in content lists or on the content page.The City of Ylöjärvi opened a new kind of health kiosk at the beginning of June in the Elo shopping centre, where customers will be able to get the health care services provided by the city in a reliable, easy and rapid way.
The health kiosk is a service point located amid people’s everyday environment, which will offer varied services by health care professionals, information on health, minor procedures (e.g. the measurement of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and muscular strength), guidance on the service, various theme days and even vaccination campaigns.
“The hope is that the health kiosk will lower the threshold for people to come and ask questions on their own health, even on small matters. The right treatment at an early stage is an advantage for both the resident and the municipality,” says Kari Virta, Director of Health and Social Services, on the reasons for taking health services outside the health centre. It is also hoped that the kiosk will bring immediate relief to the pressure on the health centre as a reduction in the number of visits and phone calls.
The health kiosk will provide an easy and quick service; appointments do not have to be made, so customers can use the service whenever it best suits their own timetable. The kiosk will be open Monday to Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., and on Saturday from 10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m.
The health kiosk is part of the primary health care provided by the City of Ylöjärvi, and Sitra’s Municipal Programme is taking the role of promoter of the new kind of health care service concept, co-financier and disseminator of best practices in the development project that will last two years.
“The health kiosk project is piloting a new way of managing the provision of social and health services from a slightly new perspective. We are seeking models for structural reforms,” says Antti Kivelä, Executive Director of Sitra’s Municipal Programme.
“Sitra’s objective is to promote and develop health care in Finland by supporting the piloting and development of new innovative operating models and the application in Finland of operating models that have been found to be good in other countries. The health kiosk fulfils all of these objectives,” says Kivelä.
The health kiosk model has been taken from the popular Retail Clinic concept in the United States, where similar kiosks with a ‘low threshold’ have been set up in shopping centres, providing rapid and inexpensive health services by nursing staff using a number queuing system.
For further information, please contact:
Antti Kivelä, Executive Director of the Municipal Programme, Sitra,
tel. +358 40 482 7435
Kari Virta, Director of Health and Social Services, Ylöjärvi, tel. 0+358 50 337 5168
Pentti Sivunen, Mayor, Ylöjärvi, tel. +358 50 554 2490
Seija Ritala, Nursing Director, Ylöjärvi, tel.+358 50 306 3965
Photographs
Photographs of the health kiosk can be requested from Sitra’s Communications: Jenni Sarolahti, Communications Officer for Sitra’s Municipal Programme, tel. +358 50 372 0828, jenni.sarolahti@sitra.fi.