Building Health Literacy Among an Urban Teenage Population by Creating Online Health Videos for Public and School Health Curriculum Use

Abstract

Healthflicks is a 2010–2011 National Network of Libraries of Medicine outreach project conducted in New Haven, Connecticut, targeting health information literacy among urban teens through the creation of web videos. Volunteers were students from a public magnet school with a health careers curriculum track. Yale University students were hired as video mentors. Partners included the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Hill Regional Career High School, the New Haven Free Public Library, and Yale University's Office of New Haven and State Affairs. Outcomes included a Healthflicks YouTube channel and an ongoing partnership between an academic medical library and a high school with a health careers curriculum track.

KEYWORDS:

• health literacy
• information literacy
• libraries
• schools
• students