Women's Wellness Guide Unveiled at UK Markey Cancer Center

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 13, 2012) — Kentucky's First Lady Jane Beshear joined University of Kentucky's Dr. Mary Lynne Capilouto as well as representatives from the Kentucky Commission on Women (KCW) and the Markey Cancer Center to unveil the Women's Wellness Guide, a new bilingual, interactive wellness kiosk that provides important health information especially for women.

The touch-screen kiosk provides a wide range of information on general women’s wellness and breast health, including symptoms and treatment options for diabetes, asthma, cancer, weight management, smoking cessation, STDs, depression, heart health, domestic violence, breast health and HIV-AIDS. Each topic is programmed with women’s health stories, preventive measures, suggested follow-up questions to ask a health care provider and encouragement to visit a medical professional.

The kiosk, located on the first floor of the Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson Cancer Care Facility for Women at the Markey Cancer Center, also includes a telephone that is programmed to connect the user with immediate assistance if needed or desired.

“As women, wives and mothers, we tend to take on the role of caregiver, putting others’ needs above our own, and many times neglecting our health,” Beshear said.  “This kiosk is an easily accessible tool for women to learn about wellness, prevention and most importantly, how to seek treatment for existing health risks.”   

According to the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., Kentucky’s female population ranks in the bottom third of nearly every women’s health indicator. After hosting two women’s health summits and gathering input from 62 agencies, partners and organizations, the KCW believes that the root of the problem is getting women to take control of their health.

“Confronting issues relevant to the Commonwealth is a critical component of the University of Kentucky’s mission as a modern land grant flagship research institution,” said Capilouto. “We are excited to have this interactive educational resource that will improve knowledge about, and raise awareness of, important women’s health matters.”

The kiosk design is similar to that of an automated teller machine. Health information is provided in a manner that serves multiple reading abilities for easy comprehension and recollection. The touch-screen technology attracts visitors and allows for the information to be provided in both audio and visual formats to appeal to a broader audience.

"Using this technology as a wellness guide where underserved women can easily access a vast amount of basic health information and locate immediate assistance could prove to be one of the most innovative ways of getting women to take hold of their health,” said KCW executive director Eleanor Jordan.  “This is a fun way to gently encourage behavior toward wellness and prevention. The more of these we place in targeted areas where they become a private and trusted resource, the greater chance we have of empowering women and changing the health and well-being statistics for Kentucky's women."

The kiosk was developed by St. Andrew Development Inc. of Pennsylvania, and was donated to UK through the Markey Cancer Foundation by Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson. The kiosk at Markey is the second to be placed in the state and one of many that the KCW hopes to place across the Commonwealth.  Last year, Gov. Steve Beshear unveiled the first kiosk at Park DuValle Medical Center in Louisville.  In its first six months of operation, the kiosk received 521 module “hits” and the average user spent 36 minutes at the kiosk.    

“Our work with the Kentucky Commission on Women is evidence of this administration’s commitment to making sure that all Kentucky women have ready access to healthy lifestyle information,” said Frank McKee of St. Andrew Development. “We applaud their efforts and consider ourselves privileged to be working with such a fine agency advancing a very noble cause.”

“We're thrilled to have the first and only Women's Wellness Guide in Lexington," said Dr. Randall G. Rowland, president and CEO of the Markey Cancer Foundation. "Thanks to this generous gift from Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, we're able to provide even more important health information to the patients and families who visit our facilities at Markey." 

MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Perry, (859) 323-2399 or allison.perry@uky.edu