UW and Lincoln County Library System Offer Blood Pressure Cuffs for Checkout

In support of American Heart Month, self-measured blood pressure monitoring kits are now available for checkout at the Lincoln County Library System in Kemmerer and the branch locations in Alpine, Cokeville, La Barge, Star Valley and Thayne. This is being done through a collaborative pilot project between the Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) at the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention Program and the Lincoln County Library System.

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; and ideas for healthy lifestyle changes. The kits also include a resource directory to local community-based organizations and referral resources to the Cent$ible Nutrition Program and the Healthy U chronic disease self-management program.

The loan period is three weeks. Blood pressure kits will be automatically renewed, up to two times, if there are no holds on the item. This program also is currently available to residents in Albany, Natrona, Park, Sublette and Washakie counties. The program will be in Carbon, Laramie and Sheridan counties at the end of this month.

Nearly half of 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.

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.

“Information is power and, the more information a patient and their doctor have, the better the treatment plan,” says Kara Beech, a project coordinator with WyCOA. “Better treatment plans lead to better overall health. That’s the goal of this project, to work to improve the health of our communities.”

The Lincoln County Library System is committed to building and supporting strong, healthy communities. This project provides a unique opportunity to offer the community more information about self-monitored blood pressure and its important role in health.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Wyoming Department of Health and WyCOA to bring these much-needed resources to the community,” says Richard Landreth, director of the Lincoln County Library System.

To learn more about the Lincoln County Library System, go to https://linclib.org/.

To learn more about WyCOA and its programs, go to www.uwyo.edu/wycoa/.