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Focused Outreach Evaluation Report: Providence RI, and Western Maine Health District

Executive Summary Recognizing the need to improve health information outreach to special populations, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine – New England Region (NN/LM NER) targeted its core outreach services in a focused geographic area. The purpose of the focused outreach approach was to increase access to accurate and reliable health information in communities experiencing health disparities; and to collect process and outcomes evaluation data for program improvement. The project was conceptualized in three phases: 1) Community Assessment: a systematic approach to understanding the community and connecting NN/LM NER with community-based organizations serving the targeted population; 2) Focused Outreach Implementation: a tailored approach using the existing promotional framework of NN/LM NER and its resources; and 3) Evaluation: a comprehensive approach to looking at and documenting the process of conducting focused health information outreach and assessing outputs and outcomes as a way of measuring the effectiveness of the model. Two communities were selected for focused outreach – Providence, Rhode Island's Latino community and rural residents in Western Maine (Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties). At least five community-based agencies in each focused outreach area demonstrated support for the project by hosting trainings and distributing promotion materials. Immediately after participating in trainings, 93% of consumers indicated on post-evaluations knowledge of MedlinePlus as compared to 14% on pre-evaluations. Approximately eight weeks after training, 40% of consumers who responded to follow-up (N=15) indicated that they had used MedlinePlus since the training. Among service providers who responded to the follow-up (N=28), 69% said they shared information from the training with other health service providers and 56% said they had shared the information with a client or community member. This report describes in detail how focused outreach helped NN/LM NER achieve its goal of improved access to accurate and reliable health information in communities of need, and provides process details for program improvement and future replication of the model. The purpose of the project was to increase health information literacy and access to accurate and reliable health information in two distinct communities experiencing health disparities: Providence, Rhode Island's predominantly Latino community and Western Maine's predominantly rural community; and to collect formative and summative evaluation data related to a new focused health information outreach approach. The project was conducted by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine – New England Region (NN/LM NER) in an effort to enhance its services and improve its effectiveness within the region.