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'Libraries with Heart' brings free blood-pressure monitors to county libraries
Summary
A $1,500 American Heart Association grant funded a program placing validated blood-pressure monitors and educational materials in six Marquette County libraries; units are available for in-library use and short-term checkout, and staff provided guidance and referral resources.
Jenny, presenting the county’s Libraries with Heart program, said the health department received a $1,500 American Heart Association grant to place validated arm-cuff blood-pressure monitors and educational materials in the county’s six libraries.
The program supplies monitors with a regular and extra-large cuff, a blood-pressure log and handouts explaining what readings mean and where to find follow-up care. Jenny said monitors are available for in-library use and, with advance notice, for short-term checkout so residents can take home multiple readings under controlled conditions. The materials include guidance for people without regular care, including local low-cost clinics and 24-hour nurse lines.
She demonstrated how to position the cuff and stressed that a single high reading is a snapshot, not a diagnosis, advising residents to take several readings before seeking urgent care. The department emphasized use of validated arm-cuff monitors rather than wrist-only devices for a more reliable measurement.
The board thanked Jenny for the program and discussed outreach: staff have placed brochures in the senior newsletter and local paper and plan social-media outreach soon. Jenny said the monitors are already in circulation at some libraries and staff there have begun helping patrons use them.
