Public Librarians and End-of-Life Resources

In the spring of 2004, the Gulf Coast Partnership for End-of-Life Care (GCPEC), a Texas-based organization, received funding for a project that aimed to do the following:

• survey public libraries about their knowledge of end-of-life information resources;
• train public librarians on the effects of life-limiting illnesses and the impact on end-of-life decision making;
• provide online resources that provide information about end-of-life decision making;
• empower public librarians to educate individuals with life-limiting illnesses to become a partner with their health care provider in all aspects of their care, including end-of-life decision making (p. 24).
  

Part of the three-hour class that resulted was a pre-test and post-test to measure the level of confidence public librarians had with being able to assist patrons to find end-of-life resources. The level of confidence went from 25% at the beginning of class to nearly 80% at the finish of the class.

During the class librarians shared about their own experience in assisting patrons in this area, many expressing that health care providers had not adequately answered the questions these patrons had. In some situations, the librarians felt they were put in the position of "breaking the bad news." As was emphasized in the class, librarians should not be interpreting information, only providing it. They can offer their opinions about the resources, but should not give advice. While the librarians felt they benefited from the information provided in the class, they felt that a greater emphasis should have been put on conducting the reference interview and learning ways of interacting with patrons dealing with difficult health matters.

More information about the project can be found in the article:

Halsted, Deborah, Carolyn Harty, Teresa Petrucci-Coley and Rudy Ford. "Tapestry of Life: Training Public Librarians to Find End-of-Life Resources." Texas Library Journal 81, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 24-27.