Delaware Libraries Launch 3 Telehealth Kiosks, More To Come ▬ Technical.ly

Delaware Libraries Just Launched 3 Telehealth Kiosks in Sussex County, With More To Come

@DELibraries

Technical.ly: 5.11.2021 by Holly Quinn

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Delaware Libraries have evolved with the times, adapting to the rise of ebooks and focusing on the varying needs of the communities they’re in. That includes offering career and entrepreneur services, and lending a makerspace to help make face shields at the height of the COVID-19 PPE shortage as well as on Election Day.

The newest offering, launched today in three Sussex County libraries, are telehealth kiosks: Community members can come and receive safe, private virtual medical care, therapy sessions, or even things like job interviews, meetings with lawyers or immigration support.

Nick Martin, emerging technology consultant for Delaware Libraries, has been developing the project for several years now.

“This started as part of my Americorps VISTA project,” he said. “I came on board with the Libraries back in 2017, focused on STEM and emerging technology. I was looking at artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and how the libraries could leverage that. Telehealth came about because we have a pretty strong track record of access to social services in the Libraries, starting with the ’08-’09 job crisis, when [Delaware Libraries’ Statewide Social Innovator] Alta Porterfield spearheaded the jobs center.”

Then, around 2012, Delaware Libraries partnered with Delaware Health and Social Services (DHSS) to put social workers into the libraries.

“Pre-COVID we had 22 libraries with social workers,” said Martin. “We have a strong history there. There’s a behavioral health crisis happening. There’s a digital access crisis. And we have COVID, which is this proof of concept for telehealth. The kiosks are part of a larger initiative for better access to health and social services and technology.”

Martin says that, according to his research, this pilot project is the first library-led telehealth initiative in the country. The first three libraries to have the kiosks are Seaford Library, which is considered the hub for the pilot, as well as Milford Library and Laurel Library.

The kiosk program will expand throughout the state, starting this summer.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders) 

Why Health Literacy Matters and How Telehealth Can Help ▬ Health Recovery Solutions

Why Health Literacy Matters and How Telehealth Can Help

Health Literacy - CDC

Health Recovery Solutions: 2.11.2021 by Elena Muller, MPH

For public health professionals health literacy is one of the first things we learn about. Why? Because it cascades into and influences all areas of health. Per the CDC’s definition, personal health literacy is the “degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.”

Current data suggests that about one third of American adults, or 89 million people, have insufficient health literacy skills. They do not have the tools (often out of their control and due to a range of circumstances) to effectively seek and obtain the medical and preventive care they need, and are twice as likely to report poor health outcomes.

🔽

How does health literacy impact patient outcomes?

A number of factors may influence an individual’s health literacy, including living in poverty, lack of education, race/ethnicity, age, substance abuse and other addictions, and disability. Important to note is that just because an individual has high overall literacy, doesn’t mean they have high health literacy—while often overall literacy facilitates higher health literacy, this is not always the case.

An individual’s health literacy impacts their ability to:

◆ Understand their care plan including symptom management, prescriptions, appointment cadence, etc.

◆ Communicate effectively with their providers

◆ Make informed decisions about and then receive treatment

◆ Know when a situation is emergent or not

◆ Navigate the healthcare system - insurance coverage, forms, locating the providers and specialists they need access to for quality and affordable care

◆ Understand preventative measures they can take to prevent illness

🔽

How can telehealth help?

To fully understand how telehealth can help promote health literacy, let’s explore telehealth’s role in each area noted above:

◆ Care plan understanding including symptom management and prescription adherence

◆ Communicating effectively with providers

◆ Making informed decisions about treatment options

◆ Knowing when a situation is an emergency or not

◆ Navigating the healthcare system

◆ Understanding preventative measures

READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 17

Reading Level: very difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

Library Telehealth Visits Revisited ▬ TSL Texas

HHH: Library Telehealth Visits Revisited

#HealthLiteracy

TSL Texas: 3.04.2021 by Henry Stokes

In May 2019, I highlighted the topic of telehealth for my Henry’s High-Tech Highlights blog series. I think it’s high time we take another look. Before this year, telehealth was a fairly new technology that only a handful of folks were thinking about and exploring. With the pandemic, it’s risen to the forefront of people’s minds, becoming more relevant than ever. Suddenly we need telehealth implemented everywhere, on a massive scale, as communities, especially rural ones, are facing a worsening health crisis. Many lack local healthcare facilities to visit and the necessary Internet connectivity to make virtual doctor visits work. Libraries around the country are poised to be the perfect partners in these efforts to bring this critical need to the community, and we just happen to have a pioneer right here in Texas leading the charge.

Today’s highlight: Telehealth at the library

The Facts

First off, why do folks need telehealth access, especially now?

🗹 Rural hospitals have been closing at a catastrophic rate.

🗹 Many people in rural areas are located far from any hospitals.

🗹 There’s also a lack of transportation options (no public transit) for folks to physically travel to the hospital.

🗹 Even when transportation is available, patients are often reluctant to travel outside of their area.

🗹 And most significantly, there is insufficient broadband access, a requirement for telehealth, in many residents’ homes.

Additionally, many of retirement age buy homes in rural areas to live, but when they find they need more healthcare, they end up selling their homes and returning to the cities due to the lack of access. Adding telehealth services to libraries means these seniors could receive the healthcare they need, thus allowing them to stay, age in place, and have the quality of life they desire. Libraries have the opportunity to be transformative, helping to maintain the vitality of their communities.

Why are libraries the perfect telehealth partners?

➧ It’s a place already in communities to serve people’s needs that people trust.

➧ It has friendly, helpful staff who respect privacy and are pros at teaching digital literacy skills.

➧ It often has free high speed Internet, faster than many might get at home.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Telemedicine: Communicating About Health by Phone or 2-Way Video ▬ Helen Osborne

Telemedicine: Communicating About Health by Phone or 2-Way Video

Health Literacy
Out Loud

HLOL #209: 3.01 2021 by Helen Osborne

Cliff Coleman M.D., M.P.H. is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Coleman practices as a family medicine physician at a Federally Qualified Health Center. His clinical interests include treating medically complex individuals and underserved populations. Dr. Coleman is also a national health literacy expert. His ongoing research and teaching help lead the way toward health literacy competencies for all health professionals.

In this podcast, Dr. Cliff Coleman talks with Helen Osborne about:

➤ A new era of delivering healthcare at a distance brought on by necessity during COVID-19.

➤ Telemedicine benefits and drawbacks for patients, practitioners, and populations.

➤ Lessons learned about effective communication. These include ways to establish a mutual agenda, encourage conversational turn-taking, discuss potentially awkward topics, and confirm understanding at the conclusion of telemedicine visits.

More ways to learn:

“Health Literacy and Clear Communication Best Practices for Telemedicine” by Cliff Coleman MD, MPH. Posted on November 10, 2020 in HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice.

“Telehealth Guidance and Resources” from the American College of Physicians (ACP).

“Talking about Interactive Health Literacy & Oral Communication (HLOL #35),” a Health Literacy Out Loud podcast interview with Donald Rubin, PhD.  LISTEN 23:17

Read a transcript of this podcast

Libraries Could Be The Next Hub For Telehealth Services ▬ NBC29

Libraries Could Be The Next Hub For Telehealth Services

NBC29: 10.04.2020 by Elizabeth Holmes

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for many people, especially those who are more at risk for contracting the virus, to get the in-person care they need. However, new research from the University of Virginia shows that getting healthcare in the middle of a pandemic could be as simple as going to a nearby library.

Pam DeGuzman, a professor and researcher at UVA, says libraries could become a new hub for telehealth services.

“Our research has shown that, right now, we can’t find anyone who’s doing this," DeGuzman said.

According to UVA Today, virtual visits from UVA Health alone rose more than 700% between March and May. However, roughly 300,000 people across the commonwealth do not have high speed internet to support using telehealth services from home.

“Particularly, in the era of COVID, that becomes a problem because at one point, clinics started doing almost exclusively for non-urgent cases in telemedicine," DeGuzman explained. “If you didn’t have the ability to get on telemedicine in your home, it would either be very costly for you to do on your phone or you just didn’t do it.”

Many of those who struggle to get internet live in rural areas that require multiple hours of driving to get to their healthcare provider, but the average Virginian lives just 30 minutes away from a library.  WATCH 02:29

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

Grade Level: 12