New health information resource from Tufts for Asian-language speakers

(I-Newswire) April 8, 2005 - Segmented by language and by subject, a user - either a patient, doctor or other caregiver -- can search for documents in an Asian language on topics such as asthma, diabetes, nutrition, substance abuse, SARS and HIV/AIDS. A native speaker of an Asian language would go to the main web site, select his/her language, and then search for the information that was needed. Material is also provided in English so that an English-speaking physician or caregiver can see what patients are reading.

"By providing these resources, selected from respected health sites, the Health Sciences Library at Tufts is contributing to helping these populations become better informed and, hopefully, healthier," said Director of the Health Sciences Library, Eric Albright. "To complete the circle, the information is also provided in English - it's one stop for essential health information for Asian Americans whose native language is not English. It's also following a Tufts tradition - providing electronic resources in our international community."

"SPIRAL provides a central source of health information for Asian Americans and their physicians/caregivers. We've selected the Web sites with the best medical information and we'll continue to provide access to more Web sites and more documents," said Deputy Director Cora Ho.

"The National Network of Libraries in Medicine funded the SPIRAL project because it fulfills an important imperative of the health sciences information network -- providing health care professionals and the public access to convenient, rapid access to medical resources," said Elaine Martin, Director, New England region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. "SPIRAL bridges the gap between patients speaking Asian languages and their health care providers by providing valuable medical information in both languages. The health care provider can direct a patient to a trusted site while the patient gets the benefit of information in his/her own language."

The work has been sponsored by two subcontracts from the National Network of Libraries in Medicine, New England Region. The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) is coordinated by the National Library of Medicine. An additional partner in the creation of SPIRAL is South Cove Community Health Center, a primary and preventative health center for Asian Americans in New England.

For more information, please go to http://spiral.tufts.edu.

The Tufts University Health Sciences Library serves the Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, and other institutions affiliated with Tufts.

NOTE TO HEALTH CENTERS:

If you would like a SPIRAL promotional flyer for display and distribution, brochures in Chinese, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Thai, or Vietnamese, or additional information, materials or an onsite presentation, please contact:

Amy E. LaVertu, MLS
Information Services Librarian/SPIRAL Web Master
Health Sciences Library
Tufts University
Phone: 617-636-3988

Contact: Siobhan Gallagher
617-636-6586
Tufts University
http://www.tufts.edu

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