What is Black Maternal Health Week?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hundreds of women in the United States die each year during pregnancy or within the first year after delivery. While eighty percent of these deaths are deemed preventable, the numbers continue to rise, and Black women are the most impacted. In fact, Black women are three times as likely to die during pregnancy or from a pregnancy-related cause than White women.

The NNLM actively supports public libraries in addressing health disparities and increasing access to maternal health information in their communities. This effort includes the Black Maternal Health Toolkit, a series of informative webinars available on the NNLM YouTube page, and the NNLM Reading Club focused on Black Maternal Health. Additionally, the NNLM collaborates with the All of Us Research Program, emphasizing the importance of research contributions to improve maternal health outcomes.

Founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance,  Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) is a week-long campaign held each year, April 11-17,​ “to build awareness, activism, and community-building​ to amplify ​the voices, perspectives and lived experiences of Black Mamas and birthing people.” BMHW has now become a national health observance.

In support of BMHW 2024, NNLM is hosting two live events in April.

• On April 11th, join us at 2pm ET/1pm CT/ 12pm MT/11am PT for Unveiling the Power of Community Partnerships: Transforming Black Maternal Health Outreach with Sarah A. Montrichard-Ramón Cabrera from the Brooklyn Public Library.
• April 17th, we host Vu-An Foster, the President and CEO of Life After 2 Losses for Life After 2 Losses: Support Advocacy and Health Literacy for a Healthy Pregnancy at 1pm ET/12pm CT/11am MT/10am PT.

Visit Black Maternal Health Week | NNLM to learn more.

Also, visit the Black Maternal Health Toolkit | NNLM for additional resources and health information.

How Libraries Support Health Equity

Through programming, community partnerships, collection displays, and more – libraries are responding to their communities’ needs for Black maternal health information. Here are just a few examples:

• Brooklyn Public Library currently has an NNLM All of Us Program Partnership Award, which allows them to collaborate with their local All of Us Research Program NYC partner at Weill Cornell. Leveraging the library’s robust history of advocating for Black maternal health, they’ve used the partnership to secure speakers for maternal health presentations as well as a panel discussion and resource fair on maternal mental health. Their project demonstrates the library’s proactive approach to tackling crucial health issues and capitalizing on community connections. NNLM funding opens at various times throughout the year, you can view available opportunities on our funding page.
• Other examples of public libraries connecting patrons to Black maternal health information include online book lists at Boston Public Library, Cincinnati Public Library’s Black Maternity Matters program series, and resource pages and programming by Los Angeles Public Library.
• Other non-public libraries also have demonstrated a commitment to providing access to relevant health information through NNLM-funded collection development, like the University of Portland and their collection equity award, which provided collection resources on this topic. Additionally, the University of Buffalo used its NNLM All of Us Community Award to conduct various activities on Black Maternal Health, including a community symposium and movie screening in collaboration with their local public library, while sharing information about the All of Us Research Program.
• “Laboring with Hope” to Improve Maternal Health Disparities – In August 2022, the PNC-MLA Diversity and Health Equity Speaker series hosted Dr. Nakeitra L. Burse, who presented the webinar “Storytelling as a Public Health Strategy to Address Inequities in Maternal Health Outcomes.” Dr. Burse is the owner and CEO of Six Dimensions which produced the film Laboring with Hope, a 30-minute documentary that combines personal stories and expert perspectives to provide a call to action to implement, support, and uplift strategies to improve maternal health and birth outcomes.
  • NNLM Region 5 offered access to Laboring with Hope in response to interest expressed by attendees during Dr. Burse’s well-received webinar. Region 5 members were also offered the opportunity to host free viewings of the documentary in their communities, sharing successful programs and discussions. Since January 2023, NNLM members have actively participated in the program, incorporating the film into nursing courses, organizing library viewings, and collaborating with various departments during Black Maternal Health Week.

NNLM Resources for Black Birthing Health

The NNLM actively assists public libraries in tackling health inequality by equipping them with maternal health information resources for their patrons. Here are just a few examples of NNLM resources:

• You can find a series of past webinars from NNLM on the topic of maternal health by searching the NNLM YouTube page. Here you’ll be able to view previous classes and webinars, including those from last year’s Black Maternal Health Week events.
• The NNLM Reading Club compiles a list of “ready-to-use” reading club materials based on a different health topic each month. Last year’s theme for April was Black Maternal Health, and resources are still available for continued public use.
• The NNLM’s partnership with the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program collaborates with public libraries to raise awareness about the importance of diversity in biomedical research as a way to better understand health, especially in communities that have been traditionally underrepresented in medical research. The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program aims to reflect the rich diversity of our country and help us learn more about how genes, health habits, and the environment intersect and affect our health. Researchers are already using All of Us Research Program data to better understand health inequalities and the reproductive health of Black birthing people.
• The Birthing Persons Toolkit was created in NNLM Region 5 to support libraries in providing health information to those who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant. The toolkit includes messages, hashtags, graphics, and handouts to support library staff with health information for birthing persons. These carefully selected resources are to help patrons make informed choices about pregnancy care. Learn more about the toolkit in this blog post.

Additional Resources

• Hear Her Campaign (https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/index.html) – The Hear Her campaign supports CDC’s efforts to prevent pregnancy-related deaths by sharing potentially life-saving messages about urgent warning signs.
• MedlinePlus Pregnancy resources – This health topic page provides an introduction to the resources available on MedlinePlus related to pregnancy.
• HRSA National Maternal Mental Health Hotline – The National Maternal Health Hotline provides 24/7, free, confidential support before, during, and after pregnancy. Download and use free materials, both in English and Spanish, to help promote. 60+ languages supported by hotline.

References

2024 Black Maternal Health Week – Black Mamas Matter Alliance

Working Together to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality | Health Equity Features | CDC

Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data from Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 US States, 2017–2019 | CDC

The post Advancing Equity in Black Birthing Health: Leveraging NNLM Resources and Public Library Partnerships first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

So, what is graphic medicine? Why comics for health information and literacy? And how can public libraries get involved? Before answering these questions, a note about the word “comics” as an umbrella term. Graphic novels are comics, webcomics are comics, weekly/biweekly floppy issues of a comic are comics. In this case, we’re talking about—to paraphrase Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art—pictures and words used to communicate information.

What is Graphic Medicine?

Health and disease are a part of human experience, so as long as people have been making comics, they’ve told stories about health and disease. In 2007, Ian Williams, a medical doctor and author/illustrator of The Bad Doctor, brought the idea together under the umbrella term of “graphic medicine,” defining it as “the intersection between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare.” In other words, graphic medicine is comics that have a health, wellness, or disease theme or storyline that can help us think and talk about health topics that may be complex or stigmatized.

Why Graphic Medicine?

Graphic medicine helps people recall information by pairing complex information with the cause-and-effect structure of a story, providing context clues about meaning in both words and pictures, and introducing characters that the reader identifies with. It’s easier to remember the progression of events in a story where one thing leads to another, jogging the reader’s memory, rather than dry facts.

Additionally, presenting information in comics form appeals to a wider audience than traditionally presented science or health information. People who are reluctant to pick up a prose or reference book on a health topic may find a comic more appealing. More readers mean more people getting the information. Comics can also be a safe way to introduce sometimes complex or contentious topics. Reading someone else’s story can give the reader some distance from very personal subjects while also putting a human face on the issue.

Who Is Graphic Medicine For?

Since comics are for everyone, graphic medicine is also for everyone including kids, teens, adults, medical professionals and students, patients and their families, and the public.

Medical Professionals and Students: Reading graphic medicine can help this audience think about patients not as a set of symptoms but as whole people with lived experiences outside of the doctor’s office. Engaging with graphic medicine can also help improve observational skills since much of the action in comics happens non-verbally or “off-screen,” between panels. In a clinical setting, there are times when patients can’t or won’t give a full history requiring clinicians to “fill in the gaps.”

Patients: Comics can help connect patients with stories of people who had similar experiences, helping to reduce feelings of stigma and isolation. Comics can help facilitate patient/provider conversations by helping patients understand what they could expect and helping patients generate questions to ask providers.

Family and Friends: Comics can help family and friends learn more about what a loved one is going through to further reduce stigma and isolation. Learning more can help strengthen a patient’s support system.

General Public: Comics can help reduce stigma by presenting complex and difficult health topics in approachable and even personal ways that create an emotional bond with characters and situations that people may not often be exposed to.​ Graphic medicine for the general public can also address misconceptions, promote public awareness, and enhance understanding.

Graphic Medicine for Public Libraries: Collection Development

The first place to look for graphic medicine titles is in your existing collection. You may already have the aforementioned Hey, Kiddo since it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2018 or Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast, which was a New York Times’ Bestseller.

Resources to find titles in your existing collection or grow your collection include:

• graphicmedicine.org for book reviews, podcasts, other educational materials and more.
• WorldCat subject headings like graphic medicine (comics) and [health topic] comic books, strips, etc., for example: breast cancer comic books, strips, etc.
• The “Graphic Medicine Collection” in the NNLM Diverse Voices in Health & Medicine Collections.
• Search “graphic medicine” and “libguide” to find resource lists, title lists and example collections.

Graphic Medicine Programming

Some public libraries working in graphic medicine have created separate collections either on their shelves or in their catalogues. But incorporating and using graphic medicine can take many forms big and small.

• Include comics in book displays for health observances. For example, titles like Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown or A Fire Story by Brian Fies can be included on a display for National Preparedness Month in September.
• Include graphic medicine titles for book clubs. Whether it’s a graphic novel book club or not, there are graphic medicine books that appeal to book groups interested in many different genres from memoirs to non-fiction to history.
• Put on programming that encourages people to make their own comics. Making comics promotes comics reading skills. And it reminds people that they don’t have to be a world-class artist to enjoy drawing or to communicate with pictures.

Learn More with NLM and NNLM Resources

• Resources from NNLM Region 7 include discussion guides to support book clubs and a listserv to stay up to date on developments in the field. (NOTE: some resources are only available to partners in R7)
• NNLM Graphic Medicine playlist with recorded classes on creating graphic medicine book kits and discussion guides, graphic medicine programming and more.
• Learn more with the NLM Travel Exhibition Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived and Well-Drawn! including educational materials that are ready to use.

The post Graphic Medicine and Public Libraries: A Tool for Health Literacy first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Having unused or expired prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines at home is not something new or uncommon. Leaving expired prescriptions and OTC medicines at home can increase the potential for misuse either by yourself or others. You may be asking yourself, “When should I dispose of medicines?” This section will discuss resources on when and how to dispose of medicines safely. First, we will dive into MedlinePlus, a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which offers a short guide on unused medicines. According to the guide, you should get rid of medicines when:
● Your prescription is changed but you still have some medicine left.
● You feel better and your provider says you should stop taking the medicine.
● OTC medicines that you no longer need.
● Medicines are past their expiration dates.
Medicines that are past their expiration date may not be as effective or could be dangerous to take due to changes in the ingredients (Medline Plus, 2022). These drugs could also be misused accidentally or intentionally by others in your home. Before taking any medication, always read the label first for directions on intended use and expiration date to avoid misuse.

Role of Public Libraries
Now that we know about the potential misuse of prescription drugs in your home, you may be asking “How can my library get involved?” Libraries can engage with their communities and patrons by developing programs on safe drug disposal. Library programs can include: assisting local law enforcement or public health departments by giving an educational presentation, creating book displays, and printing educational flyers on safe ways to dispose of drugs. Libraries can also share information on drug disposal sites in your community. Prescription drug disposal programs are a great way to increase health literacy, reduce misuse, and collaborate with partners such as local law enforcement or public health departments.

Pharmacy
Sometimes a medicine may have disposal instructions on its label or informational guide. If not, your local pharmacist may be able to help. In addition to offering advice, retail pharmacies like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens along with hospitals may offer on-site medicine drop-off boxes, mail back programs and other ways to help you safely dispose of unused medicines. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) website has a list of authorized drug collection sites in your community.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
You may also want to check if there is a drug-take-back program happening in your community. Drug-take-back programs safely dispose of medicines by burning them (MedlinePlus, 2022). The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) hosts the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April and October each year. The program offers anonymous disposal of unneeded drugs at over 4,000 locations. The aim is to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. In April 2023, this program was responsible for collecting 663,725 lbs. (332 tons) of drug at 4,955 collection sites located in 49 states (Drug Enforcement Agency, 2023).

It is important to know where to safely dispose of these drugs before potential misuse occurs. Typically law enforcement agencies host disposal locations, but the library may be a less intimidating option. You can learn more about partnering with your local law enforcement agency to set up a collection site at your library by visiting the DEA for a list of law enforcement agencies that are participating in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. You can also contact your local public health department for more information on Prescription Drug Take Back programs in your area. This could be a great way to partner with organizations in your community and educate your patrons. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day runs on October 28, 2023, from 10 AM – 2 PM. How will your library participate?

Public libraries can provide accurate, high quality healthcare information about the misuse of prescription and over the counter drugs to your patrons. Libraries can also promote local and national programs, such as the National Take Back Days that encourage the safe disposal of these drugs in your community.

This article was written by the Substance Use Disorder Working Group of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). The SUD Working Group explores a variety of health topics and their connection with substance use disorder. Visit the Substance Use Disorder Subject Guide for more information on resources and webinars on substance use disorder that you can use in your library. The NNLM is dedicated to making accurate health information available through libraries and helping those in your community lead healthier lives.

Resources
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol and Substance Misuse. Atlanta, GA: CDC; 2008 [reviewed 2018 Feb 1; cited 2023 Sept 18]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/health-strategies/substance-misuse/index.html
• Drug Enforcement Agency. Take Back Day. Springfield, VA: DEA; 2018 [reviewed 2018 Feb1: cited 2023 Sept. 15]. Available from: https://www.dea.gov/takebackday#results
• MedlinePlus [Internet]. How and when to get rid of unused medicines; Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); [updated 2020 Jun 24; reviewed 2022 Oct 10; cited 2023 Sept 18]; [about 5 p.]. Available from: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000943.htm

NNLM Substance Use Disorder Working Group members: Chavis, Health Literacy Librarian, Brandon Kennedy, Health Information Strategist, Dana Abbey, Engagement Specialist, Jessica Kilham, Associate Director, Kathy Downing, Digital Library Coordinator

The post Take ‘em Back: The Importance of Proper Prescription Drug Disposal first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public libraries are foundational partners in the digital infrastructure of communities nationwide. They are also an important part of the NNLM’s national membership base and user community. Public library workers have been active participants in the work of the NNLM Telehealth Interest Group, whose efforts we feature in this month’s column.

The NNLM Telehealth Interest Group launched in 2021 in recognition of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of telehealth services, which increased access to care for some while also exposing persistent divides in both digital and health equity. NNLM saw a clear opportunity to support library and other health information workers in understanding the potential role of their organizations in the broader digital health landscape. In June 2023, the Telehealth Interest Group launched a free, national online course called Telehealth 101: What Libraries Need to Know. The objectives of this course are for participants to:

• Recognize the different approaches/models libraries may use to provide telehealth services;
• Identify infrastructure-related resources available to libraries interested in providing telehealth services (i.e., partnerships; physical space; technology and connectivity; funding; etc.);
• Understand the role of the library in supporting digital skills training for telehealth; and
• Explore privacy and policy considerations for offering telehealth services within libraries.

Since that time, 88 information professionals from public libraries, academic libraries, health science libraries, hospital libraries and other stakeholder organizations have participated the course. We’ve all benefited from the generous knowledge of library telehealth pioneers like the Pottsboro Area Library in Texas (featured in this video from NNLM),  Delaware Libraries #GetConnectedDE initiative, and Hawai’i State Public Library’s strategic telehealth collaboration. We’ve highlighted emerging research about the telehealth infrastructure capabilities of libraries in Virginia. We’ve learned about programs like Libraries Health Connect supported by the Maine State Library, and Telehealth in Libraries led by the Idaho Commission for Libraries. We know that there are many other library telehealth programs already operating or preparing to operate and are eager to share learning as it emerges.

NNLM’s Telehealth Interest Group is planning a webinar series to continue sharing emerging research and best practices for library workers interested in telehealth. Our first session is scheduled for Thursday, October 12, 2023, and will feature speakers from the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers (NCTRC). NCTRC describes itself as “a collaborative of 12 regional and 2 national Telehealth Resource Centers committed to implementing telehealth programs for rural and underserved communities. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Health Resources and Services Administration, we provide timely and accurate information on telehealth across the nation.”

Experts from the NCTRC have collaborated with libraries and other community anchor institutions on several telehealth projects. Webinar attendees will learn more about resources available from NCTRC; how to identify the Telehealth Resource Center (TRC) serving their community; and strategies for successful collaborations between libraries and TRCs. Registration is currently available at NNLM.gov. For those who are interested in a sneak peek about NCTRC, check out this webinar recording about Innovative Models of Telehealth Access Points (including libraries!)

We will offer additional webinars in this series through the spring of 2024. We also plan to offer our online class (Telehealth 101: What Libraries Need to Know) again after January 2024. For updates on these and other free learning opportunities, be sure to join the NNLM Regional Medical Library serving your community. Membership is free, and the best way to stay connected to free training, funding and outreach resources from NNLM. You can also stay up-to-date on free training opportunities via the NNLM available classes list, or event calendar.

The post Libraries Address the Digital Divide with Telehealth first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Knowing the Community

Even though many of us are part of the community that we work in, there is still some information that we need to gather to provide the best resources to the communities that we support. One of the ways to know the community is by gathering demographic information.   Demographics is defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as “the statistical characteristics of human populations (such as age or income) used especially to identify markets.” Demographics include age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, income, education, and employment. Accessing demographic information will lead you to understand who is in your community. This information will lead you on the journey of gathering data about health issues so that you can help support the specific needs of your community. By collecting data about different demographic groups, such as age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location, we gain valuable insights into the unique health challenges faced by diverse populations.

Health Issues in the Community

Once you know the demographic information of the community, then you can begin to discover the health issues in your community. The community’s health directly impacts its residents’ well-being and quality of life. By focusing on health concerns within the community, we can create a safer and more nurturing environment for everyone. The library can be part of targeted efforts to tackle prevalent health challenges like chronic diseases, mental health issues, and infectious diseases. Moreover, prioritizing health issues encourages a sense of solidarity and care among community members, fostering collective responsibility for each other’s well-being. This is why NNLM invests in promoting health education and information which can pave the way for a healthier and happier community where individuals can thrive and achieve their full potential. By recognizing the importance of health issues in our community and working together to address them, we create a more holistic society for generations to come.

Diverse Users & Population

The next phase of knowing your community is understanding diverse health needs, enabling you to offer various resources that promote health literacy and empowerment.The library can bridge language and knowledge gaps by providing multilingual materials, resources in various formats, and information tailored to different cultural perspectives, ensuring that all community members have access to essential health information.

Photo by Kampus Production

Libraries play a vital role in promoting community well-being, and their understanding of the health needs of diverse populations is of utmost importance. Many people trust us to be accessible institutions, and libraries are valuable hubs for information, education, and resources. By comprehending the unique health challenges faced by diverse communities, libraries can curate culturally relevant health materials, programs, and services that cater to the specific needs of their users.

Cultural Competency & Cultural Humility

Understanding the needs of the different community groups within the larger community is vital for being culturally competent. There are various definitions and interpretations of cultural competence. Essentially, it means you understand, respect, and respond to the unique cultural beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences of communities and individuals who differ from yours. Cultural competency is essential when you have to make decisions on what resources benefit the community. Knowing the cultural traditions, norms, and ways of the people in your community is helpful; however, you have to lean on cultural humility because people are nuanced.Everyone does not fit neatly into boxes; many people are outside their cultural lines.There’s a growing movement to support cultural competence by incorporating aspects of cultural humility. Cultural humility is based on three pillars focused on reserving judgment. Both ideas incorporate self-reflection and a willingness to learn and grow about the cultural identities of others.

Three Pillars of Cultural Humility

1. Lifelong learning and critical self-reflection: This means we are flexible enough to assess the cultural dimensions of each individual and humble enough to say, “We don’t know” when we don’t know. Doing so can help us let go of stereotypes or biases.
2. Recognize and challenge power imbalances: This principle outlines inequities, not just between the control providers or authoritative figures over others, but also the social inequities that create disparities in health among populations.
3. Institutional accountability: Here, we emphasize that cultural humility doesn’t exist just at an individual level, but these same principles and ideas should be reflected and emphasized at an institutional level.

If you want to learn about ways to find demographic information, information about the health issues in your community, information about your community’s specific needs, and how to support diverse users and populations, then you should take one of our NNLM courses. This column highlighted some of the content covered in module 1 of the NNLM course CHIS on Demand which is asynchronous, so you can take five independent one-hour learning modules that cover the basics of providing consumer health information in libraries and organizations. Also, you can earn up to 5 hours of continuing education credit towards the CHIS. This course will discuss all five core competencies you need to achieve CHIS Level 1.

The post Unlocking Community Insights with CHIS Competencies first appeared on Public Libraries Online.