The American Public Health Association is sponsoring a number of upcoming webinars that are related to raising public awareness of health-related issues, among them changing trends in environmental health and the ongoing impact of the Affordable Care Act. The list of webinars and dates is below. (Note that all times are Eastern.) All of the…
Author: Eric Edwards
Resources for Promoting Health Literacy
For anyone who is not familiar with it, the health.gov website has a useful page on health literacy. The page discusses the Health Literate Care Model, a strategy for making health literacy an organization-wide priority that is part of all elements of operations and planning. Following the guidelines in the Care Model, the page recommends…
Advocacy Advice from Conference Intern
Nicole Helregel, one of the library-school student interns at last year’s HSLI conference, was featured in an article from the latest edition of AL Direct. (The March 31 issue is available here.) Nicole, who contributes regularly to “Hack Library School”, a blog for MLS students, recently wrote a piece on strategies for reaching out to lawmakers regarding…
“Hospital Libraries: Challenges and Opportunities” Webinar
The recording for this webinar is now available. During the question-and-answer session, the issue of increasing a medical or hospital library’s visibility among physicians, beyond having library staff serve on institutional committees, was raised. Attendees suggested the following approaches. -Ask physicians what their specific research needs are; particularly if an evidence-based approach is necessary, an “evidence-based toolkit”…
NN/LM (MAR) Symposium on the Affordable Care Act
For anyone who might be interested, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region, will be holding a symposium on the role that libraries of all types (medical and hospital, public, and academic) can play in promoting awareness of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The full-day event, titled “The Affordable Care…
Impact of Proposed Cuts to Illinois Medicaid
The Governor’s proposed budget, which is intended to overcome a projected $6 billion budget deficit for FY 2016 (on top of a $1.6 billion deficit for the current fiscal year), includes $1.5 billion in cuts to Medicaid, making the program one of the main targets of the Governor’s cost-cutting efforts. The program currently covers more…
Update to Legislative Alert for Illinois HB2689 (Mandatory Filters)
Two weeks ago, House Bill 2689–the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act–was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. The Act would require that all public libraries in the state put into place a “technology protection measure”, such as a filter, that would prevent library users from viewing material that could be construed as obscene or…
Legislative Alert–Illinois House Bill 2689 (Mandatory Filters)
House Bill 2689, the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act, was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly on February 19. (So far, no action has been taken on the legislation since it was referred to the Rules Committee that same day.) The sponsor is Representative Peter Breen (Republican–48th District, Lombard), who just started his first…
Proposed Federal Budget for FY 2016 Released
Earlier this month, President Obama announced his priorities for the FY 2016 federal budget. Part of the budget is devoted to improving health care for Americans, through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and through other reforms. The specific areas being targeted, and the goals under each one, are listed below. Supporting Implementation of…
ILA Positions on Illinois Legislative Issues
The Illinois Library Association’s Executive Board has taken the following general positions on legislation that has already been introduced, or is likely to be introduced, during the current session of the Illinois General Assembly. –Opposes any legislation cutting funding, for counties and municipalities, that comes from the Local Government Distributive Fund –Is against legislation reducing…