Educating K-12 Professionals and Parents: Finding Health Information for Special Needs Children^.

Area of Science:

• Health Sciences Librarianship
• Pediatric Health Information Access
• School-Based Health Support

Background:

• Limited access to specialized health information for children with special needs and their families within school settings.
• Need for effective knowledge transfer and resource utilization strategies for school-based health professionals.
• Importance of inter-institutional partnerships to bridge gaps in health information accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a successful partnership model between an academic health sciences library and a K-12 school district.
• To enhance access to health information for school librarians, nurses, and special education staff supporting special needs children.
• To evaluate the utilization and impact of provided health information resources and training.

Main Methods:

• Collaborative development of train-the-trainer staff sessions and parent information sessions.
• Acquisition of iPads using grant funding to facilitate mobile health information support by librarians and nurses.
• Implementation of a partnership model focused on empowering school personnel with health information resources.

Main Results:

• School librarians and nurses are actively utilizing the provided resources to find health information.
• Trained school staff are increasingly sought after by families for assistance with health information needs.
• Positive feedback received from the school district regarding the program's effectiveness and utility.

Conclusions:

• The presented partnership model is effective in improving health information access for special needs children and their families.
• The initiative successfully empowered school-based staff to provide crucial health information support.
• The model demonstrates potential for successful replication in similar academic and K-12 school district collaborations.