SitemapNearly everyone knows that regularly changing the oil, checking the fluid levels and performing other inexpensive but important preventive measures can protect against far more costly repairs to a vehicle and go a long way toward prolonging its life.
Likewise, consistently monitoring one’s cholesterol level, blood pressure and diet can add a lot of mileage to a person’s years and quality of life, a health-care professional contends.
“Know your numbers,” Bridget Lackey said, referring to the importance of receiving screenings for cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and other vital measurements.
Lackey, a community-health educator with Mercy Health Youngstown, helped many people of all ages become more acquainted with their numbers during Saturday’s “A Healthier You” health fair at Metro Assembly of God Church, 2530 South Ave., on the South Side.
Hosting the free, three-hour event were the 6th Ward Citizens Coalition and Taft Promise Neighborhood, which seeks to improve developmental and educational outcomes in distressed communities, mainly in the city’s 7th Ward, and transform them by addressing infrastructure needs, developing school-centered career programming and assisting organizations with a vested interest in the neighborhoods.
Such goals are achieved in four key areas: offering educational programs to support students, families and neighbors; improving health and well-being via healthy-living practices; encouraging workforce development while creating employment opportunities; and supporting resident-led revitalization efforts through greater neighborhood engagement, explained Rebecca Soldan, a Taft Promise Neighborhood member.
The health fair “is a great way to reach out to people en masse,” Soldan said, noting that her organization has more than 40 partnerships. “We’re very much about community outreach.”
Lackey said it’s crucial that people have a firm understanding of their cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoprotein and blood-pressure levels. Being privy to that information can prevent or catch in their early stages life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, as well as coronary-artery and cardiovascular diseases, she continued.
Lackey added that those who partook of the screenings should have their results toward the end of next week.
The health fair is valuable also because most of the 6th Ward, which encompasses part of the South Side, is a food desert, meaning few places are available to buy fresh produce and vegetables, noted Dario Hunter, the citizens coalition’s president.
Also needed in the area is better access to health and fitness opportunities, and the fair was a good way to encourage greater neighborhood cohesion while increasing more people’s awareness of the importance of good health practices, said Hunter, who also sits on the Youngstown Board of Education.
Some attendees received free dental screenings and education pertaining to good oral-hygiene practices, courtesy of a Mercy Mobile Dental van.
“It’s recommended that people brush three times a day, after breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we stress brushing before bedtime,” said Crystal Walters, a dental assistant with Mercy Mobile.
Walters also advised to brush gently at an angle along the gum lines, eat healthful snacks, avoid beverages high in sugar and use liquids such as tap water and mouthwash that contain fluoride.
“Fluoride treatments are the vitamins for your teeth,” she said, noting that bottled water lacks the substance, which makes teeth more resistant to acid and plaque, thereby helping to prevent tooth decay.
The van, which operates year-round, has a dentist and a hygienist who travel to schools mostly in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Carroll counties and offer their services to students in all grades. That includes educational opportunities to first-graders on the importance of brushing and flossing as well as maintaining a good diet, noted John Cook, the van’s driver.
It also stops at Mercy Health-affiliated family-health facilities, regional senior centers, the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center in Youngstown and rehabilitation facilities such as Teen Challenge, he continued.
“We’re really getting out and around,” Cook said. “There’s so much demand that we’re working with different agencies to get funding for another van. The mobile way seems like the way to go anymore.”
The fair had plenty of information and resources on accessing mental-health services, preventing prostate cancer, handling drug abuse, tackling neighborhood blight and helping victims of sexual violence.
In addition, information from agencies such as the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence was available, as was a “cooling room” to offer relief from the 90-degree temperatures.
Despite the heat and humidity, some attendees took part in Zumba and yoga classes. Many people ate an abundance of healthful foods, including apples, bananas and watermelons; they also took home bags filled with tabouli, vegetable grape leaves and spinach pies.
Other offerings were prizes and giveaways, along with a variety of games and activities for children.
A “Know Your Numbers” presentation is set for 1 to 2 p.m. Aug. 12 at Metro Assembly Church. Registration is required by calling Community Health Education at 330-480-3070.
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