Web Watch: Reach diverse audiences with appropriate facts
Family planning professionals encounter a broad cross-section of the American population. Check out the following web sites in researching culturally appropriate patient information material:
1. Reproductive Health Outlook. Web: www.rho.org.
The Reproductive Health Outlook web site, published by the Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), is designed for reproductive health program managers and decision makers working in developing countries and low-resource settings. It provides up-to-date summaries of research findings, program experience, and clinical guidelines related to key reproductive health topics as well as analyses of policy and program implications. It offers in-depth information on reproductive health topics including contraceptive methods, HIV/AIDS, reproductive tract infections, men and reproductive health, adolescent health, family planning program issues, refugee reproductive health, and gender and sexual health.
2. Media/Materials Clearinghouse. Web: www.jhuccp.org/mmc/index.stm.
The Media/Materials Clearinghouse is part of the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Population Information Program. Funded by the Washington, DC-based U.S. Agency for International Development, it is an inter-national resource for health professionals who seek samples of pamphlets, posters, videos, and other media/materials designed to promote public health.
Click on the "Health Communication Materials Network" (HCMN) button if you’re interested in professionals who specialize in the development of health communication materials, such as pamphlets, posters, video, radio, and training materials. HCMN provides a forum for health communication specialists to share ideas, information, and work samples.
3. ReproLine. Web: www.reproline.jhu.edu/index.htm.
ReproLine is developed by the JHPIEGO, an affiliate of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University. JHPIEGO, a nonprofit organization also based in Baltimore, aims its efforts at improving the health of women and families throughout the world by increasing the number of qualified health professionals trained in modern reproductive health care. It offers extensive tools for trainers, and its "Reading Room" offers on-line documents on contraceptive methods, including The Pocket Guide for Family Planning Service Providers.
4. Office of Minority Health. Web: www.omhrc.gov.
The Office of Minority Health oversees public health issues affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian-Americans, native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, Blacks/African-Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos. Click on "Publications" to go to the on-line versions of the agency’s newsletters, Closing the Gap, which reports on federal, state, and community-based activities related to minority health, and HIV Impact, a quarterly newsletter focusing on HIV/AIDS in communities of color.
5. EthnoMed. Web: http://ethnomed.org/.
This web site, a joint project of University of Washington Health Sciences Library and the Harborview Medical Center’s Community House Calls Program, both based in Seattle, contains medical and cultural information on immigrant and refugee groups. The web site is designed to be used in clinics by care providers in the few minutes before seeing a patient in clinic.
While it offers information specific to groups in the Seattle area, much of the cultural and health material is of interest and applicable in other geographic areas. Ethnic groups currently included in the web site’s information base are the Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Eritrean, Hispanic, Oromo, Somali, Tigrean, and Vietnamese. Other ethnic groups will be included as materials are written.
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