Front line health workers (7)
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Source: Ahila-net@who.ch
I just remembered two points about the issues raised by Helga and
Robert's messages in relation to under use of information by health
workers or barriers to information use.
One that I found rather interesting was the fear of younger medics in
being seen to need information to do their job. This could be very
true and may need investigation and design of appropriate channels. I
know of a medic who had the Medical reference publication on "Perma-
nent Loan" borrowed from a remote outstation library where he oper-
ated!!
I also wondered as to whether the presentation of the information or
the way it is packaged could be a factor. Is the information readable
easily? especially for those medics who are in the rural setting and
who attend to EVERYTHING that falls on their hands ? If the rural
doctor who is so busy is presented with something she or he can go
through in five minutes before selecting the real hard stuff to read
it may do some magic. I think librarians need to borrow from the mar-
keting professionals and think more of making their efforts bear
fruit by packaging their wares in a format the client will appreci-
ate.
Another issue could be that those health workers in remote areas lack
motivation because they do not see themselves settled in these areas.
i.e. they are busy planning how they will move to better areas where
they can access the information directly from the libraries of their
choice.
I think librarians need to apply communication skills to get the us-
ers to access information. The convergence of technologies has
brought information access tools closer to the client and the librar-
ian who sticks to the good old book may find herself or himself ex-
tinct. We should be articulating strategies that will utilise Infor-
mation and Communication technologies to provide the user with "in-
formation" in whatever format. Let the print float among the other
technologies but let us not get stuck with emphasis on the print even
when it may be the ultimate choice, be open and talk information not
the carrier.
I may sound out of this world but lets set goals that match the cur-
rent trend of things. We may be the solution to the lack of motiva-
tion among rural health workers if we champion say e-mail as the ul-
timate choice for information exchange between headquarters and dis-
trict hospitals. Connect the Top brass to e-mail and demonstrate how
administrative information can be accessed faster and cheaply through
e-mail (fidonet) and when she or he is hooked then work downwards.
Other information will reach health workers through the same channel
and access to information may improve.
Margaret Mathai
mailto:MMathai@ken.healthnet.org
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