Health Information for Kids, Teens and Seniors, Oh My

1
Health Information for Kids, Teens and Seniors,
Oh My!

• Kelli Ham, MLIS
• Consumer Health Coordinator
• NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region
• An Infopeople Webinar
• October 28, 2008
• 12pm-1pm

Infopeople webcasts are supported by the U.S.
Institute of Museum and Library Services under
the provisions of the Library Services and
Technology Act, administered in California by the
State Librarian.
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Objectives

• Attendees will be able to
• understand the different health information needs
  of children, teens and older adults
• refer users to quality age-appropriate health
  resources
• provide health programming of interest to users
  at various life stages
• engage community partners to enhance services

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Agenda
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Different Ages, Different Needs
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Health Information for Young People

• Young people have health information needs, but
  they may not think of it in those terms.

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Information-seeking Behavior

• Young children rely on trusted adults for
  information
• Older kids more likely to ask friends rather than
  an adult
• Teens more likely to go online or look up
  information on their own
• Often tech-savvy, but not about evaluating
  quality of health information on the web

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What is on their Minds?(The Short List.)

• Young children
• body parts, pooping and peeing
• Grade school
• body fluids (barf, snot, sweat)
• Tweens
• puberty!
• Teens
• acne, dieting, sex (not necessarily in that order)

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What Do They Actually Ask?

• Poll Do you serve young patrons?
• If so, please describe one or two
  health-related requests youve received. What
  are some challenges in serving young users?

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Kids Health Info on the Web

• The Good News
• Lots of quality content for all ages
• Interactive websites
• Great opportunities for librarians to teach

• The Bad News
• Lots of bad content
• Kids lack evaluation skills
• Few opportunities to learn best resources on
  their own

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Great Online Starting Points

• KidsHealth.org A health site for kids, teens and
  parents, including a teachers section with
  lesson plans for different ages and grades.
• BAM! This site from the CDC is for kids 9-13
  years old. The Teachers Corner includes
  activities and guides on health topics.
• Yucky From Discovery Health for Kids, the Gross
  Cool Body site is an interactive, fun and
  informative site on things like Pimples, burps,
  farts and funnybones. That says it all!

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Kids Health

• kidshealth.org

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Different Styles for Kids and Teens
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KidsHealth in the Classroom
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KidsHealth Game Closet

• Experiments and games offer plenty of ideas for
  fun activities

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BAM! Body and Mind from the CDC

• BAM! Classroom has numerous activities of
  interest to kids and teens
• bam.gov

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BAM! Teachers Corner
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Yucky from Discovery Kids

• yucky.discovery.com

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Teacher Center on the Yuckiest Site
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Additional Kid-Friendly Sites

• girlshealth.gov
• mypyramid.gov/kids
• toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov/
• MedlinePlus Childrens and Teens pages

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All about Girls Health
For girls 10-16 years old girlshealth.gov
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MyPyramid.gov/kids
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Blast Off Game in MyPyramid.gov
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MedlinePlus Childrens Page
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MedlinePlus Teens Page
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ToxMystery for Children Ages 7-10 Years

• toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov

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Interactive Fun and Learning
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Environmental Health and Genetics

• For older students
• ToxTown
• Genetics Home Reference

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Tox TownResource about environmental hazards in
common places

• toxtown.nlm.nih.gov

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Welcome to the Farm
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Genetics Home ReferenceUser-friendly site to
help understand genetics

• ghr.nlm.nih.gov

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In General

• Young people
• like to have fun while learning
• prefer activities (not passivities)
• like teaching or learning from other kids
• enjoy creating the content or planning the
  activity
• want to use technology

The trick is tying it together with health as
the program idea.
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FACT Health topics are inherently dull, boring,
or embarrassing

• So how do you make it fun?
• Wacky titles already in your collection
• Utilize the web games, quizzes
• Use technology whenever possible
• Involve your young patrons ask them!

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What Works in your Library?

• Story time for the very young
• Demonstrations and hands-on experiments
• Games, activities, scavenger hunts
• Technology
• online interactive resources
• Wii Fit Dance, Dance Revolution

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Use Popular Titles for Storytime Ideas or Fun
Activities for Older Kids
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Reaching Teens through Technology
Hold training classes geared to kids teens!
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Consider This

• Content created by and for teens, kids
• health topic pathfinders
• podcasts
• video tutorials
• peer tutor programs
• Jeopardy-type quiz shows, games in PowerPoint

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Partnership Ideas

• Schools
• Librarian, instructional media staff, school
  nurse
• Hospitals
• Librarian, pediatrics staff, patient education
  dept.
• Youth organizations
• Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts
• Fitness programs like Students Run LA
• Peer tutoring programs

High school peer tutors teach MedlinePlus a
model for
Hispanic outreach J Med Libr Assoc. 2005
April 93(2) 243252.
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Health Information for Older Adults

• Good health information is needed at every stage,
  from the Boomer generation to the elderly

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What Appeals to Older Adults?

• They
• want quality information
• appreciate help with technology
• are likely to have more health issues and
  concerns

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Common Themes for Older Adults
What are some common themes or issues for
health-related questions from older adults in
your setting?
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Information Needs of Seniors

• TOPIC

• MEETING THE NEED

• Diseases and conditions
• Wellness and prevention
• Alternative therapies
• Healthy aging
• Medicare and insurance
• Caregiving, end-of-life

• Books, print materials
• Videos, DVDs
• Appropriate websites
• Directories of services
• Targeted programs
• Computer training

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Trends in Information-seeking Behavior

• Ranges from traditional to high-tech

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Seniors and Health Information

• Becoming more proactive about their health
• Willing to seek second opinion (which may be why
  they are at the library!)
• Becoming more tech-savvy (but not always)
• Some will still prefer print or media resources
• Older seniors more likely to trust doctors
  advice

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Best Starting Places

• NIHSeniorHealth
• nihseniorhealth.gov
• MedlinePlus
• medlineplus.gov
• National Institute on Aging
• nia.nih.gov

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NIHSeniorHealthDesigned especially for older
adults

• nihseniorhealth.gov

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MedlinePlus

• medlineplus.gov

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National Institute on Aging

• nia.nih.gov

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Benefits and Insurance Programs

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• cms.hhs.gov
• GovBenefits
• govbenefits.gov
• Benefits Checkup
• benefitscheckup.org

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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

• cms.hhs.gov

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Medicare Home Page
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Resources for CaregiversTools to compare
hospitals, nursing homes, and home health care
services provides help for caregivers.

• medicare.gov/caregivers

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GovBenefits

• govbenefits.gov

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Benefits Checkup

• benefitscheckup.org

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Senior Housing Locator
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Program Ideas for Seniors

• Fitness and wellness pedometers for walking
  programs, Tai Chi, chair yoga
• Medicare and insurance benefits talks
• Talks by local healthcare providers, such as Fit
  to a T osteoporosis awareness sessions
• Nutritious cooking for one or two
• Caregiver workshops
• Computer training especially for seniors

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Helping Older Adults Search for Health
Information Online A Toolkit for Trainers

• nihseniorhealth.gov/toolkit

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Partnerships Make Sense

• Extend services
• Draw on strengths and assets of partner
• Can achieve more together than alone
• Serve larger audience

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Ideas for Partners to Serve Seniors

• Senior centers
• Nearby hospital librarian
• Churches
• HUD Neighborhood Networks
• Community-based organizations

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Discussion Final Thoughts

• Poll Please describe either a health-related
  program you have held in your library, or at
  least one idea you might try.

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Thank You!
Kelli Ham, Consumer Health Coordinator kkham_at_libra
ry.ucla.edu NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region UCLA
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library