The Health Library and Public Library collaborate to tackle low health literacy levels in Stafford.

Debbie Wyatt, Assistant Librarian at County Hospital in Stafford, University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust in collaboration with Charlotte Hernandez, Library Development Officer for Staffordshire Libraries.

Last year, the Library Development Officer from Stafford Public Library reached out to me to explore the possibility of enhancing their health-related offerings. Following our initial meeting, I proposed the concept of establishing a permanent, regularly updated health information display.

Since its inception in April 2023, the ‘Health Hub’ has been a fixture at Stafford Public Library. The display has primarily focussed on promoting health awareness campaigns and guiding visitors on where to access reliable health information. The positive response from the community has been significant, leading to the replication of the display at another nearby library in Stone, which has been in place since December 2023.

Fig 1: January 2024 display at Stone Public Library

To assess the impact and usability of the health information, I recently conducted a survey. The goal was to gather feedback from the public, evaluating the effectiveness and comprehensibility of the displayed information. Feedback forms are conveniently available in both paper format near the display and in QR Code format on the display board. I was pleased to receive six completed forms in the first month, stating that the information was easy to understand and very useful, see one comment from a member of Stafford public library featured below:

“The Health Hub at Stafford Public library is a super idea due to the number of people using the library… [It demonstrates that] we need to look after our body and mind more.”

I actively align with Trust initiatives whenever feasible and consistently employ social media to promote the display, actively seeking input from staff members on specific information they would like me to highlight for the public. Additionally, when engaging with research-focussed staff, I emphasize the valuable opportunity for them to have direct access to the public, whether through the display or in person.

Fig 2: Social media post from @CountyHealthLib featuring the September 2023 display at Stafford Public Library

I am more than willing to provide any details about this initiative to health library staff. Please feel free to contact me: debbie.wyatt@uhnm.nhs.uk.