robert m shapiro, mals; alex f howard, mph atc; zachary g young, msls; richard c ingram, med
DESCRIPTION
Information Seeking Behaviors of Local Public Health Practitioners: A Case Study from a Kentucky Health Department. Robert M Shapiro, MALS; Alex F Howard, MPH ATC; Zachary G Young, MSLS; Richard C Ingram, MEd Midwest Chapter MLA/ WHSLA September 24-28, 2010. What is PHS(S)R. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Information Seeking Behaviors of Local Public Health Practitioners:
A Case Study from a Kentucky Health Department
Robert M Shapiro, MALS; Alex F Howard, MPH ATC; Zachary G Young, MSLS; Richard C Ingram, MEd
Midwest Chapter MLA/ WHSLASeptember 24-28, 2010
What is PHS(S)R
• Public Health Systems and Services Research
• Public Health Services and Systems Research
• Public Health Systems Research
…is a field of study that examines the organization, financing, and delivery of public health services within communities, and the impact of these services on public health.
Policy Makers
PractitionersResearchers
Methods
• Development of survey– Face validity established by both LIS and Public
Health professionals• IRB approval• Kentucky Health Department Directors
meeting
Methods
• Survey sent to Directors with instructions to forward the survey link to all FTEs
• Directors received a thank you/reminder after 2 weeks; the survey link closed after 3 weeks
Results
• 114 responses (n~5,000)
• 50% from one health department
• New “n” of 57, representing 79% of FTEs 31 non-clinical (54%) 26 clinical (46%)
Results - DemographicsAge* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative 18-25 1 (2%) 1 (2%) 4%
26-35 8 (15%) 8 (15%) 30%
36-45 7 (13%) 7 (13%) 26%
46+ 12 (22%) 10 (19%) 40%
*3 missing
Sex* Clinical Non-clinical
Male 0 7 (13%)
Female 26 (48%) 21 (39%)
*3 missing
Results - DemographicsHighest Educational Attainment*
Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
High School 2 (4%) 10 (19%) 22%
Some College 2 (4%) 2 (4%) 7%
Associates Degree 15 (28%) 3 (6%) 33%
Bachelor+ 7 (13%) 13 (24%) 38%
Length at current position*
Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Less than 1 year 3 (6%) 3 (6%) 11%
1 – 3 years 9 (17%) 3 (6%) 22%
3 – 10 Years 8 (15%) 15 (28%) 43%
11+ years 6 (11%) 7 (13%) 24%
*3 missing
Results – How often
How often Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Never 1 (2%) 3 (5%) 7%
Almost Never 3 (5%) 6 (11%) 16%
Monthly 10 (18%) 6 (11%) 29%
Weekly 3 (5%) 9 (16%) 21%
Daily 9 (16%) 6 (11%) 27%
Results - Need to seek informationReason Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Clinical Services 11 (19%) 5 (8%) 28%
Design a new program
3 (5%) 2 (4%) 9%
Formulate Policy or design protocol
2 (4%) 5 (9%) 12%
Fulfill a request by a supervisor
5 (9%) 10 (18%) 26%
No Need 1 (2%) 4 (7%) 9%
Other 4 (7%) 5 (9%) 16%
Results – Frequency of use
Article Databases (eg: PubMed, ERIC, Web of Science)*
Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Never 7 (13%) 9 (16%) 29%
Almost Never 6 (11%) 10 (18%) 29%
Monthly 9 (16%) 8 (14%) 31%
Weekly 1 (2%) 3 (5%) 7%
Daily 2 (4%) 0 4%
*2 missing
Results – Frequency of use
Colleagues* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Never 1 (2%) 1 (2%) 4%
Almost Never 2 (4%) 3 (5%) 9%
Monthly 4 (7%) 4 (7%) 15%
Weekly 5 (9%) 10 (18%) 27%
Daily 14 (25%) 11 (20%) 45%
*2 missing
Results – Frequency of use
Web Search Engines (eg: Google, Yahoo, AltaVista)*
Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Never 4 (7%) 3 (5%) 13%
Almost Never 1 (2%) 5 (9%) 11%
Monthly 1 (2%) 4 (7%) 9%
Weekly 9 (16%) 8 (14%) 30%
Daily 11 (20%) 10 (18%) 38%
*1 missing
Results – Making decisionsResource* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Colleagues 26 26 91%
Other HDs 15 18 58%
Journal articles 7 14 21%
Grey literature 2 1 5%
Books 5 8 23%
Statistics Databases 4 6 18%
Listservs 6 3 16%
Online Discussion Boards
0 1 2%
Nat’l Org. Websites 13 11 42%
*Only positive responses reported
Results – Web 2.0Resource* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Social networking sites
4 1 9%
Blogs 1 3 7%
Wikis 1 1 2%
RSS Feeds 1 0 2%
YouTube and other videos sharing websites
2 3 9%
Twitter and other microblogging sites
0 2 4%
Flickr and other photo sharing sites
0 2 4%
None 21 24 79%
*Only positive responses reported
Results – Public health problems
Resources* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
CDC 21 19 70%
Kentucky DOH 23 25 84%
Kentucky IOM 5 3 14%
NIH 6 1 14%
NLM 1 0 2%
*Only positive responses reported
Results - BarriersBarrier* Clinical Non-clinical Cumulative
Cost 8 6 25%
Type of Media 7 2 16%
Knowledge of Available Resources
13 12 44%
Lack of Resources (eg: computer equipment, internet access, or library affiliation)
5 3 14%
Searching Skills 12 4 28%
Time Limitations 15 9 42%
None 4 7 19%
*Only positive responses reported
Discussion
• How to be their colleagues?– (Models like ATTRACT and NLH)
• How to make them aware of available resources?• Further support for tailored information based on
roles• Rethink the effectiveness of Web 2.0 in
facilitating communicaiton
Thanks!Questions?