Funding Awarded for Interactive Health Information Kiosks

Posted by Derek Johnson on June 6th, 2018 Posted in: Funding, News from the Region, Outreach, Public Health, Public Libraries, Success Stories
Tags: Success Stories

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The GMR office is excited to announce that Richland Public Health in Mansfield, Ohio has been granted a Health Information Outreach Award for its project, Interactive Health Information Kiosks in Richland County Libraries.

Background:

Richland County (RC) is comprised of an urban center surrounded by a number of rural villages and townships. Both of these areas are comprised of RC’s impoverished and underserved populations. Access to relevant and appropriate health information has been a long standing issue within RC. Many residents do not have personal access to Internet services and have low education levels. In addition, RC’s 2016 Community Health Assessment indicated that residents have higher incidences of angina, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity than the state average.

Project Description

The Interactive Health Information Kiosks in Richland County Libraries project will consist of four phases in order to establish and sustain the installment of interactive health information kiosks at Richland County’s local libraries, as well as educating the public on identifying relevant, accurate, and appropriate health research. The first phase of this project will be to obtain and install health information education kiosks at all 9 Richland County libraries. The second phase will consist of outreach to local health care settings, including primary care physicians and pharmacies, to educate and inform practices about the kiosks and programming at the libraries. Phase three will be completed by educating the target audience of residents who live in rural areas. A series of workshops on health information and the kiosks will emphasize the importance of health information, personalized medicine, improve health literacy, and how to do health research on their own by utilizing NLM resources. Finally, Phase 4 will consist of ongoing promotion and marketing for sustainability.

Outcomes

Funding for this project will assist in achieving four overarching goals:

1. Create and provide access to health information tools and resources.
2. Complete outreach to health professionals and members of the rural community about the resources.
3. Empower community members to have an active role in their health.
4. Ensure sustainability after completion of the funding award.