FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Anne Manning

UTHSC Communications and Marketing

(901) 448-4072, or

Sandy Oelschlegel
(865) 544-6615
soelschl@mc.utmck.edu

ONLINE SURVEYS AIM TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION

            Memphis, Tennessee (January 19, 2006)--Tennessee libraries are sponsoring online surveys to help improve access to health information through grant-funded local initiatives.
              Researchers say survey results will shed light on where consumers look for health information and what kinds of information they seek. These results will be used to write grants aimed at funding local initiatives to help people find accurate health information.
              “Access to current health information is important to everyone,” said survey team leader Sandy Oelschlegel, a researcher at UT Graduate School of Medicine at Knoxville, part of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “We want to identify consumer roadblocks and eliminate them.”
            There are three surveys online, one each for consumers, healthcare providers and librarians. Funded through the National Library of Medicine, the survey takes about five minutes to complete and answers are anonymous. Surveys will be available for Tennessee residents to complete from January 17 through February 10.
          To complete the survey online, visit www.tennessee.edu/healthinfo. To request paper copies sent through the mail, call the Preston Medical Library at (865) 544-9525 or email library@utmck.edu