University Times

Using the Internet as a quick and easy source of consumer health information is a two-edged sword.

While high-quality information is available on-line, health care providers worry about the equally large amount of information that is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete.

The National Library of Medicine has awarded a $40,000 grant to Pitt's Health Sciences Library System (HSLS) for an 18-month project designed to encourage public use of reliable on-line health information.

"We will partner with a variety of health information seekers, including consumers, public librarians, special needs populations and health educators, to enhance public access to health information," said HSLS Associate Director Barbara Epstein. "Each partnership will focus on access, selection and evaluation of appropriate health information that will enable and empower consumers and patients."

HSLS will work with librarians at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Library Association, students and faculty of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and the Center on Deafness, members of the southwest region of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP), and students attending the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Health Care. "For each group, we will offer specialized training on how to use the Internet to find reliable health information," Epstein said.

HSLS also has launched a web site containing health and medical topics written in non-technical language.

The new HSLS Health Information for the Consumer web site (www.hsls.pitt.edu/chi/) promotes learning about individual health or disease issues and builds progressively from dictionary definitions, through health topics, drug information, medical tests and procedures, local resources, evidence-based medicine, and physician referral sections. Librarians say this structured approach allows consumers to build an understanding of a topic, which in turn can help them to formulate queries regarding the tests, treatment, and prognosis for their medical condition.

Each section has a special feature called Keys to Information, which supplements the Internet resources listed on the site. Information about agencies and organizations in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, including addresses and phone numbers, also is featured on the site.

Also under its health information project, HSLS is presenting workshops aimed at introducing public librarians to medical information and resources, collection development and health and medical databases, together with an overview of evidence-based medicine.

More than 90 public librarians and staff participated in Workshop I, "Introduction to Medical Information," last month. Workshop II, "Internet Resources and Databases," will be offered on a variety of dates and times between January and March 2001. Workshop III, "Information on Complementary and Alternative Medicine," will be offered next spring and summer.

For more information about the workshops, contact Charles Wessel at 648-8730 (e-mail: cbw@pitt.edu) or Jody Wozar at 383-9947 (jwozar@pitt.edu).

For information about the overall HSLS project, contact Barbara Epstein, HSLS associate director, at 648-7850 (bepstein+@pitt.edu).