A Reflection On: Libraries reaching out with health information to vulnerable populations: guidance from research on information seeking and use By Brenda Dervin and Joan N. Huber

Libraries reaching out with health information to vulnerable populations: guidance from research on information seeking and use
Brenda Dervin and Joan N. Huber
J Med Libr Assoc. 2005 October; 93(4 Suppl): S74–S80.
PMCID: PMC1255756

One of the jobs mantled, though often forgotten, on the public library by the public is that of health care facilitator. Medical evaluations, treatment or procedures, are not within the purview of a library staff, but they do stand at the forefront of dissemination of health care information to those who do not have medical insurance or the public looking for information on illnesses.  This article offers a 25-point plan for a public library to allow both commonalities and contradictions to be informative, particularly as they relate to how the flexibility offered by electronic technologies may allow trained librarians to serve user needs more effectively and efficiently.

Before laying out the 25-point plan in concise detail, Dervn and Huber describe the medical needs of the public from a community and the challenge of a library to first advertise the expertise in the medical field then meeting the needs of the patron that walks through the doors seeking medical help. What Dervin and Huber describes in not unlike the struggle a public library faces on a regular basis. Attracting patrons for anything today is an uphill battle, but concerning medical information the public library holds a slight advantage. 

Where a patron can easily cruise the internet for medical advice, billing information, and even diagnosis from new online medical facilities, the library is perhaps the best free place to have that information disseminated for them.  Often medical cites can be overwhelming and even over inform patrons with a few simple clicks.  This is especially true with the elderly who are often already intimidated by technology from the onset.  Here the librarian helps patrons research for the medical information they seek, just as they would if the patron sought information on rocket building or pet care. Dervin and Huber also address, to a lesser extent, the job of the librarian within the medical community as a profession information filter. Doctors can benefit by using the librarian as a translator for issues ranging from complex medical procedures, to billing information and insurance claims. 

After addressing these issues, Dervin and Huber move to their 25 specific points in which the public library can be of service within the medical realm.  Perhaps the most interesting point the authors make is that of familiarity.  If the patron is already familiar with a library, it provides a perfect vehicle for sharing, and researching medical information.  Patrons who know what their public library is capable of are more apt to seeking out help within the bounds of the library. This provides a pivotal link between the sometime stuffy, white lab coated world of the medical field and the average patient.

Dervin and Huber’s article captures a vital role the public library can play for the community it services and offer 25 well-articulated yet completely practical strategies for any library to improve their relations with the community.  From field reference questions about illnesses to helping field disability and insurance claims, the public library can be one of the most important links between its patrons and the often-confusing medical world.