Healthy Libraries with the Long Island Health Collaborative

Libraries are an essential resource for the communities they serve. The Long Island Health Collaborative, along with several academic and community partners it represents, would like to learn about the programs and services that are used by patrons in Suffolk and Nassau Counties, to support health and wellness on Long Island.

The project goal was to identify programs offered by libraries during the calendar year 2016 and 2017 that relate to thePrevention Agenda and the Social Determinants of Health. These programs and services include, but are not limited to, health education programs, literacy programs, employment assistance, information about how to navigate or access health insurance/health care, and topics such as chronic disease prevention and management.

The idea for this project was sparked by a similar library asset mapping project that was reported in Health Affairs in the November 2016 issue, entitled “Beyond Books: Public Libraries as Partners for Population Health” published by a team at the University of Pennsylvania.  Information for this project was collected by Stony Brook University and Hofstra University faculty and supervised students.

View the map here!