Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Volume 68:3 2014

Mental Health Screening Kiosk: "get a checkup from the neck up." The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported the installation of a mental health screening kiosk located in a "wellness corner " next to a convenient care clinic in a ShopRite grocery store in a underserved, low income, Philadelphia neighborhood. The reporter, Don Sapatkin, used the term "Lucy booth " when describing the purpose of the kiosk. He likely wrote for an older audience that remembers the Peanuts cartoon character and her "Doctor is in " counseling booth, but the message is clear and relevant. Counseling should be easy to access and affordable to all. The kiosk uses the Screening for Mental Health's (SMH) tool that has been customized for use on a tablet computer touch screen. The article reports that consumers can keep their, "... results in a printout- and, eventually, an e-mail- and get referrals to neighborhood services. For more help, a retail health clinic is a few feet away." The printed message on the kiosk uses humor and a light touch, urging shoppers to "get a checkup from the neck up. " The mental health screening kiosk is strategically placed next to a blood pressure cuff carrying the slogan "Checkup. Checkout." The article quotes a local minister and behavioral health professional about the kiosk's potential usefulness. Lamont Purnell, a nondenominational minister in the New Church of Redemption who was interviewed after using the kiosk remarked: "It probably would be useful for 'someone who may have been in denial ' about a mental health problem." Donna L. Torrisi, CRNP, Network Executive Director, Family Practice & Counseling Network, who was active in the implementation of the kiosk regards it as "an effort to break the stigma of mental illness. " According to Torrisi, the kiosk offers an important message to the consumer that "I am not alone". Torrisi comments further that the kiosk is easily accessible and affords the user privacy- a first step to confront internalized judgment. The kiosk signifies the conviction that mental health needs to be visible and directs consumers to health care services and providers