Are you a librarian, nurse, social worker, or professional who wants to enhance their health literacy proficiency? Sponsored by Health @ CLRC and Upstate Medical University’s Health Sciences Library and presented via Zoom, the Communication for Health Literacy: a Health @ CLRC and Upstate Health Sciences Library Professional Development Event is available free of cost to interested professionals. Join us on January 27th and 28th to gain expertise in how to offer services to communities with nuanced needs like those who live in rural areas, LGBTQ+ persons, and refugees. On day two, representatives from organizations that specialize in health literacy will speak about available services and resources so you feel empowered to offer a patient or patron a referral.

This conference will be recorded and distributed to all registrants.

All registrants will receive a copy of the book Searching for Health: The Smart Way to Find Information Online and Put It to Use, a reusable tote, and a power bank.
**Physical materials will not be mailed Internationally**

Thursday, January 27

9 AM – 9:15 AM: Welcome – Sarah Lawler, MSLIS

9:15 AM – 10 AM: Health Literacy for Rural Populations

Margot Malachowski, MLS, AHIP, Education and Outreach Coordinator, Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 7

In this talk, Margot will describe current demographic trends in rural America. Attendees will learn how to download data sets and visualizations from rural health resources
and how to find information on health conditions, demographic groups and social issues.

Margot Malachowski is an Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Network of the National Library of Medicine in Region 7. Margot has 23 years of experience working
in public, hospital, and university libraries.

10 AM – 11 AM: What Did the Doctor Say?: Advancing Health Literacy through Joint Commission Standards and Initiatives

Christina L. Cordero, Ph.D., MPH, Project Director, Department of Standards and Survey Methods, Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation

This presentation will provide an overview of The Joint Commission’s requirements supporting health literacy and discuss the impact of language and culture on patient-provider communication. Participants will also hear about available tools and resources to improve their organization’s ability to address health literacy.

Christina Cordero is a Project Director in the Department of Standards and Survey Methods, Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation at The Joint    Commission. Dr. Cordero is focused on standards development projects for the hospital and laboratory accreditation programs. She developed the patient centered communication standards and The Joint Commission monograph Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals. Dr. Cordero has also provided research and technical support to The Joint Commission’s Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation study, and she is a contributing author ofOne Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations. Prior to joining The Joint Commission, Dr. Cordero conducted basic science and public health research at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Cordero earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis, and her Master of Public Health degrees from Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.

11 AM – 12 PM: Health Literacy for Refugee and Immigrant Populations

Eric Johnson, MLS, Adult Literacy and Refugee Services Librarian

Attendees will learn tried and true methods for enhancing health literacy skills amongst refugee and immigrant populations. Eric will also speak about his extensive experience
with the refugee community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Eric Johnson is the program coordinator for Milwaukee Public Library’s (MPL) Adult Literacy and Refugee Services program. His professional focus is working with adult
learners, refugees, and new arrivals. Eric has worked for MPL for over 30 years.

12 PM – 1 PM: Lunch

1 PM – 2 PM: Tools to Help People Understand and Act on Health Information

Cindy Brach, MPP, Senior Healthcare Researcher, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

This presentation will provide an overview of tools that improve spoken and written communication and support the adoption of health literacy universal
precautions.

Cindy Brach is a Senior Health Care Researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and      Human Services (HHS). Cindy is the Co-Chair of the HHS Health Literacy Workgroup.

2 PM – 3:30 PM – MLA Continuing Education: Enhance Your Teaching with the ACRL Framework

If you teach or plan to teach, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education will help you promote deep
learning for your students. This framework incorporates threshold concepts, in other words, the ideas in any discipline that are passageways to enlarged understanding or
ways of thinking and practicing in the discipline.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• integrate information literacy threshold concepts into one class or training they are teaching or wish to teach.
• use best practices for the development of learning outcomes.
• identify classroom assessment techniques for assessing student progress with information literacy concepts.

Xan Y. Goodman, AHIP, is the co-editor of the ACRL publications, Disciplinary Applications of Information Literacy Threshold Concepts and Faculty    Librarian Collaborations: Integrating the Information Literacy Framework into Disciplinary Courses, and the author of a chapter on the social
determinants of health as a threshold concept. Goodman is a librarian and associate professor at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas Libraries, where
she supports four schools in the Division of Health Sciences: the School of Integrated Health Sciences, School of Public Health, School of Nursing, and
School of Dental Medicine.

Samantha Godbey is the coeditor of the ACRL publications,  Disciplinary Applications of Information Literacy Threshold Concepts and Faculty
Librarian Collaborations: Integrating the Information Literacy Framework into Disciplinary Courses. She is an experienced educator and facilitator of professional development
for instructors and librarians. She is currently part of the presenter team for the official ACRL-licensed workshop, “Engaging with the ACRL Framework: A Catalyst for Exploring
and Expanding Our Teaching Practices.” Godbey is an education librarian and associate professor at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas Libraries, where she serves as the
library liaison to the College of Education and Department of Psychology.

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Eliminating HIV Stigma “Togethr”

Jerron Totten, Social Outreach Coordinator and Legislative Advocacy Specialist, LGBT Detroit   

Jerron Totten is a native of Reidsville, NC. A graduate of James Benson Dudley High School and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Totten currently resides in Detroit, Michigan. Professionally, he has spent over 7 years in political organizing having served on both the Obama and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. He is the current Social Outreach Coordinator and Legislative Advocacy Specialist at LGBT Detroit, North America’s largest African American found and led LGBT non-profit organization.

 Friday, January 28

9 AM – 9:15 AM: Welcome – Sarah Lawler, MSLIS

9:30 AM -11 AM: Book Talk: Searching for Health: The Smart Way to Find Information Online and Put It to Use by Kapil Parakh, MD, Ph.D.

Searching for Health – Book Description

We’ve all been there. Late at night, staring into the glow of a phone trying to make sense of some health-related issue that we know nothing about. In Searching for Health, Dr.
Kapil Parakh, with Anna Dirksen, brings to life knowledge he gained from working at Google and practicing medicine. Helping readers avoid common pitfalls, get the
information they need, and partner effectively with their health team to figure out a path to good health together, the book distills decades of scientific research into a set of
easy-to-follow tips. It also incorporates

• firsthand accounts of common challenges on the path to good health;
• an inside look at how doctors approach and assess health-related information;
• techniques that consumers can use to locate evidence-based information online, whether in blogs, social media postings, forums, or news stories;
• guidance on how individuals can make the best use of new technologies, such as health trackers and other applications;
• recommendations to help patients assess health information for themselves and make decisions based on what they find;
• brief summaries of the scientific studies underpinning the recommendations; and
• online and offline resources—including handy checklists and worksheets—to help readers prepare for appointments, discuss tough topics with their doctors, and take control of their health.

Dr. Kapil Parakh is a cardiologist who has spearheaded efforts at Google to provide high-quality health information to more than a billion users.  Before Google, Kapil served as a White House Fellow and was the principal health advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He is also the co-
founder of an award-winning non-profit on health innovation. He was previously Director of Heart Failure at Johns Hopkins Bayview where he
developed novel care delivery models. As a clinician-scientist, he has published dozens of papers, many on psychosocial factors in heart disease.
Kapil is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Advanced Heart Failure and holds a MD, MPH, and Ph.D. Kapil sees patients part-time
at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in DC and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and at Yale University. His book, Searching for
Health, was published by Johns Hopkins Press.

11 AM – 11:20 AM: Health Literacy Organization Lightning Talks: Alzheimer’s Association

11:20 AM – 11:40 AM: Health Literacy Organization Lightning Talks: Food Bank of CNY

11:40 AM: – 12 PM: Health Literacy Organization Lightning Talks: PEACE, Inc.

12 PM – 1 PM: Lunch Break

1:00 PM – 1:20 PM: Health Literacy Resources from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM)

1:40 PM – 3:25 PM: Effective Health Communication and Health Literacy: Understanding the Connection

Sean Corning, MLIS, Education and Outreach Coordinator, Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 7

How are health communication and health literacy connected? How can you be more effective in providing health information to consumers, patients, clients, library patrons
and your community?  This one-hour webinar introduces the concepts of health literacy and health communication, outlines components of clear health communication, and
identifies online resources from the National Library of Medicine, government agencies and other recognized resources for health literacy and health communication.

3:30 PM – 3:40 PM: Wrap Up

A Zoom link will be shared with you prior to the start of the event.

Your registration will cover both days of this event.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Olivia Tsistinas or Sarah Lawler.