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NEWS SERVICES |
NEWS
| For immediate use |
Aug. 20, 2003 -- No. 414 |
Teleconference to help library professionals increase health literacy
CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Health Sciences Library and School of Information and Library Science and UNC Health Care will host "Reading Between the Lines: Focusing on Health Information Literacy" on Sept. 10 from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Berryhill Hall’s room 103.
A satellite teleconference of the Medical Library Association (MLA), the event is free and requires pre-registration. The program’s goals include enhancing information professionals’ knowledge of health information literacy and highlighting ways in which they may further health literacy.
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has identified health literacy as one of the country’s top priorities for improving health-care quality and delivery. Health information literacy is the ability to understand basic health-care communications, such as prescription instructions, test results and insurance forms.
Based on research by the National Adult Literacy Survey, 90 million Americans may struggle with low health literacy, resulting in poor health outcomes and costing the health-care system up to $73 billion in added expenses annually. The institute’s report, "Priority Areas for National Action: Transforming Health Care Quality," describes efforts to improve health literacy as essential for effective self-management and collaborative care.
Teleconference participants will receive two MLA continuing education contact hours. To pre-register, contact Lara Bailey at ljbailey@email.unc.edu or (919) 962-8366 and mention whether contact hours are requested.
Registration and further information are available online at http://www.hsl.unc.edu/teleconf.htm. UNC Health Care online, featuring health and medical information from UNC Hospitals and the School of Medicine, is at http://www.unchealthcare.org.
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