HI+ for Community Information

This presentation is aimed at the staff of Public and Further Education libraries and is focussed upon how the Health Information Plus website can help you in finding Community Information.

It will assume you’ve already taken a look at HI+ and will provide some examples of how you might be called upon to use it in your library.

For a basic overview of all the features of HI+, take a look at the “Using Health Information Plus” presentation.

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Navigating this demonstration

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What do we mean by Community Information?

‘Community Information’ covers a number of different subjects but is all geared toward social inclusion and allowing individuals to develop the key functional skills required in order to be active in the community.

Examples of topics included in Community Information could be: employment, tax, benefits, the law, support groups, housing, driving, education and using public transport.

Why a special slideshow for Community Information?

Public and F.E. libraries are often the first port of call for Community Information. It would help any library assistant to have this sort of information at their fingertips.

A Health Information resource may not be an obvious place to look. You may be surprised at the wealth of Community Information offered by HI+ and its companion websites: Diabetes, Stroke and Polish Information Plus.

You undoubtedly have Community Information resources in your library already. HI+ is not an alternative to these but may supplement the resources to which you already have access.

Where can I find Community Information?

On HI+, Community Information can be found in several locations:

• The “Your Services” section of the HI+ website

• The “Help and Support” pages

• The “Wellbeing” section of the website

• Polish Information Plus

• The “Living” section of Diabetes Information Plus

The following slides will look at each of these sections.

“Your Services”

To access “Your Services”, simply select the link at the top-left of the HI+ homepage.

This section of the site lets the user find local health-related services such as GPs, Community Pharmacists and Dentists.

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“Your Services” (continued)

1. This feature lets you find your nearest GPs or Dentists by postcode

2. This feature allows you to find a pharmacist by postcode or region

3. This section allows you to browse a Register of Practitioners

4. You are also able to browse for health or medical services by healthboard. Simply select your area on the map.

5. The ‘services and support’ feature will be explained on the next slide.

The ‘Services and support’ feature provides access to some non-health focussed resources.

Here, the user can find information on Finance, Travel, Employment, Life Assurance, Health and Legal Issues and Driving. Simply select one of these links to reveal the information resources.

In the example on the left, the ‘Driving’ link has been selected to reveal resources about car insurance, vehicle licensing and other useful associated information.

“Your Services” (continued)

“Help and Support”

To access “Help and Support”, simply select the link in the bottom-right of the HI+ homepage.

“Help and Support” (continued)

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This page is largely health-based but it does contain supportive non-clinical directions for members of the community.

From here, carers can find useful information to help them. (1) and support groups can be found by health board (2).

“Wellbeing”

To access “Wellbeing”, simply select the link in the bottom-left of the HI+ homepage.

“Wellbeing” (continued)

As well as information on healthy living, this section of the site offers information on IT skills, numeracy, literacy, adult education, change management and other core and life skills.

Maximising potential in these areas increases confidence and could contribute towards an individual’s overall wellbeing.

The user can navigate this information using the menu on the right.

Polish Information Plus

Since there is such a large Polish-speaking community in Scotland and many users of public and F.E. libraries have Polish as a first language, NHS Education for Scotland have developed a specialist website to access Polish health and Community Information.

PI+ can be accessed at www.polishinformationplus.co.uk.

Polish Information Plus (Continued)

PI+, unlike the other websites of HI+ suite, is not directly user-focussed and may require the mediation of an English-speaking librarian.

To browse for Community Information, simply select a category from the menu on the right-hand-side of the screen.

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