HANCEVILLE – The Department of Nursing Education at Wallace State Community College will host two separate adult health and wellness fairs in June to give area residents the opportunity to get information about living a healthy lifestyle. On June 7 and June 14, the CELEBRATE Adult Health and Wellness Fair will be held in the conference center for the School of Nursing and Center for Science. Admission is free and open to the public.
With several programs already aimed at educating youth on developing good habits for health and safety, Amy Burtram, a nursing instructor at Wallace State, said they wanted to create a program for the area’s mature adults.
“We started looking at the National Patient Safety Goals, and Healthy People 2020, and also, about that time, Cullman Regional published their community health needs assessments, and they’re very congruent with the different areas that the community needs to work on, as well as what Healthy People 2020 looked at,” Burtram said. “We thought if we did a health fair-style event, we could really hit those needs and supply some education to mature adults and encourage them to live healthier and safer, by targeting these key areas.”
The CELEBRATE Adult Health and Wellness Fair will focus the nine areas – one for each letter of the word celebrate. Different stations will be set up to allow attendees the opportunity to pick and choose which they would like to visit.
Current Medication Evaluation – Meds Matter
Attendees are encouraged to bring a list of all medications they are taking, including prescribed, over-the-counter, and even supplements, so they can be evaluated to see if there are any potential interactions. Safety and compliance will be evaluated as well, to make sure medications are being taken at the right time of day.
Exercise – Move More
“We want to encourage safe exercise at home,” Burtram said. “So, we will be demonstrating easy exercises that you can do standing at your sink. You don’t have to have expensive free weights, you can use water bottles.”
Lifestyle – Smart Driving
“We know that driving is an issue as we age, so we will be doing some vision screening and safe-driving tips,” Burtram said.
Eating- Eat Wisely
“We will also be providing some nutritional coaching, body mass index measurements, and defining what is a healthy range for body mass,” she said. “It’s not only about what is the healthy weight, but what is healthy to eat.”
Baseline – Aim for Goal
A complete set of vital signs will be taken: blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oximetry and blood sugar. “We’ll give them some information, if they are diabetics, concerning how to take care of themselves when they’re sick, that’s very important as well,” Burtram said.
Relax – Chill Out
Deep breathing exercises and stress management tips, will be offered. Burtram said attendees can learn how to manage pain through deep breathing techniques.
Airway – Breathe Easy
“We still have a large percentage of our population who smoke and use tobacco,” Burtram said. “So, we’ll be providing information on smoking cessation, as well as information about how to use inhalers, and about COPD.”
Tell Your Story – Remember When
Burtram is especially excited about this station. “We’ll be supplying autobiographical booklets for people to complete at home, to remember when,” she said. “They can fill them out for their loved ones, and it will also have sections to fill in about their current medications, allergies, etc.”
Emergencies – Staying Alive
Finally, attendees can learn when they actually need to call 911 and how to spot the signs of a stroke or heart attack, so that patients can get treatment as soon as possible. Information will also be provided about the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office Yellow Dot program, which lets emergency responders know where emergency information can be located in the case of an emergency.
The CELEBRATE Adult Health and Wellness Fair will be held from 8 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, June 7 and Wednesday, June 14, in the conference center of the School of Nursing and Center for Science. The facility is wheelchair accessible and groups are welcome. Tours of the nursing building will also be available. For more information, contact Burtram at 256-352-8062.
