Southeastern Louisiana University

Sims Library computer training program featured in national newsletter

Contact: Rene Abadie

10/14/11

     HAMMOND – A project designed to provide basic computer training and instruction to area elderly residents by staff at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Sims Memorial Library is featured in this month’s newsletter of the National Library of Medicine.
     Senior CHAT (Consumer Health Awareness Training) was a nine-month long program designed to help seniors improve their health information literacy and promote better health outcomes. The project was funded by a grant from the National Network/Libraries of Medicine South Central Region and was offered in conjunction with the Tangipahoa Parish Voluntary Council on Aging.
     The project was featured in the national newsletter along with several others from the South Central Region.
     Southeastern librarians Mary Lou Strong, Jean Caswell Badeau and Ladonna Guillot conducted two Senior Consumer Health Awareness Training sessions over two six-week periods for 25 participants each during the fall and spring semesters. The course included basic computer and Internet-access training and then introduced participants to informative health sites, including those sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Aging. Participants also completed a personal health profile, which was transferred to a flash drive for portability.
     “A lack of access to accurate medical information among seniors was identified by the medical community following Hurricane Katrina,” said Strong. “Our goal is to help seniors access the vast amount of good, accurate medical information that is available from reliable sources on the Internet.”