Healthcare Awareness through Library Outreach (HATLO)
On January 25, 2017, I attended the Healthcare Awareness through Library Outeach (HATLO) committee meeting at SCLS. The goal of the committee is to share the best of health related resources between libraries. Valerie Lewis of SCLS organized the committee which will meet several times a year. Listed below are the organizations and what they offer.
The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) offers the HICAP (Health Insurance Information Counseling Assistance Program), Living Healthy with Better Choices, Speakers' Bureau, Feelin' Good Programs, Community Computer Connections Program’s and Telephone Reassurance. They are always looking for volunteers.
Suffolk County Department of Veteran Affairs offers psychiatric rehab services to the veteran community. Free and open support groups, the Dwyer program which offers peer to peer help.
Suffolk County Department of Health Services offers help to children with special health care needs and to children who are physically handicapped. The program was designed to assure that these children receive access to the kind of care they need. In some cases the organization will offset the cost of medication and other health related products. There is also the Patient Protection oversight committee which assists individuals who are under insured or who have no insurance. This group is looking to partner with libraries.
Northwell Health offers free programs on any health related topic to libraries. Speakers from the Katz Institute for Women’s Health will come to the library and talk specifically about women’s health issues. They also offer CPR training, heart health screenings and heart healthy activities such as yoga, floor exercise and aromatherapy.
Lori Ginsburg, RN discussed the Equity of Care unit at Northwell Health that addresses inequity of health care in certain populations.
Dr. Barbara Chandler, a certified Dementia care partner with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is offering a Dementia Care Workshop for family caregivers. It is a 4 part workshop designed to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their family caregivers.
Barbara Possillico, Librarian for Northwell Hospitals in Suffolk County offers libguides that can be found http://libguides.hofstra.edu/Toolkit_Master. This is a great resource for kids, teen and their parents.
Catherine Given from Half Hollow Hills Community Library talked about the Memory Café program that she developed. The program takes place at a local restaurant. Care receivers and caregiver can come and enjoy music and socialization for free. A delicious buffet is offered on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association. The program is open to all.
Some of the librarians that attended shared what they do. Most offer HICAP, put out brochures from the different agencies on LI, NARCAN Training, and Smoking Cessation classes. Some offer cancer and heart screenings. Patchogue-Medford has a binder with helpful information on display. I mentioned the caregiver’s respite program that I held at our library last fall. Some libraries hold support groups for those who suffer from different health related conditions.
The next meeting is May 10th at 10am at SCLS and is open to anyone who would like to attend. I have some brochures from some of the organizations that I will give to Joyce to post on the community board in the alcove.
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Karen Cognato
Reference Librarian
Harborfields Public Library
31 Broadway
Greenlawn, NY 11740
631-757-4200 Ext. 145
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Karen Cognato
Reference Librarian
Harborfields Public Library
31 Broadway
Greenlawn, NY 11740
631-757-4200 Ext. 145
