This is a huge topic. I see this from two sides - the health care providers who serve low income and underserved populations are themselves experiencing barriers to information, and the people they serve have barriers.
Medical literature is an expensive product. Libraries at medical schools and hospitals pay enormous amounts of money for subscriptions to journals, databases, etc, so that providers and students can have access to the most current and up to date medical research. Those not affiliated with these larger institutions have to find creative ways to stay up to date. The latest NIH mandate that research be available through open access is a big step toward filling this gap, and I will be interested to see what kinds of changes this makes. When you consider how a person recently diagnosed with an illness tries to find more information on treatment options, etc, those who have little or no access to the Internet are at a disadvantage. Many public libraries are stepping in to fill this gap, as are many medical libraries. In Nebraska, there is a unique and wonderful state funded service housed at the University of Nebraska Medical Centers library called "Consumer Health Information Resource Services". Anyone in the state of Nebraska can call by phone or email the CHIRS desk and request that a librarian locate information on a health question. http://www.unmc.edu/library/consumer/ But, how do people find out about services like these and others across the country? As a medical librarian, I rely on contacts with community organizations to spread the word on these kinds of tools. How much more can we expect of these organizations, though? They are already overwhelmed and overworked. I feel like I have been rambling here - not being clear because its such a huge issue. I haven't even begun to think globally... Siobhan Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, MSLIS Community Outreach Liaison National Network of Libraries of Medicine, MidContinental Region Creighton University Health Sciences Library 2500 California Plaza Omaha, NE 68178 800-338-7657 in CO,KS,MO,NE,UT,WY 402-280-4156 outside the region [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://nnlm.gov/mcr/bhic/ (Web Log) http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/siobhanchamp-blackwell (Digital Divide Network Profile) Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ilan Tsekhman Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 1:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [DDN] The Digital Divide and Human Health As promised here is the suggested conversation topic for August (a few days early!). That a myriad of socio-economic factors influence human health is well known. But how about the digital divide in particular? Are there implications on human health resulting from the digital divide? Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences on the subject. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
