Identified – Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese
• Income and resource disparity – Income disparity identified in City Health Dashboard as well as reports from community members. There are many NYC part-time residents, leading to fewer children in the public schools. Patrons use library fax and computer resources frequently to access employment and housing.

Accomplishments

We were able to introduce ourselves to several organizations and to provide a demo of MedlinePlus, the consumer health resource of the NLM, for a group of professionals. We also provided a training on MedlinePlus for library staff. We developed relationships with new and existing members. We connected members and organizations to resources and with other NNLM members and staff with shared interests. We were able to fund a few library staff to attend the Connecticut Library Association Conference.

We are grateful to those who take the time to share about their work and community and we learn new things each year. In our current year, we are focusing on Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego Counties in New York and western Providence County, Rhode Island. Please reach out if you live or work in these areas!