An interesting story in the Mercury News about a consumer health facility in Los Gatos called the Los Gatos PlaneTree Library:
“Many people arrive at PlaneTree in the grip of a terrifying health crisis after they or someone they love is diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening disease, said Candace Ford, a former public librarian turned medical librarian, who has run PlaneTree since its opening 17 years ago. “They often are emotional or frail or angry,” she said.
The library is well-equipped to aid people in crisis, but Ford also wishes more people would come in to address daily challenges, such as mental health and lifestyle and relationship issues. The library’s circulating collection covers a wide array of subjects, from specific diseases, general health and alternative therapies to niche topics such as understanding teens, talking to children about illness and preparing for surgery.”
Fantastic story!
This is why I became a librarian.
I enjoy being a librarian most when I am able to help patrons resolve their uncertainties, after all that is what we do as librarians. Sure we answer homework questions, and help pick out novels, and look up phone numbers but meeting information needs is our stock in trade.
Occasionally patrons come with questions about serious medical problems they themselves, or someone about whom they care are facing. As a librarian (and as an RN) I cannot offer opinion or recommend a course of action, but I can tell them the facts as presented in authoritative publications. Facts they need to make informed decisions. I can present all of the alternatives so they can communicate with their physician.
Medlineplus.gov, clinicaltrials.gov, medical journals, as well as old standards like the Merck Manual, or John Hopkins white papers all play a role in answering patrons’ questions, and more importantly clearing up their uncertainties.
It is not necessarily good news people are looking for, but many patients often leave the doctors office confused when given bad news -either because the news startled them so, or because the practitioner failed to adequately communicate with the patient and answer all of their questions. This is where a librarian can be valuable.
Serious medical problems scare everyone, cancer scares everyone and death scares everyone. Librarians can provide information that eases some of these fears by providing concrete – as concrete as medical science can be- answers about what they are facing, how it can be treated, and most important how long they can expect to be sick and how long they can expect to live given their disease state.
I have found that clearing up these questions gives the patrons a sense of optimism and purpose to reach goals they have set for themselves. Just last week a snowbird patron who I helped last year after his heart attack came by to say hello and thank me. He is at least 20 pounds lighter and does not look nearly as ill as he looked last year. Last year I helped him look at his cardiac cath video on the computer, got him some books that helped explain the procedure – medical textbooks, but with the help of Taber’s he was able to understand what was going on. I also helped him by providing information he wanted about diet and risk factor control. He said he didn’t know how close to dead he was. Now, he has moved the clock hands back a bit I’m sure. He looks better, and he says he feels better and doesn’t get winded going up some stairs. He said his doctor told him he was sick, but he didn’t know how sick until he read info at the Amer.Heart Assn, linked from the medlineplus.gov page.
So sure, information literacy is important, the freedom to read is important, academic freedom is important, patron privacy is important, but just as important is the need for librarians to remember that information can save lives. Serving the patron and meeting their information needs -clarifying their uncertainties – is most important. You don’t need to be a doctor or a nurse to have a positive impact on a patron’s or patient’s health.