Consumer Health Information Centers in Medical Libraries: A Survey of Current Practices

Abstract

This article summarizes a survey designed to assess consumer health information services in United States medical libraries and describes how survey data informed the planning process for redesigning a medical library. The survey included multiple choice and ranking questions about staffing, space, services, and resources. Identifying characteristics of existing consumer health information services may be useful for libraries implementing or expanding such a service. The importance of patient education is acknowledged through recent research, Joint Commission, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records requirement for patient education. Hospital libraries can play a key role in this domain.

KEYWORDS:

• consumer health information
• health literacy
• library planning
• patient education
• surveys