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Mental health kiosks arrive in Pennsylvania YMCA

Now visitors at the Ambler Area YMCA in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, can get a free mental health screening from a kiosk.

March 24, 2016

Now visitors at the Ambler Area YMCA in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, can get a free mental health screening from a kiosk. The MindKare kiosk allows users to take a self-assessment test and get resources on treatment in their area, according to areport by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The MindKare kiosk is designed to ask a variety of questions related to both mental and behavioral health. After the user completes the test, the kiosk can provide information on various conditions and resources to get help.

The goal of the kiosk is to reduce stigma for mental health issues by making the resource available to the public, and to promote early screening for issues. "You can walk into a drug store and get a blood pressure screening," said Candice Porter, executive director, Screening for Mental Health. "Why not a mental health screening?"

These kiosks were deployed in five areas in the county through a partnership between the HealthSpark Foundation and Screening for Mental Health Inc. The kiosk itself was designed as part of a contest by the Scattergood Foundation to develop a mental health screening solution for retail health clinics. The MindKare kiosk has been deployed at 60 locations across the U.S. so far.