Albany County Public Library Has Blood Pressure Kits for Checkout
In support of American Heart Month, the Albany County Public Library is offering self-measured blood pressure monitoring kits for checkout, according to a release by the University.
The kits will be available for checkout at the Albany County Public Library, thanks to a collaborative pilot project among the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA), the Wyoming Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention Program, and the Albany County Public Library.
The kits, available in both English and Spanish, include;
- an automated home blood pressure cuff
- blood pressure logbooks
- educational materials from the American Heart Association
- information on what blood pressure is
- ideas for healthy lifestyle changes.
The kits also include a resource directory for local community-based organizations and referral resources to UW’s Cent$ible Nutrition Program and the Healthy U chronic disease self-management program.
The blood pressure kits are available for checkout at the Laramie library, the bookmobile in Laramie, and the Centennial and Rock River branches. The loan period is three weeks. A kit will be automatically renewed, up to two times, if there is no hold on it.
This program also is currently available to people in Washakie, Natrona, Park, Sublette, and Sweetwater counties. The program will be available in Carbon, Laramie, Lincoln, and Sheridan counties by the end of this month.
Why you should monitor your blood pressure?
Nearly half of the adults in the United States -- 47 percent, or 116 million -- have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, or are taking medication for hypertension, and 24 percent with hypertension have their condition under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Wyoming, 30.7 percent of adults have been told that they have high blood pressure, according to the Wyoming Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention Program.
While self-measured blood pressure is not a substitute for regular visits to primary care physicians, it is a way for individuals to see and track their numbers, giving them more information that can be communicated to their doctors.
Dian True, a senior project coordinator with WyCOA, says, “Information is power, and, the more information a patient and their doctor have, the better the treatment plan. Better treatment plans lead to better overall health. That’s the goal of this project -- to work to improve the health of our communities.”
For more information about WyCOA and its programs, go to www.uwyo.edu/wycoa/.