Outreach 157 - Development and Dissemination of a Health Information Literacy Training for 95 Youth

Residents of 95 communities face increasing challenges to optimizing health and well-being. Beyond structural barriers, health disparities in 95 areas are heightened due to lack of access to quality health information. This project seeks to address this issue by developing a health information literacy training INQUIRY tailored to 95 youth. Media specialists library and information science professionals in middle and high schools across 95 counties of Eastern NC will be instructed on how to deliver the INQUIRY training, thus providing increased access to high-quality health information to youth and their families. INQUIRY training will include multiple NLM resources and creative activities to engage youth in locating and evaluating health information while focusing content examples on substance use disorders, which is a heightened concern in 95 counties of NC. The impact of this project will be expanded through provision of an on-line training on INQUIRY to be disseminated to other professionals in youth serving organizations such as public libraries. Finally, this project will comprehensively assess information needs of media specialists to inform future efforts to meet NLM's goal of equalizing health information access and empowering all consumers to make informed decisions about their health.