Support Health Literacy With These Trusted Resources

One aspect of information literacy that deserves special attention is personal health literacy, defined by the CDC as “the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” The effects of limited health literacy can be devastating, from the spread of mis- and disinformation that can cost lives to the billions of dollars spent on health care every year for easily preventable conditions. So, what steps can we take to promote health literacy?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended multiple steps, including incorporating accurate, standards-based, and developmentally appropriate health and science information and curricula into education from childhood through the university level, as well as supporting local efforts through community institutions including public libraries to promote health literacy. Schools and libraries are at the forefront of health education, and Infobase offers educators accurate, trustworthy health reference resources written for nonexperts to easily understand. Here are just some of them.

Health Reference eBooks from Omnigraphics

Looking for reference sources your students and adult patrons can turn to for answers to their health questions? Two renowned series from Omnigraphics—one of the most authoritative and reliable names in reference since 1985—are available as eBook collections from Infobase.

The Teen Reference eBook Subscription contains the complete Omnigraphics’ Teen Health Series, a leading resource for librarians, patrons, teachers, and students looking for authoritative, well-organized, and easy-to-use medical information. This collection provides comprehensive, in-depth coverage of health and social issues that affect teens every day, including abuse and violence, anxiety and depression, diet and fitness, family life, sexuality, substance abuse, and much more—a trustworthy source of no-nonsense health information.

The Health Reference eBook Subscription provides reliable reference on essential health topics—including diseases and injuries, preventive care, disabilities, and much more. These titles, each from Omnigraphics’ renowned Health Reference Series, can help answer students’ health questions as they navigate the increasingly noisy, and often unreliable, landscape of medical information online and in popular media. Each book provides more than 400 pages worth of authoritative content based on data and information from respected government agencies and institutes, university research centers, and professional medical associations, including glossaries and directories of helpful organizations.

Both of these subscriptions feature unlimited, simultaneous use with no check-in/checkout and with new and updated titles added at no additional cost.

Subscribers, log into the Teen Reference or Health Reference eBook Subscriptions today to share these resources with your institution’s researchers.

Not a subscriber? Take a FREE TRIAL of these collections today!

Health Reference Center

Health Reference Center is the perfect starting place for health research for everyone, from a student writing a research paper on COVID-19, to a teacher looking for a diagram of a human skull to teach a health class, to a public library patron seeking to learn more about diabetes after being diagnosed.

This essential resource for your health curriculum, guidance department, and general student reference is an easy-to-use multimedia database that provides reliable, detailed information on today’s most important health topics. Students, educators, and adult patrons will find comprehensive, in-depth coverage of body systems; current health issues; major diseases and conditions; treatments; and procedures, as well as health and nutrition information specific to men, women, children, teens, and seniors—all in a browsable and searchable format that anyone will easily master and find simple to explore.

Health Reference Center helps improve analytical and decision-making skills, addresses social pressures and influences, and provides functional health knowledge that encourages users to practice healthy behaviors. Its section on teen health in particular provides in-depth articles about abuse and abusive behavior, mental health, smoking and vaping, stress management, substance abuse, and much more. Users will also find Teens’ Healthy Choices, a proprietary video series, where teens speak to teens about crucial topics such as vaping, drugs and alcohol, what to know about tattoos and piercings, mental health issues, and much more to provide the facts and insight teens need to make informed decisions.

Plus, Health Reference Center’s up-to-date content comes from hundreds of authoritative sources including award-winning proprietary print titles, journal articles from PubMed Central, reference articles from MedlinePlus, and videos from specialized producers, including regular, weekday health news videos from HealthDayTV—information researchers can trust.

Subscribers, log into Health Reference Center today and take advantage of the wealth of trustworthy health content you’ll find!

Not a subscriber? Why not take a FREE trial?

Teach Anatomy and More with Learn360’s Classroom Assets

Learn360 subscribers know that the ultimate streaming video resource for K–12 schools doesn’t just have videos—educators can also find songs, games, printable handouts, and much more that they can use in the classroom. Learn360’s Human Body Topic Center brings together a wide variety of videos, interactives, and printables for grades 3–8 about human anatomy and health, including:

Videos such as How Does the Circulatory System Work? from Makematic and The Human Body: Bones and Muscles from Kunskaps Media
Interactives including Color My Reflexes and Human Body Organs Label-Me Quiz from Mr. Nussbaum
Printables from The Mailbox® including Get Moving! and Growing Strong Bones

Some of the health videos also include related study guides with instructions on how educators can use the videos in the classroom.

Streaming Video Health Content for Research and Your Classroom

Teachers, including homeschoolers, who are looking for educational videos for health and science classes or to share with their students can turn to Infobase. In addition to Learn360, Classroom Video On Demand for secondary schools and Access Video On Demand for public libraries also feature videos on health content from producers such as the BBC, PBS, Ken Burns, and much more.

Here is just some of the content you can find. We have included searchable item numbers for each title for your convenience. (NOTE: The titles appear on all three platforms unless otherwise noted. Some of these titles contain mature themes or content; viewer discretion is advised.)

Nourish Your Life: A Guide to Healthy Eating series (Motion Masters, 2024, Item #292224; available from Classroom Video On Demand)
Medical Breakthroughs series (Ivanhoe Broadcast News, 2023, Item #167502, available from Access Video On Demand and Learn360)
The Weight of Gold (HBO®, 2020, Item #210874; available in the U.S. and Canada from Classroom Video On Demand and Access Video On Demand)
The Brain-Gut Connection with Dr. Emeran Mayer (PBS, 2023, Item #293014; available in the U.S. and Canada from Access Video On Demand)
Horizon: How to Sleep Well with Michael Mosley (BBC, 2022, Item #280337; available on Classroom Video On Demand and Access Video On Demand)
Ken Burns Presents Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness series (Ken Burns, 2022, Item #282618; available from Classroom Video On Demand and Access Video On Demand)
Titles from NewsHour Productions, including:
- Male Eating Disorders (2024, Item #293099; available in the U.S. and Canada from Learn360 and Classroom Video On Demand)
- Food and Mental Health (2023, Item #292688; available in the U.S. and Canada)
- Parkinson’s Disease (2023, Item #291430; available in the U.S. and Canada from Learn360 and Access Video On Demand)
- Wegovy Weight Loss (2023, Item #291431; available in the U.S. and Canada from Learn360 and Access Video On Demand)
- Sunscreen (2023, Item #291429; available in the U.S. and Canada from Learn360 and Access Video On Demand)
- Myths About Fatness (2023, Item #289833; available in the U.S. and Canada)