NNLM AoU Community Award: The Human Dimension Health and Digital Literacy Initiative
Our goal is to:
(1) increase the health information literacy and digital literacy of community members from historically underserved areas in northern New Jersey;
(2) lessen the “digital divide” in these areas through increased access to WiFi-enabled technology in order to better access health information;
(3) train the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM) medical students, faculty, and community programs team, through a partnership with HMSOM and their Human Dimension (HD) program, to ultimately train community members on information and digital literacy skills.
Librarians will perform a “train the trainer” session with 167 first-year medical students on the principles of health and digital information literacy by utilizing the NNLM digital health literacy curriculum.
The students will then train community members that they are linked with through the SOM’s HD program. We will provide tablets to all community members to facilitate their ability to access high quality health information resources.
We will participate in community outreach events in partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health community engagement teams to disseminate NLM/All of Us resources and broaden our educational reach.
Individuals and families from historically underserved areas in Northern New Jersey, and first-year medical students.
We will be integrating this project into the already established community relationships created through the HD program. As part of the HD program, every medical student is matched to individuals from underserved areas, and through longitudinal interactions over the entire core curriculum, they become involved in all aspects of the family’s life to understand drivers of health outcomes, provide education, and navigate community resources.
During the grant period, medical students will interact with community members by performing in-home visits every 6 to 8 weeks from November 2022 - April 2023, with periodic check-ins via phone-call in between in-person visits. Medical students will also continue to interact with community members beyond the grant timeframe.
Librarians will perform training for medical students on 10/26/2022 - health and digital literacy session in HD
We will attend outreach events in partnership with the Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) community engagement team. There are ongoing health fairs and outreach events through our HMH network that we will have an opportunity to attend between November 2022 and April 2023.
To enhance community members ability to navigate online health information, to increase awareness of specific trustworthy sources, and to have the ability to recognize what makes a trustworthy information source. By empowering community members in this way, we hope to ultimately improve their ability to access care and navigate the healthcare system. We hope to decrease the digital divide in these communities by providing access to wifi enabled technology. We also expect to even strengthen the already existing partnerships with surrounding communities by addressing these specific needs.