The Intersection of Health Disparities and Library Outreach: Mechanisms for Change

The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health is to improve and protect the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that eliminate health disparities. It advises the HHS Secretary on health programs affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders. The Office of Minority Health Resource Center (OMHRC) supports these goals by offering information, research assistance, training, and community outreach services to under-served populations in the USA and U.S. Territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. It maintains a free, bilingual 800-number for public inquiries. Within OMHRC, the Knowledge Center Library maintains a collection of 50,000 documents and consumer brochures related to health disparities, health literacy, cultural competency. Over the past 10 years, it has expanded its outreach by promoting its resources to minority and Indigenous populations. This poster will visualize the relationships between the library’s clientele, its core services, and digital collections by using mechanisms such as conference presentations, website development, Spanish language access, website widgets, social media, and library collaborations. The poster presents supporting data and illustrations on such progress.