Empowering Minority Communities With Online Health Information: A curriculum Development and Information Dissemination S

1. Empowering Minority Communities With Online Health Information: A curriculum Development and Information Dissemination Success Story Marie St. Rose, PhD, RN Norfolk State University June 9, 2008

2. Introduction • The spread of HIV among college students continues to be of public concern. • Specifically, there is an urgent need to develop strategies to combat the threat of HIV/AIDS among African American college students (Chng, Carlon, & Toynes, 2006).

3. Background Program planners, educators, and health professionals are challenged to find more effective ways to convey HIV health information . The internet has become an important channel for disseminating health information and researchers are providing empirical evidence about the quality of this information (Schiavo, 2008) . Although many college students are computer literate and have internet skills, some lack the ability to find credible health information for their personal use Compared to other racial groups, African Americans are less likely to have access to the internet (Suarez-Balcazar, Kinney, Cassey, & Muhammad, 2005).

4. Background cont’d As part of an initiative to improve the health of African Americans, the United Negro College Fund Special Programs (UNCFSP) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) supported and funded a research-based project at Norfolk State University titled “Enhancing Educational Opportunities in HIV Prevention and Risk Reduction for African American College Students through Online Health Information and Community Service Learning” The program was delivered at Norfolk State University. A detailed description of the program is published (Journal of the National Society of Allied Health, Volume 5, number 6- spring/summer 2008) For the purpose of this presentation, two elements of the program will be discussed

5. Two elements of the program • Training students in ways of improving their skills in obtaining HIV information from the online resources of the National Library of Medicine • Infusing HIV information into the curriculum content of undergraduate programs

6. Training The students participated in three formal workshops (i.e., the NLM competency training). The first workshop was conducted by a librarian and was provided to 10 peer educators. The two other workshops were conducted by peer educators and were provided to program participants The training involved teaching the students how to access, navigate, and retrieve HIV prevention and risk reduction information from the online resources of the National Library of Medicine

7. Training cont’d The program participants provided the National Library of Medicine’s competency training to another group of young African Americans on campus and in the nearby communities (St. Rose, Fuller, & Jones, 2008).

8. Curriculum The curriculum was expanded to include HIV information into the following courses: • HIM 120- Medical Terminology • BIO 351 – Principles of Genetics • HRP 290 – African American Health

9. Curriculum cont’d • An HIV 101 online course was developed and it is available in blackboard • HIV information is communicated through brochures and flyers • The NLM website http:aids.nlm.nih.gov is posted on the webpage of NSU library

10. Summary of findings The training was implemented with little difficulty because the students and community members had the skills to use the computer The students showed eagerness in learning how to seek quality health information online The hands- on skill training was appreciated because it covered a wide scope of HIV information that was unknown to the students The students stated that the training was instrumental and helped them to commit to making better health decisions

11. Summary of findings cont’d The students expressed that the training provided an opportunity to develop leadership and communication skills. The students reported that the amount of HIV/AIDS information and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS statistics overwhelmed and shocked the students and community members. The students reported that the training probably increased their understanding about their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and expectations about their health. A total of 1,040 young people received the NLM competency training (St. Rose, Fuller, & Jones, 2008)

12. Relevance to practice • The students who received the training will soon enter their health professions (such as nursing, allied health) and may be required to assist clients to find quality online health information.

13. References Chng C., Carlton A., & Toynes B. (2006). HIV on historically black colleges and universities (HBCU): A study of five campuses in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana. College Student Journal, 40, 25-34. Schiavo R. (2008). Digital Marketing the rise of e-health: Current trends and topics on online health communications. Journal of Medical Marketing, 8, 9-18. St. Rose M., Fuller, M K., & Jones, R C. (2008). An alternative HIV prevention approach for African American college students. A preliminary investigation. Journal of the National Society of Allied Health, 5, 79-85. Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Kinney, L., Masi, C M., Cassey, M Z., & Muhammad, B. (2005). A participatory internet initiative in an African American Neighborhood. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 29, 103-116.