Show Notes
Since the onset of Covid we have all grown accustomed to virtual meetings and remote services. But what if you don’t have a cell phone or a computer at home? What if you are experiencing homelessness but need to attend a job interview? This episode is about bridging the economic and digital divide.
On this episode of the NNLM Discovery podcast, Region 1 Outreach and Education Librarian, Faith Steele, tells us about an exciting project in Delaware where they are installing teleservices kiosks in libraries across the state. These kiosks provide a private space for anyone who needs access to a secure and reliable internet connection.
You can view a short video about the story here on the NLM YouTube Channel.
The NNLM is the outreach arm of the National Library of Medicine with the mission to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The seven Health Sciences Libraries function as the Regional Medical Library (RML) for their respective region, with Region One consisting of: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
To learn more about Region 1 visit: https://www.nnlm.gov/about/regions/region1
All of the artwork for this podcast series has been created with a generative AI image-to-image tool! The prompt for this episode was “paint me an abstract picture of a white box kiosk that’s exploding with information with a silhouetted person using a laptop computer inside a library.”
We want your feedback! Please click on this link to offer your opinions about the NNLM Podcast!
Transcript
00:00:03:18 - 00:00:28:07
Yamila El-Khayat
I’m librarian Yamila El-Khayat and this is NNLM Discovery a podcast from the Network of the National Library of Medicine. This podcast series explores how NNLM is improving the public’s health by communicating in new ways. Today’s episode is, Telehealth Kiosks, a story from Region #1. Outreach and Education Librarian from Region #1, Faith Steele, will be joining us today.
00:00:28:09 - 00:00:29:08
Yamila El-Khayat
Hi, Faith.
00:00:29:10 - 00:00:32:00
Faith Steele
Hi, Yamila. I'm excited to be here.
00:00:32:02 - 00:00:48:16
Yamila El-Khayat
I'm excited too. So, telehealth kiosks, we've done a story about telehealth before in Pittsboro, Texas, where a small library converted a storage closet into a space for telemedicine appointments. What makes your story different today?
00:00:48:18 - 00:00:56:02
Faith Steele
Well, we’re taking telehealth to a whole nother level with this story! But, I have a question for you. What do you know about Delaware?
00:00:56:04 - 00:01:02:09
Yamila El-Khayat
Oh, come on, Faith. I'm in Arizona, across the country. I think it's the first state.
00:01:02:11 - 00:01:22:10
Faith Steele
You're right. It is the first state. But today, I have another first for Delaware. It's a project that we rolled out statewide, and we're hoping it can be a model for other states. Like many parts of the country, Delaware has a lot of resources, but also a lot of inequity. Issues like opioid deaths, high anxiety and depression are very severe in the state.
00:01:22:13 - 00:01:32:20
Faith Steele
But what's even worse is the lack of clinical providers and health professionals within the state to treat these issues. So most residents have to drive an hour or even two to see a doctor.
00:01:32:22 - 00:01:36:06
Yamila El-Khayat
And that's assuming you have a car to get to the doctor.
00:01:36:08 - 00:01:44:18
Faith Steele
Exactly. I think a lot of us forget that having a cell phone, Internet or even transportation is not something that everybody has access to.
00:01:44:20 - 00:01:50:15
Yamila El-Khayat
Very true. It's easy to forget about this digital and economic divide if you're not exposed to it daily.
00:01:50:20 - 00:02:26:07
Faith Steele
Right. Telehealth isn't anything new, but once we saw the onset of COVID, we saw a real increase in the need for it and libraries, being community anchors, they make perfect partners for hosting telehealth appointments for three reasons; location, resources, and expertise. Today, we're featuring an NNLM grant that helps support and grow a fantastic program within the Delaware libraries that started out as a pilot in 2018. Here's Dr. Annie Norman, State Librarian and Director for the Delaware Division of Libraries, talking about the launch of the program.
00:02:26:09 - 00:02:58:01
Annie Norman
We started the telehealth services as a pilot in three libraries in Sussex County. It's been expanded to 13 libraries across the state, and the goal, not only from libraries but from public officials, is that we have these telehealth and teleservices in all libraries in the state and every library in the state. So other libraries, other states are doing telehealth and teleservices.
00:02:58:03 - 00:03:04:07
Annie Norman
What is unique about Delaware is that they're all linked in one technology infrastructure.
00:03:04:09 - 00:03:17:22
Faith Steele
This technology infrastructure allows the library system to track the data from a program and grow it based on the needs of the community. But, what's also unique is that the library created custom kiosks for these telehealth appointments.
00:03:18:00 - 00:03:20:12
Yamila El-Khayat
What do the kiosks look like?
00:03:20:14 - 00:03:38:12
Faith Steele
Okay. Can you imagine an old school photo booth? They’re small boxes within the library, but they're also soundproof, which is vital during these confidential meetings. To better understand the space I asked Teleservices Administrator, Salena Carrillo, to give us a tour of the kiosk.
00:03:38:14 - 00:03:58:17
Salena Carrillo
Hi there. My name is Salena. I will be your Teleservices Specialist today. Let me give you a tour of our private space and show you all the features. So if you come over here, we have our sanitizing machine where you can sanitize your hands before you enter the private space. We do keep the door closed at all times to ensure maximum privacy. So if you come right in.
00:03:58:19 - 00:04:23:09
Salena Carrillo
We have a whiteboard, where you can jot down any notes that you've taken during your virtual appointment. And then we also have a white noise machine to ensure maximum privacy. You're welcome to adjust the settings to your liking. And then we also have extra lighting to give the provider a better view of what's going on during your telehealth appointment.
00:04:23:11 - 00:04:45:11
Salena Carrillo
We also asked if you could kindly complete a preview survey. This is just for us to better understand what our patron's needs are and what the purpose of your visit was today. After your appointment today, we will turn on this UV-C light that we have installed. This is just to keep the private space sanitized and maintained well, at all times.
00:04:45:13 - 00:04:52:08
Faith Steele
Another important thing to note is that this is not just telehealth. These kiosks are for all teleservices.
00:04:52:10 - 00:04:55:09
Yamila El-Khayat
Teleservices? What do you mean?
00:04:55:11 - 00:05:10:06
Faith Steele
So during COVID, almost all appointments were virtual, right? So what if you don't have access to the Internet or private space to connect? How would you go for a court appointment, a job interview? What if you need to connect with your family or friends to improve your mental health?
00:05:10:08 - 00:05:13:17
Yamila El-Khayat
What an amazing way to provide connection for the community.
00:05:13:19 - 00:05:24:19
Faith Steele
These booths are really for any social service. I talked with Alta Porterfield, Statewide Social Innovator, from the Delaware Libraries about the program’s, we'll call it, secret sauce.
00:05:24:21 - 00:05:51:03
Alta Porterfield
What is the secret sauce? We have lots of secret sauce. We have wonderful partners. We are a close knit state that really works together and sees the need and we braid our visions and missions together. And we have this kiosk behind me with wraparound services. So we not just have this space for people to go to do a therapy session, or a consult, or job interview.
00:05:51:09 - 00:06:11:18
Alta Porterfield
But we offer people they can sit with to find out about other type of things that they might get some help with. And I'm talking a variety of things. So, that's that's our secret sauce. It’s people that listen, people that care, and people that want to help. And building that relationship is very important in order for it to work.
00:06:11:20 - 00:06:15:15
Faith Steele
Here’s Teleservice Specialist, Salena, talking more about the program.
00:06:15:17 - 00:06:43:01
Salena Carrillo
So I'd like to say the specialists are the secret sauce of this initiative. They really are the face of this program. They're the ones that are in the libraries helping patrons with whatever their needs may be. They really are the backbone of this program. They really and they play such a diverse role. And I say that because this program is constantly evolving and we're bringing in so many new initiatives.
00:06:43:01 - 00:06:53:10
Salena Carrillo
And they’re, again, they're the face of these new initiatives, they’re the ones that are bridging the gap between the patron needing assistance and then providing the assistance.
00:06:53:12 - 00:06:59:09
Yamila El-Khayat
That's impressive. So these specialists really need to be experts in like, everything.
00:06:59:11 - 00:07:22:18
Faith Steele
Yeah, you could say that they're constantly being trained on new social services that are available to Delawareans. I did a webinar at the NNLM, about the telehealth double edged sword, which you may know is when people have access to physical resources, like the kiosk, but if a patron comes in and they don't know how to really use this technology or navigate to their appointments, then the space really is kind of useless.
00:07:22:20 - 00:07:27:16
Faith Steele
That's why these Specialists are so invaluable. They're closing the digital divide.
00:07:27:18 - 00:07:31:15
Yamila El-Khayat
What an important initiative. I'm loving this.
00:07:31:17 - 00:07:45:13
Faith Steele
So I asked Salena to share a personal story about helping a patron. I think this story will really exemplify how these Specialists, they're not just gatekeepers to this private space, but they really help patrons who are in crisis.
00:07:45:15 - 00:08:05:16
Salena Carrillo
When I first started this role, actually, I had come across a patron. She came in, it was a cold November day, and she comes in and she's in a very thin sweater and she's like, “I need a cell phone. I have I have an appointment coming up, and I don't even have any sort of technology to be able to do this appointment.”
00:08:05:18 - 00:08:24:21
Salena Carrillo
So after talking to her for a while, it was kind of like an onion. She was just peeling back all these layers and just telling me of all these other needs that she had. So it turns out she was going to be evicted. So the appointment that she really eagerly needed to attend was her legal appointment, which was virtual.
00:08:24:23 - 00:08:45:07
Salena Carrillo
So when she found out that I had a private space for her to do this appointment, her eyes lit up because she has no cell phone, no laptop, no technology to be able to attend this court date. So what I did was I set her up with the state service center, filled out an application, got her a cell phone.
00:08:45:09 - 00:09:12:02
Salena Carrillo
About a month later, we did her virtual appointment for the legal appointment for her eviction. Long story short, she did end up getting evicted, but I was able to put her in, get her a hotel voucher. And, I was also able to get her a job as housekeeping in the hotel she was staying at. So all in all, it was a very great experience with her.
00:09:12:02 - 00:09:31:22
Salena Carrillo
She was very pleased with the services that we provided. And, I just, it's very, it was very rewarding to be able to assist her in that, you know, being able to provide her with the private space and just being able to kind of get her back on her feet and give her kind of stable housing.
00:09:32:00 - 00:09:39:15
Faith Steele
We talked to another specialist, Stephanie Keough, who also shared a personal story about the importance of this program.
00:09:39:17 - 00:10:02:17
Stephanie Keough
We had a gentleman from the Milton Library who had suffered multiple strokes, has no family, and he had put me down as his next of kin when this last stroke happened. And he was one of my teleservices people, he would come in and meet with all of his doctors through the kiosks. Well, when he didn't show up, I was very concerned.
00:10:02:19 - 00:10:30:21
Stephanie Keough
So I called to try to track him down because he saw my caseload. And, come to find out, word of mouth, he told everybody at the assisted living place that they had essentially enrolled him in about the kiosk. So it was like a flourish of different populations, different age groups coming over now to use this, because they don't, you know, if they’re in assisted living they're not going to have somebody to help them get on the computers, everything’s done online.
00:10:30:23 - 00:10:52:11
Stephanie Keough
So, he had suffered that last, that last stroke. And the libraries actually ended up funding him, for the time being since he couldn't come in the libraries, an iPad so he could still get in contact with his doctors while he's at his assisted living facility. And, then as soon as he was up and well, he was back in the kiosk.
00:10:52:13 - 00:11:16:18
Stephanie Keough
So it's very, it makes me feel good that he has a place to come to where he feels comfortable enough because he doesn’t have transportation to drive to multiple doctors. So that story touched me. The fact that they called me and I was the only one they listed as a next of kin. I mean, it just, you know, it breaks your heart that somebody doesn't have any family, doesn't have anybody, no support system.
00:11:16:20 - 00:11:38:18
Stephanie Keough
So that really made me feel like, okay, we're making a difference in people's lives, even if it's just one person. You know, that makes me feel good. That makes me feel like we're doing something, something right. And to this day, he's very healthy. He still comes in to see me every Tuesday and gets on and does all of his appointments, and it's a good way for me to follow up with him as well.
00:11:38:20 - 00:11:44:17
Stephanie Keough
But I think that story just made me support, really support this program, too.
00:11:44:19 - 00:11:58:07
Yamila El-Khayat
These are such powerful stories. This really helps us understand the importance of this program, especially when you hear these firsthand accounts. So, how did NNLM help this program? And what was the grant for?
00:11:58:09 - 00:12:22:00
Faith Steele
So, Delaware needed funding to expand the program. So, our grant allowed them to purchase two additional kiosks for these locations. One was place at the Dover Public Library, and the second was place at the Newark Public Library. These were the first two booths in both Kent and New Castle County, which allowed Delaware to be one step closer to activating this Teleservices program statewide, in all libraries.
00:12:22:02 - 00:12:26:07
Yamila El-Khayat
What a fantastic project. Thanks, Faith, for sharing this story.
00:12:26:09 - 00:12:52:11
Faith Steele
You're welcome. I just want to add the NNLM doesn't just issue grants. We provide free educational resources from the National Library of Medicine, like MedlinePlus. It’s made available to everyone with the help of these Teleservices Specialists. Plus, we facilitated conversations with libraries and organizations about teleservice’s secret sauce, so that the tips and tricks from Delaware can be implemented nationally.
00:12:52:13 - 00:13:12:15
Yamila El-Khayat
You're right, Faith. We're not just writing checks were so much more than that. It's really about getting information out to the community to improve the public's health. I also want to let people know that we've made a short video of this story where you can see the kiosk, or photo booth as Faith described them, and learn more about how this program works.
00:13:12:16 - 00:13:30:05
Yamila El-Khayat
Check the show notes for a link to YouTube. NNLM offers many funding opportunities. Contact your local regional rep or search for grants that are available now at nnlm.gov/funding to learn more. This is NNLM Discovery. Thank you for listening.
