The 2008 Wellness Fair was held Wednesday, April 23 at the Southern University Smith-Brown Memorial Union. According to Shirley Wade, clinic administrator and nurse practitioner for the Baranco-Hill Student Health Center, there were 362 participants in the fair.
Various booths were set up inside the union including areas for checking blood pressure and cholesterol. Campus organizations were also in attendance, giving information on various topics such as STD awareness and health services offered by the health center.
Mobile units were set up outside the union for HIV/AIDs and syphilis testing, cancer screenings and blood donations.
“We exceeded our goal for blood donations which was 15,” said Wade who felt that the Wellness Fair was “extremely, extremely successful.”
Wade acknowledged the staff and students from the Southern University School of Nursing, her staff and other departments on campus including psychology and nutrition for coming together to make the fair a success.
Student Government Association President-elect Jamal Taylor, a junior history major from Lafayette, felt that the Wellness Fair was a wonderful event.
“A lot of times we don’t see the behind the scenes worker, but I think that Ms. Wade in the health center did an extraordinary job of planning this last minute,” said Taylor. He also mentioned that he is looking forward to seeing more from the health center.
“I went through each station-got my blood pressure checked, got my glucose checked, got my cholesterol checked-everything checked out ok,” said Taylor. “They were very knowledgeable, especially our graduating senior nursing majors.”
According to Wade, there were 37 students who volunteered to be tested for HIV during the fair, and students who could not be seen on site due to time constraints were permitted to go to the health center afterwards for testing.
Greta Wilkes, medical director for the health center, also felt that the Wellness Fair was a success.
“The students were very interactive…very interested in the information that was presented,” said Wilkes. She described the fair as “a successful collaboration of multiple sources.”
When asked what she would do to improve the fair for next year, she said she would simply “expand and bring in more services to be able to provide for a larger number, because our numbers exceeded what we expected.”
Wilkes mentioned that she visited all of the stations and felt that everyone was well prepared and concerned about the students.
The Wellness Fair also provided an opportunity for individuals to receive information regarding health issues that may not have been known.
“We were able to refer 10 clients for a follow-up that had severe elevated blood pressures, and we had 11 referrals for abnormal breast exams,” said Wade. “These patients will be able to be followed-up; because of these tests, we were able to identify some problem areas that people may not have been aware of.”
Freshman Catherine Lewis saw the Wellness Fair as a good way for students to “enhance their knowledge.”
For information about maintaining personal health, please visit the student health center or phone 225.771.4770 to set up an appointment.
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Wade deems SU’s Spring 2008 Wellness Fair a successful event
May 27, 2008
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