The aim of this fellowship is to develop through training, the practicum, and research project a medical social work informationist position that will focus on facilitating access to health information for consumers. Combining social work skills with information retrieval skills not only enhances clients use of health information but also provides the client with immediate access to a social worker who can mitigate the stress of dealing with what might appear as an overwhelming amount of information. The accompanying research proposal will include development of processes by which healthcare information can be made more accessible and usable for female clients. The proposal includes providing a virtual location via the internet where clients can research their specific health concerns to gather information to be used when making healthcare and lifestyle decisions. The proposal also includes a consultant who will be available to clients to help them critically consider the information available. Included in the proposal is a research component that will measure the impact of the project on clients' health. The research component also considers the impact of perceived feelings of social support on the clients' use of healthcare information.
