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One Visionary's Dream a Success: APHA 2003 and Sewell Librarians Intersect

Submitted by: Barbara Carlson, Laura Larsson, Molly Youngkin, Abby Holt, Claire Twose, Carolyn Medina, Michael Sholinbeck, Eris Weaver, Ammon Ripple, Barbara Nail-Chiwetalu, Helena VonVille, Harvey Brenneise, Marilyn Hall, Barbara Folb, and Nancy Schaefer.

Introduction

Fourteen health sciences librarians, designated 2003 Sewell Fund Stipend Recipients, attended and participated in the APHA Annual Meeting, “Behavior, Lifestyle, and Social Determinants of Health,” November 15-19, 2003 in San Francisco. They shared the vision of the late Dr. Winifred Sewell, a distinguished librarian in the fields of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences and creator of the Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund, Inc. of increased librarian identification with public health professionals. Sewell Stipend Recipients had a Masters in Library Science and/or Information Science and an interest or involvement in public health practice. They were selected through an application and review process administered by the Public Health/Health Administration section's Client Relations Committee chaired by Nancy Schaefer.

Just as public health practitioners and researchers represent a wide range of professional interests and experience, so do the health sciences librarians who were among the APHA participants this year. They direct public health libraries; provide reference, access and outreach services; design and develop online courses; train users in technology and information management; provide document delivery services; manage online discussion lists; work on multidisciplinary research projects; develop and maintain Web sites; and teach public health informatics. In particular, the interests and expertise of these Stipend Recipients cover the areas of speech and hearing, diabetes, maternal and child health, LGBT issues, evidence based medicine, health policy and management, HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition, complementary and alternative medicine, and exercise/fitness, health and spirituality, international health, health statistics, health literacy, culturally based health education and promotion, health disparities, community-based participatory action research, and population and family sciences.

The purpose of APHA is to "bring together researchers, health service providers, administrators, teachers, and other health workers in a unique, multidisciplinary environment of professional exchange, study, and action." Its Annual Meeting offers professionals and practitioners the opportunity to build their knowledge and to exchange information on best practices, latest research, and new trends in public health. Through its 25 sections, 5 special primary interest groups (SPIGs), 18 caucuses and Technology Theater, the program of the Annual Meeting offers a multitude of formats to accomplish these goals: opening and closing general sessions, continuing education institutes, scientific sessions, poster sessions, special sessions, award ceremonies and receptions, public hearings, social hours, and business and related organization meetings, and closing general session.

In Their Own Words: Sewell 2003 Stipend Recipients’ Brief Impressions of the APHA 131st Meeting

If you know these librarians or other library colleagues who attended APHA this year, you’ve no doubt heard a lot more about their APHA experience. Here’s only a sample of their thoughts and reflections. Additional information on sessions attended can be found in Appendix A.

Harvey Brenneise, (Former) Library Director at Michigan Public Health Institute, East Lansing, harveyb@msu.edu

As a public health librarian, it is critical that I understand and then can support with good information all of these different areas of focus.

Barbara Carlson, REACH 2010 Library Coordinator, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, (843) 792-5874, carlsonb@musc.edu

Getting out of one’s comfort zone is easy at APHA. I encourage future attendees to seek out topics not within their usual sphere of interest or work, since therein lies the seeds of innovation and fresh approaches that can be used in familiar settings and applications. As a librarian working in a non-traditional role, I wish my library colleagues could all experience this conference at least once in their career.

Barbara Folb, Reference Librarian, Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, (412) 624-0911, folb@pitt.edu

I noticed many similarities between medical librarians and public health professionals. There is a lot of common ground, especially an orientation towards service, and being part of the social infrastructure that keeps people healthy. I was impressed by the diversity of presentations available, practical and theoretical, on a wide range of public health topics. It was a good introduction to the dreams and realities of the public health world.

Marilyn Hall, Health Sciences Librarian, Library & Information Access, San Diego State University, San Diego, (619) 594-5864, mehall@mail.sdsu.edu

Fantastic! Inspiring! Immense! It was satisfying to attend a conference to learn about specific health-related projects which impact the community or students. Librarians were rarely on the radar of the participants I talked with – no access, no time, etc. In fact, there appeared to be little awareness that Public Health librarians existed. While waiting for a session to begin, I often took the opportunity to chat with someone. I talked with students, health department employees, teaching faculty, government employees, and retirees who were still interested in the profession and who enjoyed meeting up with old friends at this conference. For the most part the conference attendees were excited about their jobs, the field in general, and seemed to welcome assistance in remaining current.

Abby Holt, Campus Outreach Librarian, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Library, #586 Little Rock, AR 72205 (501)686-6748, holtabby@uams.edu

I was impressed with the size of APHA. Public health practitioners are really passionate about what they do, and what a diverse group they are! Everyone I spoke with seemed optimistic about their projects and collaborations, coalitions. This is really a great place for librarians to network and see some of our end-users in action.

Laura Larsson, Information Content Manager, Digital Assets Manager, Online Learning Developer, Information Appliance/PDA Trainer & Clinical Faculty, Cedar Collaboration, larsson@cedarc.info

Who would have thought that my starting work in a School of Public Health twenty-four years ago would lead to a love affair with its practitioners? It’s hard not to feel strongly about people who are chronically under-funded and over-worked but who try so hard to keep us and the environment healthy. There is so much need for librarians to work with public health practitioners, to help them with their information needs and to teach them how to be better managers of information.

Carolyn Medina, Librarian, Medical & Research Library Team Leader, Texas Department of Health, Austin, (512) 458-7559, carolyn.medina@tdh.state.tx.us

It was exhausting and exhilarating, challenging and inspiring, overwhelming and totally remarkable. I was an anchovy in a very large and fascinating sea. I wish I could have cloned myself in order to attend five sessions at once, and I wish one did not need food nor sleep in order to survive. It was wonderful to be among so many intelligent, dedicated public health personnel. We shared our worries and trials; we learned about programs that do work, about other people’s successes and heard inspiring stories of personal triumph. It was a mind-expanding occasion. Contacts were made that will stimulate new projects throughout the next year, if not beyond.

Barbara Nail-Chiwetalu, Health Librarian, Adjunct Faculty, Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, (301) 405-9546, bnailchi@umd.edu

I continue to be so impressed with the range of topics and intention of the people working in public health. I can see some real value in attending not only the large national conference, but the local public health meetings as well in order to extend contacts into working relationships.

Ammon Ripple, Document Delivery Librarian & Reference Services Coordinator, Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, (412) 648-1251, ammon2@pitt.edu

The experience of presenting the paper titled "Partnering with librarians to teach information retrieval and web development skills to MPH students" was very gratifying. Many people commented that they had either tried to implement such a course in the past and were not successful or that they had been thinking about doing this for some time. In both cases they felt that my paper would help them get a similar course approved in their environment. Thanks to this response, my co-instructors and I have been encouraged to write this up for the American Journal of Public Health.

Michael Sholinbeck, Document Delivery/Reference Librarian, Public Health Library, University of California, Berkeley, (510) 642-2511, msholinb@library.berkeley.edu and http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/PUBL/

I was impressed by the diversity of topics and also by a few potential collaborations between public health folks and librarians that I pondered. Also impressed by the overt political and activist nature of much of the conference. Enjoyed the approachability of the presenters, and it was great to meet some of my contract clientele, most of whom I know "on paper" only.

Claire Twose, Health Research and Practice Librarian, Welch Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, (410) 502-0490, ctwose1@jhmi.edu and http://www.welch.jhu.edu/liaison/ctwose.html

Networking was the probably the most positive aspect of attending APHA. That and the CE class were my most outstanding impressions of the conference.

Helena VonVille, Library Director, UTHSC-Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX
(713) 500-9131, Helena.M.VonVille@uth.tmc.edu.

The programs seemed much stronger this year than last. I may have done a better job of selecting sessions or I may have had a stronger grasp on the subject material, but I attended some wonderful sessions. I also attended several sessions that were highly practical!

Eris Weaver, Redwood Health Library, Petaluma, CA, (707) 778-9114,  erisw@phcd.org

The first thing that struck me about APHA was the diversity of settings in which public health professionals work. There was a mix of academic researchers, county public health workers, staff from single-issue nonprofits, from all parts of the country, urban and rural. Scientific sessions often included presenters from all of these different realms on the same panel.

Professional degrees and practices ranged from medicine and nursing and dentistry to education and community activism. Librarians have a long way to go to reach some of these folks. Some of them seemed amazed to find that librarians were in their midst; others seemed to have gone the long way around, spending lots of time seeking out secondary data that librarians could have provided in a jiffy. Public health is political. This was evidenced by the statements that drew applause during the General Opening Session as well as the content of many of the scientific sessions, which focused on the necessity for policy change in improving public health.

Molly Youngkin, Public Health Liaison, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, MidContinental Region (NN/LM MCR), Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, (801) 585-5743, mollyy@lib.med.utah.edu

This was an excellent opportunity to meet people in the field of public health. The speakers were very knowledgeable, and everyone I met seemed very inspired to do their part for the public good. My biggest frustration was that there were so many intriguing presentations I wanted to attend, but choices had to be made. I was particularly grateful to have the opportunity to accompany a public health worker to some of the sessions and to discuss public health with her later. We were a good team.

Molly Youngkin’s statement, “we were a good team,” sums up our collective belief that librarians play a key role in raising the quality of health care by providing reliable/relevant information to health care professionals. Librarians support health issues for the common good like their public health colleagues. These common bonds can strengthen through increased participation by librarians in APHA activities.

Notable Comments on Sessions by Sewell Recipients

Molly Youngkin on the APHA Opening General Session

I enjoyed President Jay Glasser’s presentation highlighting the beginnings of the APHA on April 18, 1872. His comments also emphasized how public health has changed, from sanitation issues and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks to working with community health education. As he put it, it’s teachable time for community health education. The figures that were mentioned for the uninsured in America - somewhere between 43 and 60 million people - are staggering. I liked his comment about “powering up the PH grid.” It is interesting to note that recruiting new students to the PH field is considered quite important, as well as continuing to support the diversity in the PH work force. I would like to further explore the statement that was made that 125 million Americans go to the Web for health information each year. He also commented that PH workers are immigrants to cyber land. It made me think that we, as medical librarians, can help the PH workers manage this trip into “cyber land”. Other statements are worth exploring as well, including his statement that Health People 2010 can be viewed as a social contract.

I also enjoyed the comments made by Diana Bontá, Director of the California Department of Health Services. She mentioned that we need to respect and partner with our colleagues in Mexico for many of the PH issues today. She also highlighted the fact that politics plays an integral part in PH and that PH workers need to become more familiar with these issues. Her statement that striving for social justice is the public health field’s finest endeavor was well received.

The substitute for Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader, made the interesting statement that we need a health-educated citizenry and that our best defense against detriments to health is the education and protection of our children. Barbara Lee, US House of Representatives, added that peace is a public health issue that is critical to our future. The speakers were dynamic and well-informed and set a nice framework for the conference.

Barbara Folb on Session #5138: Joint Leadership Development of Faculty and Practitioners to Improve the Public Health Infrastructure

Four very different collaborations were reported on. It brought home the message that potential partners for many projects are out there, you just have to find, fund, and organize them!

Marilyn Hall on Session #3078: Health Communication at the Interdisciplinary Crossroads: A Venn Diagram vis-à-vis Public Health Education, Health Promotion, and Social Marketing

An interesting debate on promoting population-based behavior change, as well as the similarities and differences between social marketing, health communication, and the evolving definitions of health promotion/education. During this packed session we learned they are distinct yet complementary processes, and while all 3 are often needed, each approach may be best suited to managing different segments of the population. We were also reminded that “wants assessment” is as important as “needs assessment.” As a final thought, the session opened with a great summary on health communication, which I feel is an area not fully understood by librarians, practitioners and government officials, even when they are interested in health literacy/health information literacy.

Laura Larsson on Session #3014.0: Strengthening Public Health Through Information Partnerships.

I guess this was my favorite session in the Technology Theater since it highlighted work done by current and former Stipend recipients and their colleagues and by several NLM staff members. This session was planned by Keith Cogdill and myself and included the following speakers:

1. Public Health Libraries in an Online World: A Case Study from Michigan
Harvey R. Brenneise, MA, MSLS

2. REACH 2010 Library research component: A community-based participatory education program to address health disparities in diabetes care and management
Barbara A. Carlson, MLIS, Carolyn M. Jenkins, MSN, DRPH, Katharine H. Hendrix, MS, PhD, Gayenell Magwood, RN, MSN, PhD(Cand), Charles L. Hossler, MSN, PhD(Cand)

3. National library of medicine's online health portals: Resources for American Indians and other special populations
Lucie Chu Chen, BS, MLS, Gale Dutcher, MLS, MS, Kathy Murray, MLS

4. Partners in information access: Linking the public health workforce to information for improved practice
Keith W. Cogdill, PhD, Greg Bodin, MLS, Jennifer Marill, MLS, Michael Miller, BA, Jocelyn Rankin, PhD, Catherine R. Selden, MLS, Marjorie A. Cahn, MA

5. Partnering with librarians to teach information retrieval and web development skills to MPH students
Ammon S. Ripple, MLS, Anthony J. Silvestre, PhD, LSW, Michael D. Shankle, MPH

6. A Digital Divide: Assessing the information needs and use of nurses from an Oregon county public health department
Anne M. Turner, MD, MLIS, Zoë Stavri, PhD, MLS

All the speakers had something interesting to say about their projects. Keith talked about his work in revising the Partners In Information Access page <http://phpartners.org/>; Ammon reported on the course he co-taught with two other faculty members to MPH students. Anne Turner described what she was learning from her work interviewing public health practitioners in an Oregon county health department (although she reported on nursing information needs and use in this session.) Lucie Chen’s work in helping to get a Web site for American Indians was informative as was Barbara Carlson’s efforts with health educators working in diabetes care and management. Harvey Brenneise highlighted the Web site he created in Michigan at the Michigan Public Health Institute and the problems that can occur when state budgets get cut. I would like to see at least one session per year be devoted to reports by Sewell Fund Stipend recipients and hope that current and former Stipend recipients will work with me to accomplish this.

Carolyn Medina on Session #4092: Strengthening our Health Systems to Improve the Public’s Health:

In the midst of unprecedented budget crises at the state and local level, this series of presentations was aimed at highlighting positive experiences in public health. One speaker discussed the national task force studying the use of evidence to see what really works in community health. Another private consultant discussed grassroots community efforts to increase physical activity in the community. The lectures were inspiring but still will not make up for the lack of staff and resources available to public health professionals in the current political and economic climate.

Barbara Nail-Chiwetalu on Session #4142.0: HIV/AIDS Care in Africa

Nelson Keyonzo from Pathfinder International adapted a Kenyan model for Tanzania. Keyonzo reported that 3% of those suffering from HIV/AIDS thought it was due to witchcraft! The other presentations addressed Botswana as a test country in HIV/AIDS, a Save the Children project in Malawi, and HIV/AIDS stigma in South Africa. In the research regarding stigma related to HIV/AIDS, 11% of the people surveyed held the “dead man walking” belief. Ironically, the family was found to be the greatest source of stigma at 67%. From these presentations and my own experience from living in Africa, superstitious beliefs among some groups of people are a difficult educational issue to overcome.

Ammon Ripple on Session #4088.1: Critical Issues in Public Health

Bush’s drug czar, John Walters, spoke and advocated mandatory drug testing in schools (to an audible gasp of disbelief from the audience.) There were also protesters outside who were criticizing his stance against medical marijuana. It was a little interesting that APHA invited him given that they passed a policy statement in 1995 advocating the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. When he spoke on this topic, there were a number of boos and other catcalls from the audience. This was a rowdy session! Also of interest here was a review of the various recent emerging infectious disease outbreaks. I knew a lot from following this, but it was an interesting ‘behind-the scenes’ look at how the PH community dealt with these outbreaks.

Michael Sholinbeck on Session #4196.0: Environmental Health and Policy: The Politics of Science

The most heated and controversial session I attended. Much discussion on the corporate influence on the way science is done in this country, from the NIH "hit list" to the harassment of individual scientists to anonymous discrediting of papers.

Eris Weaver on Session #3149: Understanding the Needs, Desires, & Information Seeking Behaviors of Patients, the Public and the Health Communication Profession and Session #4182: Clear Health Communications: Issues and Solutions (Scientific Sessions)

These two sessions represent my second “track” for the meeting: information and communication. The first did not really focus on what we librarians usually define as “information seeking behavior.” The presenters discussed needs assessments and studies of how patients decide whether to get screenings tests. One presentation on professional preparation in health communication was of great interest to me personally as a writer, and I plan to have some follow-up conversations with that presenter, particularly as regards to risk communication.

The second session focused on health literacy, an issue that we’ve been addressing within MLA. There was a lot of good information presented, most of which was already familiar to me. What was interesting in contrasting this presentation with the recent MLA teleconference on the issue was that the APHA panel did not get down and dirty with the practical issues: what do you actually need to DO to 1) recognize that the person with whom you are interacting may have literacy issues and 2) address them in your communication. It was much too theoretical for my taste; but then they had even less time than we did and I got the sense that there wasn’t much previous interaction between the APHA participants to coordinate their presentations. Good materials were distributed and I did pick up some resources that I didn’t already have. I was glad to see that APHA was addressing this issue and that there were a lot of people in attendance.

Librarians Found the Real Action (Other functions-business meetings, luncheons, ceremonies, etc.)

As Carolyn Medina put it, “I learned that the main business of the conference is conducted in small face-to-face encounters, business meetings and social events. The scientific sessions are more like icing on the cake.” Librarians know the value of professional relationships developed through networking and outreach. They used the myriad of APHA opportunities to meet, schmooze, and socialize--to learn, to teach, to experience public health at the personal level.

The Sewell Fund Stipend Orientation Meeting afforded all stipend recipients the chance to meet and get to know each other and to arrange to continue their networking over dinner. Other activities that brought the Sewell recipients inside APHA as an organization were the APHA New Member Orientation, New Connections Reception, the Population Section Business Meeting/Awards and Social, the Johns Hopkins Social, the Males & Family Planning Taskforce Dinner, the International Lunch, the Riverboat cruise of San Francisco Bay, the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health reception, dinner with University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health faculty, the Health Administration Section Social, and the Maternal and Child Health Section Leadership Meeting.

Laura Larsson was awarded the Chair’s Award at the Health Administration Section Social along with Barnard Turnock, well-known for his public health textbook and work in public health, especially in manpower issues. Laura said, "It was important on a personal level and on a professional level to receive this award since it gave me a chance to promote librarians and their work in the Association and with public health practitioners.” Laura, a librarian herself, champions librarians to public health practitioners and is a passionate public health champion to librarians and others."

The Expo of all Expos: the Public Health Exposition

Approximately 500 exhibitors participated in the Public Health Exposition, which included APHA sections and caucuses, computers and information systems, producers of educational materials and health promotion products, programs and services, government agencies, medical and health products, membership associations, pharmaceutical companies and laboratories, professional societies, publishers and video producers, research foundations and groups, schools of public health and universities, and special interest advocacy groups.

Librarians reacted to the Expo in different ways. Weaver traversed each and every aisle and looked at almost every vendor, spending the most time at those that had items she could use. Folb made many good contacts through the exhibit area, which she felt would prove useful after the conference. Hall talked with members of some of the APHA sections to help identify a second section to join. Holt, Larsson and others visited the large number of government agency booths, such as the CDC, HRSA, NCHS, CDC, NIH and NLM. Carlson found CDC’s participation both impressive and helpful, and discovered their new electronic journal on chronic disease. Medina visited the exhibits often and in small doses, and noticed the diversity of political opinions expressed by the exhibitors--from the Peace Caucus booth to several booths sponsored by religious organizations expressing strong opinions about social and health issues such as abortion.

Sholinbeck sought information to increase his public health knowledge, including what's being done in the "real world," and potential new sites to link to from his library's Web site." Twose focused on discovering new resources relevant to her work with health policy and management, international health and population and family sciences departments at Hopkins. She looked for any advances in providing evidence-based and “just in time” resources and also got re-acquainted with APHA sections. VonVille didn’t visit the publishers, as her budget is pretty slim. It’s evident that time spent in the exhibits was well worth it.

Larsson urges Annual Meeting participants to plan their visit to the vendors in the Exhibits area by examining the online list of vendors, printing out the map and highlighting the vendors worth visiting. Anyone else that can be squeezed in after the key vendors are visited is "pure gravy."

Public Health “Up Close and Personal” (Shadows and Mentors)

Sewell Stipend Recipients are encouraged to “shadow” a public health mentor and attend meetings, scientific sessions, social hours and dine with them. Even experienced APHA conference-goers benefit from sharing PH up-close-and-personal.

This arrangement helped Folb build on a working relationship and gain the opportunity to look at the seminars with a public health educator’s perspective. Hall saw it as a two-way learning opportunity and will try to set up a similar informal collaboration at future conferences. Sholinbeck had a similar experience in that shadowing his mentors exposed him to areas of public health of which he had limited knowledge. He felt his PH shadowees valued his presence, and one stated that it was good to have non-public health people understand what the public health workers are doing.

Larsson said, “I was lucky enough to have two exceptional mentors with whom I was able to spend some time at the HAS Section Business meetings, at the Social and at the closing ceremony. Both of my mentors took the time to talk to me about leadership issues and both encouraged me to think more broadly about leadership responsibilities within the Health Administration Section."

Nail-Chiwetalu found a common interest in public health in developing countries, and Ripple met a number of colleagues including several from his University that he had not previously met. Both Twose and Carlson wound up having dinner with their shadowees and others on two evenings, which proved to be better opportunities for networking and learning than even joint attendance at sessions. Weaver found this all very useful in seeing how at least one practitioner approaches things and uses (or doesn’t use) APHA and/or libraries in her practice.

Rewards of Participation (Special Contributions as Presenters, Moderators, Assistants in Technology Theater and at Section, SPIG or Caucus booths, Abstract Reviewers, etc.)

As mentioned in the Notable Comments on Sessions section by Sewell Recipients, Brenneise, Carlson and Ripple gave oral presentations in the Technology Theater.

If an award were to be given to a Sewell Recipient for Special Contributions, Laura Larsson would deserve the honor. She moderated or facilitated eleven sessions in the Technology Theater (which is the equivalent of an overtime job during the conference). She served as a mentor to VonVille, Carlson, Schaefer, Medina, and Folb—all who assisted her mostly with running the timing board, assisting with speaker needs, and passing out handouts. Several Sewell-funded librarians also assisted other presenters with overheads in other conference venues. Still others worked various booths in the Public Health Expo; for instance, Holt assisted at the University of Arkansas College of Public Health booth and VonVille volunteered at the Health Administration Section booth.

From a Small Seed a Mighty Trunk May Grow [Aeschylus]: Contacts and Proposed Projects Resulting from APHA Attendance

Professional contacts and proposed projects sprout during or soon after librarians attend APHA. Librarians can expand in different directions all at once, as shown in the following examples from the 2003 APHA Sewell recipients.

Dr. Todd Wagner’s presentation #3235: “Digital Divide among the chronically ill” had an impact on Carlson. In a post-conference email exchange, Dr. Wagner shared with Carlson his project’s instrument used to survey patients on their Internet use and its impact on their health care. Carlson has used it in the REACH 2010/NNLM Community Outreach Partnership Planning project.

Folb offered help on the NLM Partners web project and in sharing information on topical vocabulary development. She shared information about a survey on the Internet use and training needs of the Allegheny County Health Department, and she strengthened ties to some of her local public health contacts. She shared the name of one speaker with the Center for Public Health Practice as a potential collaborator for a seminar on planning for a potential flu pandemic.

Hall will assist health administration thesis students and plans to write an article for public health practitioners or community health nurses on how to find health statistics. She will invite a public health colleague to the regional medical librarian pre-conference on health literacy, since the APHA sessions were so well attended. She plans to investigate the information needs of public health workers in her local area and to get recommendations of materials for online access.

Holt and other librarians are interested in participating in a MESH or informatics course for public health workers at next year’s APHA.

As editor of the HAS Newsletter, Larsson remains a member of the HAS leadership group, and will continue to provide advice and suggestions for the use of appropriate technology as a member of the HAS Strategic Planning Committee. Larsson also serves on the newly formed Health Technology and Informatics Committee, a committee to plan a new Section called the Health Technology and Informatics Section. As mentioned earlier, Larsson is also the longtime editor of the HAS Newsletter, which will include a new leadership column, “The One-Minute Manager.” As program planner for the Technology Theater, Larsson gets opportunities to work with the other Section, SPIG and Caucus program planners and to meet interesting presenters. One such opportunity has led to a collaboration with Amy Hill, a Technology Theater speaker, to resurrect APHA’s former film festival for next year’s meeting. Stay tuned. Several sessions held in the Technology Theater gave Larsson ideas for locating appropriate content for the Public Health Informatics course that she teaches at OHSU. She plans to follow up with Ammon Ripple and get his syllabus, after hearing his presentation. In the meantime, she will continue to manage eight public health lists and try to stop saying yes to new lists. Laura also works with the Washington State Public Health Association and is currently revising their Web site. Ripple plans to publish his paper in American Journal of Public Health.

Sholinbeck made contacts with his contract clientele and with several presenters, mostly to follow up on questions that came up during the session, or to obtain more information on their interventions and programs. A pile of business cards awaits further follow up.

Through Cancer Control Planet, Twose will present to community scholars, which may prove to be one avenue to reach frontline workers. She offered Marj Cahn help with queries for Healthy People 2010. While continuing to work with Stan Becker on the development of a digital library for the Hopkins population center associates, Twose plans to work with Rita Kukafta and others on the infusion of informatics into APHA.

VonVille was invited by Dr. Patricia Bray to serve on the Texas State Strategic Health Partnership Committee, which was convened in 2002 by the Texas Department of Health to “identify shared priorities and actions for improving the health of Texans.” VonVille shared with Dr. Bray her Web site, which pulls together health statistics down to at least the local county level. The committee work will dovetail very nicely with what she’s done. VonVille also hopes to offer continuing education classes on health statistics for Texas health professionals.

In Youngkin's opinion Lou Anne Cummings, an administrator in public health for the Walla Walla area in Washington state with a keen interest in library information, would be a nice contact for the RML in Seattle. Youngkin plans to follow up with Suela Kaba (NACCHO) and Chris Day (The Public Health Foundation) to more closely monitor their projects and see if there are any medical library components. She would really like to obtain the PowerPoint presentation from Rita Kukafka, (Session # 4207) since there was such good information pertaining to informatics.

Lessons Learned

The APHA conference helps librarians better understand how vital public health roles and issues are in the lives of ordinary people. The conference reflects how public health workers touch our lives and what major challenges public health practitioners face. Librarians must contribute to and help support the public health workforce which may mean redefining our roles and services to become a greater part of public health initiatives.

Sholinbeck noticed that PH people have a passion about their work. Public health is political. It is difficult to separate the political nature of public health from the day-to-day work at the local, national, and global scale.

Twose thinks that attending APHA is a good way to start learning about public health, to create better resources for PH front line workers. If there isn’t already a listing of free, easy-to-use resources online, such as the BioMail alert for PubMed, developing one and sharing it with PH workers and non-profit agency workers would be one approach. Her shadowee, Stan Becker, and she had an existing mechanism for collaboration so APHA turned out to be somewhat less pivotal in developing a working relationship. She made informal local contacts with more colleagues--but made more with colleagues from around the country. She discovered that the primary “reference group” or conference for these researchers would be the PAA (Population Association of America), not APHA.

Holt learned how powerfully librarians can impact health professionals' perceptions of what librarians have to offer when they step beyond the library field into the world of their constituent. She also learned a lot from the public health practitioners about their needs and time limitations. They don’t have time to keep up with the technology that is so important to our professional lives. Librarians only know the surface of public health content, and going to this conference and talking to people working in public health helped her gain a deeper understanding of their diverse work and subjects. Librarians and public health practitioners both like to help people.

In terms of the meeting itself, Medina suggests to plan ahead but look out for spontaneous activities and opportunities. Also bring healthy snacks to munch throughout the day or plan to miss some sessions for food breaks. She notes that presenters should bring presentation back-ups in various formats, since the computers did not work in some of the sessions and speakers had to scramble to do their presentations.

Youngkin noticed that many speakers had no idea how to use PowerPoint for an effective presentation. Some just gave lectures with no handouts. In a few sessions she wished there had been handouts of the slides used in order to get statistics, quotes, etc. She’s learned that a session on using PowerPoint successfully would be very well received and heavily attended at APHA.

Likewise, Hall thinks there are several opportunities for librarians to make a positive impact at APHA. She said, “there was little evidence of PDAs and there appeared to be no option to download conference information onto a PDA while on site. At medical librarian conferences I hear much about the use of technology by physicians and residents, but this conference reminded me that many public health workers do not yet have the same access to computers and online materials.”

Through her APHA involvement, Larsson knows that “the more you give to public health, the more you get back. The more you work with practitioners, the more fun it is for the both of you and the more you learn from each other and about each other.” By blocking out time on their calendars, librarians can commit to working as part of APHA and volunteer their time to public health practitioners. She’s observed that pharmaceutical companies are getting more involved in public health, which may be a good thing.

In her work in the Technology Theater, Larsson has learned a number of helpful lessons that can be applied at other meetings. Speakers really appreciate starting on time and getting their allotted time, so using a speaker timing device works well and is fair. The device gives a speaker a green light, a yellow sum-up light and a red stop-light. To warm up the audience before a session, she asks audience members to introduce themselves to the person sitting near them. This brings the noise level up, often draws other people in, and breaks the ice of silence. One important lesson learned is that public health needs librarians badly, and librarians can transmit an understanding of technology to their PH colleagues. As we identify public health information needs and uses, we can incorporate that knowledge into our training and into the content that we provide.

There has been some talk about doing a Continuing Education Institute at APHA next year or the year after based on what information competencies we can identify. However, Larsson also knows that given half a chance, technology will fail you. Whatever can go wrong with technology during a session often will. So working with great AV folks, like at this year’s meeting, makes it so much easier. She said, “sex makes a scientific session way more interesting. One of my speakers taught a sexuality course at his university and was reporting on the experience. As part of his presentation he showed some interesting cartoons and a French public service announcement for condoms. These were quite sexually explicit but no one in the audience left in disgust. I now have a reputation among the AV providers for having the most interesting sessions in the conference.” What more can any of us say after that?

Librarians Left with Resources (Web site/book/journal/video/product recommendations, other):

Books

Lang TA, Secic M. How to report statistics in medicine : annotated guidelines for authors, editors, and reviewers. Philadelphia, Pa: American College of Physicians, c1997.

Levy, B.S., & Sidel, V. W. Terrorism and public health: A balanced approach to strengthening systems and protecting people. Oxford University Press. 2002. ISBN: 0-19-515834-2. $42.45

Levy, B.S., & Sidel, V.W. (eds.) War and public health. American Public Health Association. 2000. ISBN: 0-87553-023-0 $23.50

Pfizer Clear Health Communication Initiative, 2003-2004.
Available at http://www.clearhealthcommunication.org/

The Scientific and Clinical Application of Elastic Resistance
When the book and CD-ROM The Scientific and Clinical Application of Elastic Resistance came out last spring, I ordered a copy for the library and one for myself. I also discovered a Web site where I could order 50-yard rolls of resistance bands (Thera-Bands®) in various strengths. Since then, the program (now called PHIT—Personal Health Information Tips) has grown considerably. We’ve received funding from the School to print healthy tips cards, we hold regular monthly meetings with featured speakers on timely topics (i.e. healthy eating during the holidays), and I sell the resistance bands basically at cost. Since spring, I’ve sold or given away bands to at least 100 to staff, students, and faculty. I’ve also put together a Web site (http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/library/therabands.htm) with quick links to exercises and other sites with resistance band exercises.

Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care (2002).
Freely available at http://books.nap.edu/openbook/030908265X/html/index.html.
An Institute of Medicine report on social biases and ethnic disparities.

Journals

Core PH journal list
http://info.med.yale.edu/eph/phlibrary/phjournals/

Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/
A new electronic journal from the CDC.

CD-ROMs

In early to mid-2004, a new CD-Rom will be available to educate PH professionals on Bioterrorism Management. The cost is $15 but copies can be freely made and distributed within an organization or health department. Please let them know the numbers of copies made for statistical purposes. http://www.bioterrorism.slu.edu/ (314-977-8257).

SyberShop. Digital Solutions for Eating Healthy & Being Alive. North Carolina State University, A&T State University Cooperative Extension. 2002?
This interesting CD-ROM is intended to be used by teens to inform them healthy eating and living.

CDCynergy-SOC. [no bibliographic information given]
CDCynergy is a multimedia CD-ROM used for planning, managing, and evaluating public health communication programs. http://www.cdc.gov/communication/cdcynergy.htm

URLs

Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS)
http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/
New from NIAAA

Arctic Health
http://arctichealth.org/

Asian-American Health
http://asianamericanhealth.nlm.nih.gov/

Association of Public Health Laboratories: Chemical Terrorism Project
http://www.aphl.org/docs/APHL-CT%20Report%20_Final_.pdf

Asthma Interventions
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/asthma/interventions/

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/

Cancer Control Planet
http://cancercontrolplanet.cancer.gov/

CDC Futures Initiative: Learn about CDC's new Strategic Direction Initiative
www.cdc.gov/futures

Guide to Community Preventive Services (evidence-based health promotion)
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/

DataFerrett
dataferrett.census.gov

EPICenter
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/epicenter/
California’s Web site for disseminating Injury Data

Haz-Map
http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/
A guide to occupational diseases by types of diseases, (skin poison, occupational cancer, etc.) and by jobs and synonyms.

Healthy People 2010
http://www.healthypeople.gov/

International Union for Health Promotion and Education
http://www.iuhpe.nyu.edu/

JHPIEGO
http://www.jhpiego.jhu.edu/
The JHPIEGO project works to "improve the health of women and their families throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on client-centered care – from prevention to treatment – in reproductive health and family planning, HIV/AIDS, maternal and neonatal health, and cervical cancer."

MedQIC: Medicare Quality Improvement Clearinghouse
http://www.medqic.org/

MCH SAMMEC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sammec

Orientation to Public Health
http://www.nynj-phtc.org/

Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce
http://phpartners.org/
A collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations, and health sciences libraries, providing resources on Health Promotion and Health Education, Literature and Guidelines, Health Data Tools and Statistics, Grants and Funding, Education and Training, Legislation, Conferences and Meetings, Finding People, Discussion and E-mail Lists, and Jobs and Careers.

Patient-Flow Analysis (for Windows)
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/sata_pfa_htm

Prevalence Study Reports
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp

Ammon Ripple’s PH Informatics course syllabus
http://www.pitt.edu/~ammon2/syllabus.doc

Seeds of Hope (films) from Concentric Media
http://www.concentricmedia.org/

SilenceSpeaks: Digital storytelling in support of healing and violence prevention
http://www.silencespeaks.org/

Smoke-Free Movies
http://www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/

Stat Compiler
http://www.statcompiler.com/
Includes virtually all of the population and health indicators from more than 60 countries that are published in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) final reports. Indicators are grouped by the topics: characteristics of households, fertility, family planning, other proximate determinants of fertility, fertility preferences, early childhood mortality, maternal and child health, maternal and child nutrition, AIDS and other STIs. Free online.

Tobacco Use in the Movies, Annual Report 2001
http://www.saclung.org/

ToxMap
http://toxmap.aquilent.com/toxmap/
GIS-based system allows you to drill down to a specific geographic area, then view all facilities that report releases into the environment (Toxic Release Inventory). The reports are then linked with Tox-Net so that the user can retrieve exact location, total pounds released into the environment, methods of waste removal, etc.

TOXNET
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/
Multiple databases with chemical-specific information, including CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System) and DART (Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology).

Tox-Town
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/index.html

Trust for America’s Health
http://www.healthyamericans.org/state
Current report on cancer registries and other reports on the health of America.

Turning Point
http://www.turningpointprogram.org/

U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security:
http://www.ready.gov//

Videos

Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema and the Myth of Cool. Proletariat Filmworks, [n.d.]

Plan to Participate in the 2004 APHA Annual Meeting

Interested in applying for a Sewell stipend to attend the 2004 APHA meeting in D.C.? Look for the Call for Applications for the 2004 Sewell Stipend in the Spring issue of PH/HA News and in medical library/PH email lists in late June.

The 132nd Meeting APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition will be held November 6-10, 2004 in Washington, DC and have the theme, “Public Health and the Environment.” The meeting will offer you a chance to learn from PH experts, hear about research and best practices, discover the latest public health products and services, and share in the biggest public health educational opportunity of the year. The URL is: http://www.apha.org/.

A Call for Abstracts has been open since December 19, 2003 with deadlines ranging from February 2-6, 2004. Abstracts can be submitted in all areas of public health and in support of the theme or sub-themes.

The sub-themes for APHA 2004 are:

  • the built environment: creating healthy communities
  • health in an interconnected world
  • strengthening environmental public health
  • environmental health: political, economic and legal issues
  • food, water, air, soil – old mission, new responsibility
  • environmental health and vulnerable populations
  • environmental justice (closing session)

Registration opens on June 1, 2004, so plan to participate and bring your passion of librarianship to public health.

Special Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank Nancy Schaefer, Chair of the Client Relations Committee, for facilitating the Sewell Fund Awards, email communications and Sewell Orientation Meeting at APHA. Special thanks also go to members of the Client Relations Committee: Laura Larsson, Stephanie Normann, Karyn Pomerantz, and Matt Wilcox.

Appendix A: Here's What Got Librarians’ Attention (Scientific, Poster, Special or Continuing Education)

The Sewell librarians attended nearly 100 scientific sessions with only a few of them attending the same ones, the exceptions being the opening general and closing sessions. Topics of interest in no particular order were:

Opening General Session • Academic-Practice • Information Partnerships • Obesity • Diabetes • Nutrition • Environmental Health Policy • Stress and Socioeconomic Disparities • Older Adults' Health • Internet and PH Practice • Family Planning Reproductive Health Services for Men • Bioterrorism • Health Communication • Spirituality in PH • Health Literacy • Disadvantaged Populations Empowerment • NLM Environmental Resources • Built Environment and Socio-cultural Context Issues in Minority-Low-income Communities

PH Current Issues of Preparedness vs Core Activites • Translating Research into Practice • Global Reproductive Health • Understanding the Needs, Desires, & Information Seeking Behaviors of Patients, the Public and the Health Communication Profession • Strengthening the Profession of Health Education • PH Foundation’s TRAIN • Policy Reforms for Childhood Obesity • Health Through Technology and Information • Religion, Spirituality,& Health • Data & The Emergent Majority • Quality in Reproductive Health*Theory to Practice in Chronic Illness • State and Local Healthy Lifestyle Initiatives • Promoting Competency Long-Distance • Improving School Nutritional Environment through Information Technology • Social Context of Sexual Health • PH Practice-Research Agenda

Challenges and Opportunities of PH in the 21st Century • GIS and Concept Mapping • Humor in Health Education Practice • Youth Obesity • Alcohol Policy Information System • PH Competencies and Credentialing • State/Federal Budget Impacts on State Medicaid and SCHIP Programs • Terrorism and Public Health • Racism,Homophobia and Health • Tobacco • Technology in Healthcare • Social Determinants of Health • Children's Health School Environments Policies and Actions • Health Behavior Change • Oral Health • Violence and Health • Reproductive Health Policy and Advocacy • Raising Healthy Children • Critical Issues PH • Health Inequities • PH and Peace • Urbanization and Mental Health • Strengthening PH Health Systems • Injury Control and Information Technology

Environmental Health Policies to Protect PH • HIV/AIDS Care in Africa • Community-based Health Care • Disparities in Early Childhood Oral Health • Determinants of Sexual and Reproductive Behavior • International Alternative Therapies • Smoking Prevention/Cessation Curriculum for Urban Youth & Information Technology • Social, Linguistic & Cultural Barriers to Accessing Health Care • Built Environment and PH • The Politics of Science in Environmental Health • Education in PH and Health Administration • Technology and Planning Maternal and Child Services• Mold Prevention • Child Nutrition • End of Life Planning and Caring • Water Fluoridation • Technology Innovations and Health Communications • Technology to Improve Patient Care • Community-Based Evaluation

Local Environmental Health Issues • Electronic Technology for Planning and Resources • Child Care Systems • The PARTNERS Project • Relationships, Gender, and Men in Reproductive Health • Improving Health through Community Building • Connecting to People in PH • PH Issues and Challenges • African-Americans and Prevention Messages•Community-Based Approaches for Promoting Health Behaviors•PH Leadership Development• Community Health Worker Programs Evaluation • Child Transportation Safety • Closing General Session.

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