The audience for Spanish language health and wellness information on the Internet is growing. The New York Online Access to Health (NOAH) website (www.noah-health.org) provides consumer health information in English and Spanish on a variety of topics. The Spanish component of NOAH pays special attention to health issues that are prevalent in Latinos, including accidents, HIV infection, diabetes and asthma. The NOAH development team of health sciences librarians, public librarians and health educators initiated this project to make health information available in New York City libraries and agencies. NOAH is one effort to bridge digital disparities in terms of content and access to health information.
NOAH creates international virtual partnerships by its collocating function. NOAH links to materials produced by government, state and local health departments, community-based organizations, health professional associations, non-governmental organizations and non-biased commercial sources. In January 2000, only 68 percent of the links on NOAH came from United States sources. Significant numbers of links came from resources developed in Spain and Central America, South America and Mexico. Many Spanish-speaking users of NOAH are visiting the site from outside the United States. Thanks to the Internet, NOAH, which was developed to address local health information needs, has become an internationally used source of health information in English and Spanish.
See www.noah-health.orgLearning Objectives: At the end of this session, learners will be able to: 1. Describe the demand for Spanish language consumer health information. 2. List seven types of information providers that are linked through the collocative function of a website such as NOAH. 3. Articulate three ways to increase the availability of Spanish language information on the Internet.
Keywords: World Wide Web, Health Information
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am a volunteer editor for New York Online Access to Health, the website which I will be discussing. I am not financially compensated for my volunteer work on this website.