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Objective: Remote Area Medical (RAM) Volunteer Corps is a nonprofit volunteer relief corps dedicated to serving mankind by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world. The East Tennessee State University Medical Library participated in two RAM expeditions. Approximately 3,000 patients were seen at the 2 events. Methods: The library obtained funding to purchase laptops and printers and printed consumer health information. The library had a prominent position in the educational section of the events. Librarians from other medical libraries and public libraries were invited to be part of the team. During the event, library staff aggressively sought out opportunities to give consumer health information to patients. Results: The library provided health information to approximately 1,300 of the participants. Conclusions: RAM provided the library with a chance to really help out with the community. It was an interesting eye opening experience. It is the medical library’s wish to have a continued relationship with RAM. The library's presence made an impression on the various health care providers as to what a powerful tool information could be.

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eHealth is commonly defined as health services and information provided through the Internet and related technologies. Health educators have taken advantage of Internet and social media venues to disseminate health information essential to health risk management, disease prevention, and disease management and did not have a validated theoretical model to explain their experiences. The goal of this study was to create and test an integrated model of eHealth communication specific to 18-30 year old college students based on five research questions that identified and confirmed the factors most highly correlated with the presentation of health information on Internet or social media venues that improve eHealth literacy and provoke eHealth behavioral intention among college students. A sample of over 1400 18-30 year old college students was surveyed about their general and health information related use of the Internet and social media. As a result of exploratory factor analysis and subsequent structural equation modeling, the proposed theoretical model was revised and tested for statistical power. Two revised integrative models of eHealth communication, one for Internet and one for social media, were developed and validated. The model for social media shows statistically significant paths throughout the model; however, the model for the Internet reveals that the path between two constructs and Online Health Behavior are not statistically significant and is worthy of further examination. This study has important practical implications for eHealth educators, organizations dedicated to informing the public about specific diseases or health promotion techniques, health practitioners seeking improved strategies for effective eHealth message design, and to health information professionals.

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world and often is a chronic long term disease. This calls for an expanded workforce to include non-traditional health care providers. Objective: To determine effectiveness of a cancer information training project with clergy from selected rural Appalachian areas to improve comfort and willingness to work as part of the cancer health care team. Methods: Clergy were trained in the consumer health database of the National Library of Medicine MedlinePlus.gov. Exercises were required that were done using an iPad tablet with an online curriculum. They were also taught how to do a population health assessment of their particular area and develop a health ministry for their church. Results: Three key elements were confirmed that would enable replication of the pilot: access to medlineplus, programmed learning modules using mobile technology such as iPads, and staff support including librarians and medical staff. With these key elements, the cancer project is potentially replicable with other groups beyond clergy. Conclusion: about population health, built on new awareness and topical health knowledge, and using new skills to identify relevant information and library resources, could open minds and enhance community support for preventive and medical interventions.