National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Volume 14 • Number 2 • Spring/Summer 2001

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Using the Web to Share Information on Health Education and Health Promotion

The Internet can be a powerful tool for state health departments that want to communicate quickly with, and provide comprehensive information to, health care professionals and local health departments. Three states—Washington, Alaska, and Ohio—that are using the Internet effectively to share materials and information on health education and health promotion with health educators throughout their states are profiled below.

Washington State
In 1995 the Office of Health Promotion in the Washington State Department of Health completed a study on how it could best serve health educators and health promoters throughout the state. "We did focus groups with Department program staff and division managers and four regional focus groups with local health department staff, which represented about two-thirds of Washington's 34 local jurisdictions," said Donald Martin, Health Educator, Office of Health Promotion. "Over and over again, people said they wanted a central clearinghouse of resources that would be a place to find out what colleagues are doing, get information about the latest research results, and share community projects and materials." 

"It was fortuitous that just then, we learned about grants available from CDC for this type of clearinghouse," continued Mr. Martin. "We applied, got the funds, and used them as seed money to develop our Internet site. We call it H.E.R.E. [Health Education Resource Exchange] in Washington." 

Before H.E.R.E. went live on the Internet, potential users tested a prototype. "We asked them what they liked and didn't like," said Mr. Martin. "And they showed us how they wanted to navigate the site and how the pages should be laid out. They even told us which colors they preferred. We listened and tried to follow their guidance as much as possible." (See box for an outline of the contents of H.E.R.E.) 

The site has been well-received by the health education professionals in Washington. "Two areas of the site, in particular, help me a great deal: Training and Events and Health Educator's Tool Box," said James Lanz, Public Health Nurse, South-west Washington Health District. "For example, I learned about a class on social marketing through Training and Events. It was a great class. I took it, and several people in my office took it, but there's a good chance we wouldn't have known about it without H.E.R.E. The other area is the Tool Box. From there I can download all sorts of materials—such as the Guidelines for Developing Easy-to-Read Health Education Materials—that help me with my job. And the beauty of the site is that all those materials are free, user-friendly, and easily accessible. I really like H.E.R.E." 

The site is primarily a networking tool. Local health offices and their community partners are invited to provide information on projects and materials they have developed. "We've had calls from health educators all around the state wanting information on our projects and copies of our materials," said Mr. Lanz. "And not only health educators in Washington call," Mr. Lanz continued. "I've had calls from health educators outside the state for our materials. For example, the School of Public Health at the University of Missouri wanted a video called TB Plain and Simple. That video was originally produced in English and Spanish. However, with permission from the producers, we had the soundtrack translated into Russian, Vietnamese, and Bosnian. Nurses say the video increases patients' compliance with doctors' orders. We're really pleased that it's getting widespread use."

Washington recently evaluated the Web site to see if it was meeting users' needs. "We found plenty to be pleased about," said Mr. Martin. "And we also got a lot of ideas about how to improve the site. One important finding is that local health staff feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available on the Internet. They have become more sophisticated and now want projects and materials to be rated and peer-reviewed so they can make more informed decisions about which to select. We are trying to see how we can meet that need." 

One improvement already in place is a monthly newsletter, which is sent via E-mail to all users to tell them about the new features and new information added to the Web site. It's a marketing tool that reminds users to revisit the site, and it helps the H.E.R.E. staff maintain current information on people in the databases.

"We have other improvements planned also," said Mr. Martin. "For example, we plan to make available camera-ready health education materials as PDF files. And we're looking into setting up an E-mail discussion group exclusively for local public health staff who work in health education." 

Several other states started work on Internet sites similar to Washington State's H.E.R.E., but most have now dropped by the wayside. "Our site is still very much alive mainly because we included the responsibility for administering, marketing, expanding, and evaluating the Web site in the job descriptions of three staff members," said Mr. Martin. "H.E.R.E. is not something they work on when they have a free moment. It's an integral part of their job and takes up about 25% of their time." 

Alaska 
Modeled after Washington's H.E.R.E., Alaska's Health Education Library Project (AHELP) [www.ahelp.org/*] is a clearinghouse of health promotion and health education resources available in Alaska. "In our state, the Internet really helps with communication because distances are so vast and roads are so few," said Patty Owen, Health Program Manager at Alaska's Division of Public Health. "In addition, travel in Alaska is expensive, so public health educators save both time and money by having access to this electronic database of projects and materials that have already been used successfully in our state."

Before setting up the Web site, which was launched just last December, the Alaska Division of Public Health did a needs assessment and found that health care professionals (both public and private) needed a convenient, easy way to find reliable, culturally appropriate, and up-to-date health education materials. AHELP answers that need. "We also answer the need for a source for program ideas, news about workshops and training opportunities, and ways to contact other people engaged in health education," said Ms. Owen. 

Alaska's site has five main components: Projects, Materials, People, Calendar, and Resources. "Most of the information about the projects comes from health educators around the state," said Ms. Owen. "We invite them to tell us about programs they've developed so health educators in other parts of the state can use those programs also." 

The Materials section contains pamphlets, posters, publications, audiovisuals, and curricula useful to health educators and health promoters. "We also invite local and regional health educators to add their materials to this database," said Ms. Owen. "They can provide downloadable (PDF) copies so that other health educators can use the materials immediately or they can describe the materials briefly and give information on how to order copies." 

The People section has the names and contact information of many health educators in Alaska; it also has information on Alaska's E-mail discussion group. Calendar lists events of interest to health educators in the state. 

"Our site is new, so we are currently marketing it aggressively to our target audience," said Ms. Owen. "We also plan to evaluate the site soon and make improvements based on that evaluation." 

At least one health educator, however, has already pronounced the site a success. "It's a boon to health educators in rural Alaska," said Shannon Linebarger, Health Education Program Manager of the Maniiloq Association in Kotzebue, Alaska. "We're located 60 miles above the Arctic Circle and the only way in and out of here is by plane. Computers and the Internet are extremely important to us. We get on the AHELP site to look for projects that are going on around the state, especially those that are working well in rural areas." 

Most of the people in Kotzebue are Inuipaq Eskimos, and most read at less than a 6th grade level. "We've developed some culturally appropriate brochures on various topics, such as diabetes and asthma," continued Ms. Linebarger. "And we plan to put them on to the AHELP site so other health educators can use them. They're written at a first- to fourth-grade level." 

"We credit our success in getting our Web site up and running—and keeping it running— in large part to collaboration," said Ms. Owen. "We work with, and get input from, the University of Alaska and several state agencies, Health Sciences Information Services, and several state agencies and native health organizations. We also contracted with an expert to design and produce a great-looking Web site." 

Ohio 
Ohio's health education Internet site www.odh.state.oh.us/resources/educ1.htm* is somewhat different from Alaska's or Washington's. Its main component is the on-line catalog of the Public Health and Health Promotion Library, which has 2,000 items (including 650 videos) of value to health educators. 

Library materials can be borrowed by registered customers, and any resident of Ohio who is a public health professional or a health educator can register. "We define health educator broadly," said Jan York, Librarian, Ohio Department of Health. "We lend material to professional health educators but also to school teachers, doctors, nurses, and people who work at community organizations with programs to improve the health of Ohio citizens." 

Customers may also get research help and obtain the latest technologic information. "We have access to databases such as Medline, CD-ROMs such as CHID [Combined Health Information Data], and E-journals such as Ebsco's Health Source," said Ms. York. 

The second option for users of this Web site is the Clearinghouse, which has booklets, newsletters, reports, and educational materials on a wide variety of topics related to health promotion. "And most of them are free," said Ms. York. "Our customers can search the clearinghouse database by topic or by title."

To keep users up to date on new acquisitions and new services, the health department mails a newsletter twice a year to its 3,000 registered users. "We mail the newsletter because, as yet, not all library members have access to the Internet," said Ms. York. "Indeed, because we're a library, users often come here to access the Internet. That's another one of our services." Ms. York also conducts training sessions at health education conferences for those who want to learn how to find health information on the Internet and how to use the library's services. 

To pay for the upkeep of the site, Ohio uses its funds from CDC's Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant.

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