Submitted by Abigail Jones,Library for Health Information/John A. Prior Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Consumer health information is provided at The Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) by the Library for Health Information in the Atrium (LHI), which is located on the main medical campus. Because the medical center is a far-flung operation encompassing off-site family practice locations, ambulatory care units and affiliated hospitals, there was a need for innovative ways to provide consumers at these sites with personalized library service.
In mid-2005 the librarian and the program manager for patient education at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (the James) selected an ambulatory breast cancer treatment site at which to establish a pilot library satellite (JamesCare Dublin).
The site manager was approached with the proposal and clinicians were invited to participate on an advisory committee. Collection development guidelines, layout and budgetary responsibilities were established. Space for the satellite was allocated in a large waiting room. The advisory committee designed the satellite layout, and furnishings and display units were installed. A computer, printer, signage and a telephone (which automatically connected users to the main LHI) were installed.
Because the satellite budget did not include staff, the committee decided to not include a traditional collection of books and audiovisual materials. Instead, a collection of 73 self-serve handouts were provided. Flyers, booklets and pamphlet titles were selected from The Ohio State University Medical Center's patient education inventory, the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society and commercial vendors.
Clinical staff were enlisted to monitor materials and to notify the librarian of user reference needs. (The librarian and program manager each visited the site bimonthly). A locked box was provided where library users could leave health information request cards, which were forwarded by an admitting clerk to the librarian at the main LHI. There the question was researched by specially trained volunteers who mailed a packet of written information to the requestor's home address.
The librarian developed a spreadsheet to track how many self-serve handouts were taken on a yearly basis. Materials usage increased on average 65% each year. At present, clinicians continue to refer patients to the LHI for additional written information. The satellite advisory committee meets quarterly and is actively involved in collection development. Some collection development suggestions have morphed into new patient education documents that are overseen by the program manager.
This partnership between patient education, library, and clinicians has been so successful that the satellite model is now being adapted in other OSUMC departments, including a rehabilitation facility and an ambulatory surgery family waiting area.
An interesting postscript: As with most ambulatory care units, JamesCare Dublin is stretched to find space for all of its services. With no forewarning, on October 5, 2009, the library satellite was dismantled in order to create triage space. Site management renewed its commitment to the satellite and enlisted a physical facility designer to work with the librarian and program manager to recreate the library satellite in a hallway next to the main reception lobby. These plans are under way.
An electronic version of the poster is available here.