Role of Pakistani e-libraries in promoting health awareness for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal-3.

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q2 INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE

Health Information and Libraries Journal Pub Date : 2024-11-08 DOI:10.1111/hir.12554

Saira Hanif Soroya, Ashraf Sharif, Anthony Faiola

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Pakistan is a densely populated South Asian country. It is facing numerous health challenges, as well as problems of the digital divide. The government of Pakistan established e-libraries as a pilot project in 2018. These libraries are functioning through community centers/public libraries in the largest province of the country.

Objective: This paper examines the role of Pakistani e-libraries in creating health awareness and providing health information to the public.

Methods: The qualitative research design was based on focus group discussions with the head librarians of all 13 of the 20 e-libraries contacted.

Results: The findings revealed that e-libraries actively create health-related awareness and connect the public to health advisors. The e-libraries were engaged in four types of health-related activities (seminars, awareness campaigns, open health camps, and special health day celebrations) with high attendance from the public. Attendees of these programs returned to librarians with additional health-related queries.

Conclusions: The study suggests a need for more liaison between the community and local healthcare institutions. This approach can make these programs more effective in helping individuals manage their health. The results of this study can serve as a useful guide for other developing nations in developing similar services.

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巴基斯坦电子图书馆在提高健康意识以实现可持续发展目标 3 方面的作用。

背景：巴基斯坦是一个人口稠密的南亚国家。它面临着众多健康挑战以及数字鸿沟问题。巴基斯坦政府于 2018 年作为试点项目建立了电子图书馆。这些图书馆通过该国最大省份的社区中心/公共图书馆运作：本文探讨了巴基斯坦电子图书馆在提高公众健康意识和提供健康信息方面的作用：定性研究设计基于与所联系的 20 家电子图书馆中全部 13 家图书馆的馆长进行的焦点小组讨论：结果：研究结果表明，电子图书馆积极营造与健康有关的意识，并将公众与健康顾问联系起来。电子图书馆参与了四类与健康有关的活动（研讨会、宣传活动、健康公开营和特别健康日庆祝活动），公众的参与度很高。这些活动的参与者向图书馆员提出了更多与健康有关的问题：这项研究表明，社区和当地医疗机构之间需要加强联系。这种方法可以使这些计划更有效地帮助个人管理自己的健康。这项研究的结果可以为其他发展中国家发展类似服务提供有益的指导。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health Information and Libraries Journal INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE-

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

10.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ) provides practitioners, researchers, and students in library and health professions an international and interdisciplinary forum. Its objectives are to encourage discussion and to disseminate developments at the frontiers of information management and libraries. A major focus is communicating practices that are evidence based both in managing information and in supporting health care. The Journal encompasses: - Identifying health information needs and uses - Managing programmes and services in the changing health environment - Information technology and applications in health - Educating and training health information professionals - Outreach to health user groups