Mayo libraries offer blood-pressure monitors on loan

A VISIT to the local library has always been good for the heart. There’s something calming about entering a temple of this long-living public institution. The hushed atmosphere, the smell of the books, the implicit communal trust that lies in the act of borrowing.
And reading itself has a host of heart-healthy benefits, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and slowing the heart rate.
But now a visit to the library can do even more for your ticker: While you’re choosing your next bedside read, you can also borrow a blood-pressure monitor.
The Croí Third Age Mayo programme, dedicated to advancing healthy cardiovascular ageing, has joined forces with Mayo Libraries to provide home blood-pressure monitors for short-term loans to library members. This idea is to empower the public with the tools for ‘proactive heart-health management’.
Interestingly, an IPSOS survey of people aged over 45 in Mayo revealed that 60 percent feel they could be doing more to enhance their overall heart health. Moreover, at recent Croí Health Checks events in Mayo, 29 percent of those asked admitted to not having a blood pressure check within the last year.
Since the launch of the programme in Castlebar earlier this year, the response has been huge, with library members checking out blood pressure monitors over 70 times. Now, the service is being expanded to Ballina, and Belmullet.
“We are delighted to partner with Croí to offer home blood-pressure monitors,“ said Kate Healy, Senior Library Assistant at Belmullet Library. “This collaboration allows us to promote and support the cardiovascular health and well-being of our members right across the region. The library plays a vital role in our community, and this initiative will really help support our members to ensure they have access to a blood pressure monitor via a local, convenient setting.”
While younger members might not be leaping about at the idea of a blood-pressure monitor, it might be worth reminding them that the library has more than books to draw them in. A Music Generation Mayo and Mayo County Library programme offers musical instruments for loan to young library members up to the age of 18 for six months at a time. There’s everything from cellos to electric guitars on offer. You can even get a saxophone. A great way to try out an instrument without having to pay full price for it. (Though remember, practising might raise the blood pressure of other household members…!)