Community Health Engagement: 2024 Health Literacy Month

Workshop:

Trust It or Trash It?: Evaluating Health Websites & Apps

This virtual workshop introduces attendees to the "Trust It or Trash It?" framework. Learn how to apply this framework to evaluate online health information on Wednesday October 2nd from 12pm to 1:30pm.

Annual Keynote Address:

Tracy Mehan, AI Subject Matter Expert, Institute for Healthcare Advancement

Join the Penn Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) Patient & Family Education Committee (PFEC) in welcoming Tracy Mehan from the Institute for Healthcare Advancement to discuss health literacy and AI on Wednesday October 16th from 12pm to 1pm Eastern.

Health Literacy Study Club (HLSC) Discussion

@ the 2024 Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC)

The Fall 2024 kickoff of HLSC will happen jointly during HARC in Tuesday October 22nd at 1:30pm Eastern. Please register for HARC to participate in this special session and read this article in advance: Bedos C, Toreihi N, FathiH, Ranjbar A. Using comics to integrate the socialdeterminants of health in dental education. J DentEduc. 2024;1-3. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.13618

Learn how to edit health-related Wikipedia pages, and become an asynchronous volunteer this October!

In honor of Health Literacy Month (every October), Open Access Week, and the Provost's Years of Civic Engagement (2020 - 2022), Penn Libraries is annually promotes the Network of the National Library of Medicine's (NNLM) #citeNLM Wikipedia Edit-a-thon initiative.

Register for the live virtual training session on Monday October 7th, 2024 from 12pm to 1pm.

Can't make it to this virtual training session? Here are alternate ways to participate:

1. Participate asynchronously using these publicly available training slides. (These slides are updated every semester.)
2. Schedule an appointment with Aman Kaur, the Health Literacy Librarian to learn how to use and edit Wikipedia pages.

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries celebrates Health Literacy Month every October. This year, Aman Kaur, the Health Literacy Librarian, is hosting a health comics contest. This comic creation competition encourages you to create a comic explaining a health concept.

To enter this contest, share your health comic on one or more of the social media platforms below:

• Facebook (Tag Penn Libraries)
• Twitter (Tag @upennlib, @library_dental, and @akaur0)
• Instagram (Tag @upennlib, @penn_dental_library, and @akaur0)
• BlueSky (Tag @akaur0)

The health comics will be evaluated based on plain language, readability, accessibility, and other guidelines discussed in the "Effective Health Communication & Health Literacy: Understanding the Connection" webinar recording and listed on the "Resources for Providing Multicultural & Multilingual Public Health Information" guide.

The winner(s) will receive a poster-sized printout of their health comic (thanks to the Vitale Digital Media Lab in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center) and a health-related 3D-printed object (thanks to the Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab from Holman Biotech Commons). The prizes are limited to winner(s) from the University of Pennsylvania and the surrounding area, who can visit campus to pick up their prizes.

Rules: 

• Don’t be a jerk or gross.
• The health comic must be factually accurate.
• You can submit more than one health comic.
• If you use AI to create your comic, please cite that you used AI.
• By submitting, you are giving us the right to share your health comic publicly.
• The Penn Libraries will credit the health comic to you whenever it is used by us. This will most likely be in conjunction with other health literacy initiatives.
• Everyone is welcome to participate.

Submissions are due on Sunday, October 27th, 2024. The winner will be contacted on Thursday, October 31st, 2024.

How to Get Started on Creating Your Health Comic

1. Review the plain language, readability, accessibility, and other guidelines discussed in the "Effective Health Communication & Health Literacy: Understanding the Connection" webinar recording and listed in the "Resources for Providing Multicultural & Multilingual Public Health Information" guide.
2. Pick a health concept and a target audience.
3. Brainstorm how you would like to tell a story
   • Who is in your comic?
   • What is the plot? How is it resolved?
   • Decide how many panels you want your comic to be.
     • Hint: Check out examples of health comics below.
4. Draw or use a graphic design software.
   • Canva and ComicLife both have templates that you are welcome to use.
5. Revise your health comic. You may need to revise your health comic multiple times.
   • Hint: Ask people for feedback. Do they understand your drawings, the topic, and the story?

6. Enter this contest by share your health comic on one or more of the social media platforms below:

   • Facebook (Tag Penn Libraries)
   • Twitter (Tag @upennlib, @library_dental, and @akaur0
   • Instagram (Tag @upennlib, @penn_dental_library, and @akaur0)
   • BlueSky (Tag @akaur0)

Drawing Health Comics at Penn Dental Medicine (PDM)

For those affiliated with PDM, join the Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library for the contest kickoff event on Wed 10/9 from 1pm to 2pm.