NCLIS California winner in national top 10

The United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) named the California winner of the 2006 NCLIS Health Information Awards for Libraries: the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Library (PCOML) in San Diego . This outstanding California library was also one of 10 national finalists.

Senior health information needs in San Diego

PCOML won the award in California because it developed the first San Diego library outreach program to address the health information needs of the over 50,000 seniors who have recently moved into the San Diego area.  Many of these new San Diegans are of Hispanic, African American, Asian, and Eastern European backgrounds. They are also low-income and cannot otherwise access the quality health information seniors desperately need for preventing disease, and coping with health problems.  The PCOML program helps eliminate these barriers for at risk San Diego seniors.

PCOML’s award-winning project is a model consumer-health outreach program in partnership with five local San Diego clinics, senior centers, and libraries that enables seniors to electronically access reliable, accurate and authoritative health information. Some specific topics the program covers are: home health care options, patient education information, and healthy lifestyles. 

Naomi Cordero Broering, PCOML dean of libraries says: “I am thrilled that PCOM’s consumer health information outreach program, begun only two years ago, received national recognition.  The NCLIS award of $1,000 will be used to support our service for a short while longer until we can find additional funding.  Hopefully, we can parlay this national recognition to establish a Center for Health Information Service at the library.”

NCLIS

The NCLIS awards honor library programs that address one or more of the following: dietary choices; exercise; smoking cessation; alcohol and/or drug abuse prevention or cessation; immunizations and health screenings; and improved health literacy, that is, the ability to understand and make use of health information. 

In each state, a panel of judges selects the winners based on how well that state’s program encourages lifestyle improvement among the target population, the program’s adaptability, collaboration with other community organizations, and how successfully the program is able to reach out to people with low-information literacy skills.

For more information about PCOML contact Naomi C. Broering, dean of libraries, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine at 619-574-6909 or email nbroering@pacificcollege.edu.

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