To help women take control of their health by improving easy access to information, Bradford Regional Medical Center is now the host site of a free touch-activated kiosk in the Outpatient Services Center lobby near HeartStrings Gift Shop.

Women can spend a few minutes at the Women’s Wellness Guide to learn about heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, depression, asthma, diet and exercise, weight management, smoking, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and insurance options. This self-service, interactive kiosk also provides information and education related to prevention and appropriate lifestyle behaviors.

The Women’s Wellness Guide is made possible by the generosity of the Highmark Foundation and the Department of Public Welfare, and the vision of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women and Leslie Stiles, the commission’s executive director, and also St. Andrew Development Inc.

The kiosk’s availability at BRMC is due to a cooperative effort with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s  Center for Rural Health Practice .

“We’re very grateful to the Center for Rural Health Practice for the work it’s done to enable us to host the women’s health kiosk in the Outpatient Services Center lobby,” said Deborah Price, BRMC’s senior vice president of Patient Care Services. “This will be a wonderful service for women in the community and employees as well.”

“There will be a lot of information available to women. Knowledge is power when it comes to your health. This kiosk will empower women to find answers to health issues, and we are excited about the opportunity this kiosk will provide.”

Information is accessible in English or Spanish at the kiosk. It also can provide audio for individuals with visual impairments or literacy issues.

Information can be seen by pressing a simple-to-use keypad at the kiosk, which looks similar to a slim version of a MAC machine. It has what’s considered a “see, touch and hear” atmosphere, but the sound can be turned off at the user’s discretion.

Although the kiosk offers women health information, men may also benefit from it as well. Men are encouraged to use the kiosk to learn information to help their mothers, wives or daughters -- any women in their lives.

Sherie Wallace, rural preparedness project coordinator for Pitt-Bradford’s Center for Rural Health Practice, first learned about the kiosk over two years ago when seeing a demonstration at a rural public health conference. “I was really impressed. The kiosk was easy to access and you can utilize sound features or not. Also, the information was very up to date,” she said.

“Once I learned we could get a kiosk for free, we thought BRMC’s lobby would be the ideal location to place it. People with healthcare issues are in the lobby and it’s a well-trafficked area.”

The Pennsylvania Commission for Women developed the idea for the kiosk. In concert with the commission, St. Andrew Development of York designed the model, information content and programming. These kiosks were first offered throughout the state in 2008.

The easy-to-use kiosk gives women “three to five minutes of information they need to affect change in their life,” said Valerie Del Grosso, director of business development for St. Andrew Development.

However, individuals can use the kiosk information resource for whatever amount of time they need during their BRMC visit.

Additionally, “The kiosk will also inform women of what questions they should ask their doctor or healthcare practitioner,” Del Grosso added.

Easy access to accurate health information is the best way for women to learn how to better take care of themselves, Wallace said.

“This is a good collaboration between Pitt-Bradford and BRMC to promote women’s wellness,” said Dr. Youmasu Siewe, Pitt-Bradford’s director of the Center for Rural Health Practice.

“The women’s kiosk is a one-step wellness shop where busy women can go to learn key issues they face and how to address them,” explained Mariann Kahle, BRMC’s worksite wellness coordinator.

“I was so pleased Pitt-Bradford’s Center for Rural Health Practice chose BRMC as the site for this kiosk,” Kahle said, noting, “This is another great example of collaboration in McKean County with wellness as the focus.”

The Pennsylvania Commission for Women is providing 12 kiosks, free of charge, to targeted locations across the state.

BRMC’s Plant Services and Information Services departments both assisted in the kiosk’s installation.

For more information about the kiosk, contact Kahle at BRMC at 362-8383 or Wallace at Pitt-Bradford’s Center for Rural Health Practice at 362-5049.