Need Help Enrolling in Obamacare? We've got a lot of events coming up!

Planning on enrolling in health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, but unsure of how to do it? Certified application counselors from the Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers will be at Central Library on multiple dates this winter to help you enroll online. Starting November 6 and continuing through January, counselors will be available on hand from 6-8 p.m. most Wednesday nights, and from 2-4 p.m. select Saturdays. Check our upcoming events to get the exact dates. 

Additionally, counselors will be at the Baden, Buder, Julia Davis, and Schlafly branches on various dates through November and December. A list of those enrollment events, as well as a handful at Connect Care locations in St. Louis, is available here.

Those who wish to enroll need to come prepared with the following information:

• Social Security Numbers (or documents numbers for legal immigrants)
• Employer and income information for everyone in your household who needs coverage. (Examples of this are pay stubs or W-2 forms.)
• Policy numbers for any current health insurance plans that cover you and the members of your household
• A completed Employer Coverage Tool, which is available on the second page of this document. This needs to be filled out for any coverage you’re eligible for, even if you aren’t enrolled in it.

As you prepare to enroll, remember that certified application counselors are the only outside parties that are legally allowed to help you enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. For information on how to protect yourself from fraud during the enrollment process, check out this tipsheet. For more information on the Affordable Care Act, visit our dedicated page on this blog.

Get Some Sleep! (Just Not While You're Reading This Post)

Everyone knows that it’s important to get a good night’s sleep. But with busy lives, a good night’s sleep is sometimes hard to come by. According to research done by the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-fourth of Americans report occasionally not getting enough sleep, and almost 10 percent have chronic insomnia. And according to a 2012 article from the National Library of Medicine, lack of sleep is linked to everything from weight gain and the occurrence of diabetes to an increase in drowsy driving-related car accidents. The Centers for Disease Control says it best: “Sufficient sleep is not a luxury — it is a necessity — and should be thought of as a ‘vital sign’ of good health.”

So how do you know if you’re getting enough sleep, or if you might have some sort of sleep disorder? This article from the National Library of Medicine has a great description of some common sleep disorders, as well as a list of symptoms that may indicate sleeping problems or a sleep disorder. And there’s a lot of quick information available online to help you sleep better, including:

• These tips on getting a good night’s sleep from the National Library of Medicine
• This list of foods that help you sleep from the Mayo Clinic 
• This guide to napping, also from the Mayo Clinic 
• This page on alternative therapies for ensuring a good night's sleep from the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• And, if you speak to your physician and feel that you need to see a sleep specialist, the National Sleep Foundation has a handy search that you can use.

Finally, St. Louis Public Library has several books that can help you overcome sleep problems and feel well-rested (and, no, we’re not talking about boring books!), including:

• Sound Asleep: The Expert Guide to Sleeping Well by Christopher Idzikowski
• Sleep for Success: Everything You Must Know About Sleep But Are Too Tired to Ask by James B. Maas
• Tired but Wired: The Essential Sleep Toolkit: How to Overcome Sleep Problems by Nerina Ramlakhan
• The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Sleep Disorders by Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer
• 365 Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep by Ronald Kotler
• A Good Night’s Sleep: Simple, Effective Ways to Overcome Insomnia by Barbara Wexler

Check out our online catalog at www.slpl.org to find these and more titles to help you snooze. Sweet dreams!

Awareness Alert! Check Out These Resources on Breast Cancer!

Over the past several years, October has become synonymous with pink. Pink ribbons, pink lights illuminating public buildings, even pink football helmets. All of that has to do with raising awareness for breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women, and is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths among women.

St. Louis Public Library has a wealth of information on breast cancer, including DVDs, foreign language materials, and biographies written by breast cancer survivors and others who have been touched by the illness. Medical books about breast cancer can be found under the Dewey Decimal Number 616.99449, or by searching “breast cancer” in the online catalog at www.slpl.org. Additionally, free pamphlets are available at the five Good Health Spot kiosks, located at Central Library and the Buder, Carpenter, Julia Davis, and Schlafly branches.

Among the many breast cancer-related books available at St. Louis Public Library are:

• The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book by Lynn C. Hartmann 
• The Breast Cancer Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Health Information About the Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Symptoms of Breast Cancer by Amy L. Sutton
• Breast Cancer: What You Need to Know — Now by the American Cancer Society
• Patients’ Guide to Breast Cancer by Lillie Shockney
• Breast Cancer: 50 Essential Things You Can Do by Greg Anderson
• Positive Results: Making the Best Decisions When You’re at High Risk for Breast or Ovarian Cancer by Joi L. Morris

In addition to the resources offered by the St. Louis Public Library, there are several not-for-profit organizations dedicated to preventing and raising awareness for breast cancer, and supporting those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Some excellent sources for information are the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and Living Beyond Breast Cancer.

Locally, the Siteman Cancer Center has a variety of resources online, including screening guidelines, 8ight Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer, and a simple questionnaire that helps determine your level of risk for breast cancer.

Other online resources include:

• A basic description of breast cancer from the National Library of Medicine 
• How to do a breast self exam from the National Library of Medicine 
• Simple ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer from the American Cancer Society
• A description of how breast cancer is diagnosed from the American Cancer Society
• A guide to coping with a diagnosis of breast cancer from the Komen Foundation
• A glossary of breast cancer-related terms from the Medical Library Association
• Information about alternative and complementary treatment from the Komen Foundation
• A guide to nutrition for breast cancer patients and survivors from Living Beyond Breast Cancer
• A basic explanation of breast cancer for kids who may know someone with breast cancer, or simply have questions about all the pink ribbons from KidsHealth.org