The Partners Project

Last year, the National Library of Medicine funded 2 grant proposals written by the Himmelfarb Library. The goals of the proposal are to provide health information to the clinic staffs, patients, and clients of the Non-Profit Clinic Consortium (NPCC) in Washington, DC.

The Partners for Health Information Project, provides the NPCC clinics with a computer dedicated to staff, a computer with Internet access dedicated to patients and clients, licenses for MD Consult and document delivery services. The grant also provides funds to develop a Partners web page to access health information and community resources. Workshops at the Library and visits to the clinics teach staff and patients how to use and evaluate health information on the Internet.

Over 40 clinic staff members have attended Library workshops on consumer health information, database searching, and Web navigation. Clinics, including La Clinica del Pueblo, the Spanish Catholic Center, Columbia Road Health Services, Washington Free Clinic, and the Community of Hope, have invited us to their staff meetings to view demonstrations of Partners resources. These demonstrations have introduced over 100 clinic staff members to the Partners project.

Thanks to the commitment of clinic staff and the dedicated participation of our ISCOPES and Health Advocates team, Partners is visiting waiting rooms at the clinics to introduce patients and clients to the web. In the last several months, Partners volunteers have begun training clients at the Max Robinson Center, the Teen Group at Mary's Center, patient volunteer trainers at SOME, clients at Family and Medical Counseling Services, and patients at Bread for the City.

Staff and patients have greeted the project with great enthusiasm. Many clinics are sharing their health promotion materials to post on the Partners web page. Others are interested in sharing their peer education materials with a broader community through the web page. Through the workshops and meetings, the Partners project has begun to form a network of clinic staffs and clients of the District of Columbia's safety net clinics. They have the opportunity to work more closely together to meet their common social and health needs.

If you'd like to volunteer your time to visit the clinics or add material to the Partners web page, please contact Karyn Pomerantz, Partners for Consumer Health Information, c/o the SPHHS, Ross 202, 994-2976 or kpomeran@gwu.edu. Visit the Partners web page at http://www.gwumc.edu/partners.