The Health Sciences and Human Services Library at University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) announces the release of the Student Health Advocates Redefining Empowerment (SHARE) Curriculum.

Empowering High School Students

This curriculum was developed as the result of a three-year “Health Information Resource Grant to Reduce Health Disparities” from the National Library of Medicine. The grant aimed to empower high school students as community health advocates, improve health in Baltimore neighborhoods, and develop a replicable student health advocacy program.

SHARE Modules

The entire curriculum consists of six modules, which can be used independently or together.

1. Overview of Health Disparities
2. Quality Health Information
3. Taking Charge of Your Health
4. Smart Food Choices
5. Crafting and Delivering the Message
6. Promoting Health and Wellness in Your Community

These modules were developed after working with two cohorts of students from Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy in Baltimore. In addition to detailed lesson plans, each class has assignments and handouts and is aligned with national standards. Supplemental activities are also provided. In order to build a community around the curriculum a blog is available to share ideas and suggestions and discuss the curriculum.

For more information, please contact Project SHARE.

The National Institutes of Health has issued a final NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) policy to promote data sharing as a way to speed the translation of data into knowledge, products and procedures that improve health while protecting the privacy of research participants. The final policy was posted in the Federal Register Aug. 26, 2014 and published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts Aug. 27, 2014.

Click here for full details.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Emergency Access Initiative (EAI) has been activated to support healthcare professionals working on the Ebola public health emergency in West Africa.

The EAI is a collaborative partnership between NLM and participating publishers to provide free access to full-text from over 650 biomedical journals and over 4,000 reference books and online databases to healthcare professionals and libraries affected by disasters. It serves as a temporary collection replacement and/or supplement for libraries affected by disasters that need to continue to serve medical staff and affiliated users. It is also intended for medical personnel responding to the specified disaster. EAI is not an open access collection. It is only intended for those affected by the disaster or assisting the affected population. If you know of a library or organization involved in healthcare efforts in response to the Ebola outbreak, please let them know of this service. EAI was activated four times in the past, including following the earthquake and subsequent cholera epidemic in Haiti, flooding in Pakistan and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.