Best in State: San Antonio Annual Texas Health Literacy Conference
It is estimated that only 12% of American adults are considered proficient in the health literacy skills they need to effectively navigate and use our health care system. The Texas Health Literacy Conference, held annually in San Antonio for the past 13 years, is recognized as the top health literacy conference in the state. The conference is sponsored by the Bexar County Health Collaborative and the San Antonio Health Literacy Initiative, SAHLI.
The UT Health Briscoe Library supports the conference each year by demonstrating and promoting health literacy resources available from the National Library of Medicine (NLM). In addition, this year librarian Karen Barton (shown below) presented a poster on her National Network of Libraries of Medicine Award entitled The Youth Health Literacy Challenge: A Partnership between UT Health San Antonio Libraries, North East ISD, and the San Antonio Public Library. For the project award, Karen designed a calendar that elementary through high school-aged students can use to learn how to access nutritional resources and reliable health information from the NLM while working through fun and interactive exercises. She also presented on this project at the IIMS Community Engagement Symposium.
