How to find out about your health

New, easy to understand and use tools that are accessible to patients and providers can facilitate better health information seeking and address many barriers associated with low health literacy that result in increased cost and negative outcomes, especially for those patient populations that experience significant health disparities. The UAMS Center for Health Literacy and UAMS health sciences libraries will develop and test a health literacy-based, patient engagement HANDbook with patients of primary care clinics that serve low income, minority, Spanish speaking, and 95 patient populations. We will use health literacy best practices, health science library expertise, and provider input to develop a new How To Find Out About Your Health HANDbook. This HANDbook will be distributed to primary care providers with instructions on how to use the book with their patients to promote patient engagement, trust, confidence in health information seeking, and improved decision making. Complimentary resources will be implemented at neighboring public and heath science libraries. Key activities to be undertaken include: 1. Use patient, health science librarian, provider, and health literacy expert input to adapt and field test the How To Talk To Your Doctor HTTTYD HANDbook into a similar HANDbook that facilitates and guides patients' online health information seeking so that they can successfully access accurate, trustworthy, and relevant health information from NLM and other reputable sources as suggested by their provider. 2. Translate, using cculturally appropriate language, the How To Find Out About Your Health HANDbook into Spanish, with specific content directing patients to Spanish health information through NLM's online resources. 3. Disseminate and evaluate the impact of the How To Find Out About Your Health HANDbook in patient populations at clinics that serve low income, minority, Spanish speaking, and 95 patients.