Dr. Ashish Joshi, assistant professor in the department of health services research and administration and the Center for Global Health and Development in the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, and MPH student Ms. Kate Trout received the best paper award at The First International Conference on Global Health Challenges: GLOBAL HEALTH 2012, held in October in Venice, Italy. Ms. Trout presented the paper, titled "Heath Kiosks as an Equal Opportunity Resource for Better Health: A Systematic Review," at the conference. Digital divide, health literacy, lack of culturally adaptive health information, and limited availability of tailored health material are some of the existing barriers to greater adoption of health technologies and their impact in the improvement of health outcomes. The objective of the study was to examine the current utilization of health kiosks in various diverse settings. Results of the review show variations in the geographic patterns of users’ accessibility of kiosk locations. The health kiosks were found to be a useful medium of reducing health disparities. The authors noted a need for further research to determine long-term impacts of health kiosks on the health outcomes of the populations in various settings.
