Telehealth in Libraries: An Opportunity for Community Service

Background: As the COVID era demonstrated, telehealth holds promise for increasing access to and reducing costs of healthcare. However, many people lack broadband access, private space or digital literacy skills necessary to benefit from telehealth. Libraries are well positioned to step into the gap and provide telehealth access for communities encountering such challenges. Health sciences libraries in particular can support their public library and community-organization partners in connecting to and promoting telehealth services. This session will present models for library access to telehealth services used around the country and offer resources, training and networking opportunities available from state, regional and national organizations to prepare staff for supporting telehealth, including courses that can help with making decisions and serving as digital navigators.

Description: In Spring 2023, staff members from the Network of the National Library of Medicine expect to launch a free continuing education course geared toward library administrators and staff that offers an overview of important aspects related to the provision of telehealth services in libraries. The asynchronous course will teach learners to recognize the different approaches and models used in providing telehealth access within libraries, describe resources available to libraries for telehealth technology, discuss the role of the library in support of digital skills training, and address potential ethical and legal concerns that may be on the minds of libraries interested in telehealth.

Conclusion: Full evaluation of the course is not expected to be complete by the time this session is presented. However, the authors will be able to describe resources and opportunities for audience members and share comments from test users of the course. Outcomes of the course over time are expected to include increased understanding of telehealth as it applies to libraries, development of new skills related to assessing opportunities for service in this area, and clearer discernment of whether and how telehealth access is suitable to the participant’s own library.