Recognizing the burden of health disparities that Native American communities experience and the isolation inherent in their mostly very rural locations, the National Library of Medicine is funding the Regional Medical Library at the University of Washington to provide planning and technical assistance to tribes and native villages by developing a community computer networking infrastructure and connecting to the Internet. The goal of the connectivity is to bring quality and relevant health information directly to those who need it: care providers, health and social service workers, teachers, librarians, and the public.
A flexible community development model has been followed with 16 communities in the U.S. northwest region which is being repeated in 4 additional communities in the southwest. Key to the model is establishing alliances with and among any combination of community leaders in the areas of 1) health and social services, 2) schools and libraries, 3) and computing and telecommunications services. These alliances are used to develop a computer networking plan that serves as much of the community as possible and that provides high bandwidth Internet access that is feasible and cost effective for the location. Regional Medical Library staff also use this alliance to develop appropriate group training in health information literacy skills, including: assessment of information need and appropriate source, Web navigation, database searching, and evaluation of health information. Tribal Connections is helping to build the distance learning and tele-health capacities of participating communities.
See www.tribalconnections.orgLearning Objectives: At the end of this session, learners will be able to: 1. Describe how the digital divide contributes to the health disparities suffered by minority and rural communities. 2. Identify the technical and organizational challenges to overcome in the Tribal Connections project. 3. Articulate how Internet access in isolated communities can benefit health, social, and educational systems.
Keywords: Internet, Native Americans
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: NLM
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Receives funding from NLM