2016 MLA Annual Conference

People are increasingly responsible for making their own health decisions.  Health literacy is recognized as a critical life skill that helps patients in making health care decisions.    Librarians can help navigate and evaluate health information.    Last March, a broad coalition of Minnesota health organizations released the Minnesota Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.  In the plan, libraries are recognized as places other than healthcare facilities where people go to find reliable health information.  This session will provide an overview of the importance of health literacy, health literacy initiatives within the state of Minnesota, what resources are available for training for librarians to learn to assist patrons with finding quality health information or where to partner for access to expertise/resources, and guidelines for choosing trusted web-based health sources.  Libraries are gateways to health information and librarians are recognized as offering the needed support to help deal with health information literacy issues.