My Health Information Community

While many suburban housewives in the 1950s through the 1970s supported and gave advice to pre- and post-natal mothers in their neighborhoods and houses of worship, and eventually watched over each other’s children when needed, the sharing of female or any health concerns among suburban women (unless debilitating or terminal) began to decline as their baby boomer children reached their teenage years.

However, as many youth (especially young women) starting using “The Pill” with at least one sex partner, and other youth were experimenting with the latest recreational drugs, parents who became aware of these activities were hesitant, if not reluctant to share their deepest concerns with close friends for fear of scandal and ostracism in their neighborhoods, social, and religious communities.

When some young people began engaging in pre-marital relations with multiple sex partners, they not only risked or experienced unwanted pregnancies, but many also contracted sexually transmitted diseases. Many youth, for fear of their parents finding out and/or being the cause of scandal in their families, neighborhoods, and religious communities, privately sought solace, advice and treatment and even information regarding their conditions in college health resource centers, Planned Parenthood, and county health clinics.

One of Joan Durrance’s and Karen Fisher’s definition of an information community “includes a group that comes together with a common interest around creation and exchange of distributed information.” An information community in the previously mentioned scenarios “may also be built around different focal points and topics.” Furthermore, in the event that many such youth and their peers will seek information in these health information centers/communities, especially in today’s information age, they may also meet up, connect and exploit the internet and technology to obtain more information for and from each other or communicate with and support each other through online chat, e-mail, or text messaging.

I am still exploring and observing my “Learning Community” at the Health Library and Resource Center at El Camino Hospital in both Mountain View and Los Gatos, CA. At this point, I have observed three of the five characteristics of a learning community that this Health Library demonstrates. These are as follows:

Information communities exploit the information qualities of technology and yield multiplier effects for stakeholders (those affected by actions of the communities). 

During my initial visit to the Health Resource Center, I noticed that there are three database computer terminals available for the public and medical staff to use. These terminals are equipped with:

Medline with full text and are Members-Only databases designed for doctors and provides nearly 3,400 full-text journals.

Health Source Consumer Edition contains a collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide where consumers can access information at a public library or remotely through their local library with a library card and PIN number or password.

Up-to-Date (Available only at the Health Resource Center). This is an exceptional resource that provides clinical and patient education.

The Internet also provides access to subscription-only databases specializing in clinical and consumer health. This is a very interesting and informative website and provides online videos that show various surgical procedures such as an Angioplasty and Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.

“By definition, information communities depend on their ability to share information and information resources and “content-rich institutions, such as libraries, not surprisingly, have been system centered, requiring enormous energy to develop and make accessible extensive collections.”

This is definitely true of the El Camino Hospital Health Library and Resource Center. In addition to the information shared on the Internet and medical databases, members have access to a variety of current medical and consumer health books, journals, newsletters, audio/video tapes and DVDs focusing on and explaining various medical conditions. According to their information brochure, the library is open to the public and checkout privileges are available.

The third characteristic, that best distinguishes the Health Resource Center, is “Information Communities foster social connectedness within the larger community.”

As the Health Library and Resource Center is a community health services benefit, it also relies on community support and strongly encourages and appreciates donations in person or online. While browsing the materials, I found, among the many other hospital services brochures, an Auxiliary Services brochure listing the many volunteer opportunities where community members can donate their time, talent, and passion in the following areas:

o  Within the Health Resource Center itself
o  Hospital greeters
o  Drivers
o  Hospital escorts
o  and others

Volunteering in the hospital community not only contributes to the hospital community, visitors, families, and patients, but also provides an enriching experience for the volunteers.

References

Durrance, Joan C. & Fisher, K.E. (2003). Information Communities. Retrieved from (http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/community/n248.xml)

El Camino Hospital Health Library & Resource Center (http://www.elcaminohospital.org/library)

Rielly, Edward J. (2003). The 1960s. Westport, London: Greenwood Press.