Canary in the Coal Mine - A Story from Region 6

01/10/24 • 26 min

Indiana is known as the crossroads of America. In recent years Indiana has also become the crossroads of multiple deadly epidemics. In 2015 Austin, Indiana was the epicenter of the worst drug fueled HIV outbreak in the history of the United States. Out of a town of 4300 people.
On this episode of the NNLM Discovery podcast, Region 6’s Community Engagement Coordinator, Darlene Kaskie, shares how NNLM is sponsoring a series of talks at public libraries with Dr. William Cooke, a physician and author in rural Austin Indiana. Dr. Cooke wrote a book called Canary in the Coal Mine about being the only doctor in a small town that was hit by twin epidemics of substance abuse and HIV. His story examines the social determinants of health that contribute to poor healthcare and offers hope that communities can come together to make sure that every child born has access and resources and choices that they need to be healthy and prosperous.
NNLM donated hundreds of copies of Dr. Cooke's book to all the libraries that hosted the event. The libraries then distributed the books to community organizations such as faith-based groups, rehab centers, counseling services, and public health departments.
You can view a short video about the story here on the NLM YouTube Channel.
The NNLM is the outreach arm of the National Library of Medicine with the mission to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The seven Health Sciences Libraries function as the Regional Medical Library (RML) for their respective region, with Region 6 consisting of: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. To learn more about Region 6 visit: http://www.nnlm.gov/about/regions/region6.
All of the artwork for this podcast series has been created with a generative AI text-to-image tool! The text prompt for the episode's artwork was " a canary in a coal mine as an abstract painting.”

Join Outreach Services Librarian, Yamila El-Khayat, for new episodes of the NNLM Discovery podcast. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or listen on our website www.nnlm.gov/podcast. Please be sure to like, rate, and review the show!

Previous Episode

Claire's Community: A Story from Region 3

Relationship violence is a tragic circumstance that is very difficult to discuss. Please be advised that this episode contains discussions of relationship violence and the depiction of traumatic events.
On this episode of the NNLM Discovery podcast, Region 3’s Community Engagement Coordinator, Margie Sheppard, discusses a new program funded over the last year called Claire’s Community, which is trying to inform and educate the public about relationship violence. Margie interviews Shannon VanLandingham, Claire’s mother, Executive Director of Be More Like Claire.
Although this story is born of tragedy and discusses Claire’s murder, this story leads to a discussion about building healthy, respectful and nonviolent relationships. This is a positive story of hope and resilience.
For more information about Claire’s Community visit www.claires-community.org.
To listen to Region 3’s podcast series, “Health Bytes with Region 3,” which is mentioned in this episode, visit https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/healthbyteswithregion3.
The NNLM is the outreach arm of the National Library of Medicine with the mission to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The seven Health Sciences Libraries function as the Regional Medical Library (RML) for their respective region, with Region Four consisting of: Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
To learn more about Region 3 visit: http://www.nnlm.gov/about/regions/region3
All of the artwork for this podcast series has been created with a generative AI text-to-image tool – until this episode. We felt the subject matter of this episode was so moving that it was best to simply present a photo of Claire.

Next Episode

"Outbreak!": a Story from Region 7

What do Zombies and a Victorian-era museum featuring restraints as mental health tools have to do with public health education?
On this episode of the NNLM Discovery podcast, Region 7’s associate director, Jessica Kilham, shares how NNLM is supporting “Outbreak,” a summer program at the Public Health Museum in Tewksbury, MA that teaches high school students about public health. The final project for the week is an outbreak simulation for a zombie apocalypse!
You can view a short video about the story here on the NLM YouTube Channel.
The NNLM is the outreach arm of the National Library of Medicine with the mission to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The seven Health Sciences Libraries function as the Regional Medical Library (RML) for their respective region, with Region 7 consisting of: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. To learn more about Region 7 visit: http://www.nnlm.gov/about/regions/region7.
All of the artwork for this podcast series has been created with a generative AI image-to-image tool! The prompt for this episode was to change a photo of the Tewksbury hospital “into a colorful oil painting.”

NNLM Discovery - Canary in the Coal Mine - A Story from Region 6

Transcript

00:00:03:17 - 00:00:27:15
Yamila El-Khayat
I’m librarian Yamila El-Khayat and this is NNLM Discovery, a podcast from the Network of the National Library of Medicine. This podcast series explores how NNLM is improving the public’s health by communicating in new ways. Today’s episode is, “Canary in the Coal Mine,” a story from Region #6. Community Engagement Coordinator from Region #6, Darlene Kaskie, will be joining us today.
00:00:27:17 - 00:00:28:19
Yamila El-Khayat