NBC4 Annual Health Fair

The Washington Convention Center was jam-packed last weekend for the 18th annual NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo. I paid a visit to the event and got to speak with BPHSN President Chi Chi Anyanwu about her experience. I was pleased to see a huge turn out from the community. The line for free HIV screenings spilled into aisles between participant booths, and the dance floor was packed as visitors exercised to music played by Majic102.3.

The annual event usually offers DMV residents an opportunity to get valuable health information, donate blood, and learn more about improving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. There were a wide range of activities, including a blood donation center, a table providing information on Alzheimer's, and even a teeth whitening booth, just to name a few. There were also a number of seminars and interactive workshops for community members to improve their efficacy at various health behaviors. Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn was demonstrating how to make pizza at home, as I made my way to the exit.

Chi Chi, who worked the table for a non-profit org named WomenHeart said, "it was a tiring, but fun experience. It was great to be able to see our volunteers in action and educating women on the importance of protecting their heart health. We reached over 1000 ladies that weekend. It was amazing!"

BPHSN Volunteers on MLK Day 2011

Usually, MLK Day revolves around three very important things: remembering the man and honoring his legacy, actively engaging in and improving our community, and of course, no school! This year, BPHSN took advantage of their day off to accomplish the two most important traditions, by volunteering at the New Community for Children, located on Rhode Island Avenue and 6th St. NW. 

The event was organized by Greater DC Cares, the largest coordinator of volunteerism in the region. Every year, the more than 750 non-profits and over 24,000 volunteers participate in various service initiatives in and around the District. BPHSN joined the ranks on Monday, January 17 to help re-paint the children's community center. After clearing out the space, the DC Cares and BPHSN volunteers livened up the walls with fresh coats of bright-colored paint. 

Before any sprucing up began, the event coordinator spoke briefly to the volunteers. He encouraged them to "temper power with love." The volunteers all seemed to echo those sentiments through action, as they worked tirelessly into the afternoon, despite the cold weather and occasional splashing paint.

BPHSN took the time on Monday to answer what Dr. King once posed as life's most urgent question: what are you doing for others? Once that was taken care of, all that was left to ask was...where's lunch?!

For more pictures, and info on BPHSN events, visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=12450053382

This Week: Can't We All Just Get Along?

Many of you saw a vote for repeal, and resurgence of Republican opposition for the Affordable Care Act coming. However, you might have missed the shoes, bricks, and foul language thrown at both Republican and Democratic legislators who support health care reform. In 2010, just after the bill passed, a brick was thrown into a Niagara Falls representative’s office, and another shattered a window in the Democratic party headquarters in Rochester, NY. Last March, a Tucson-based Democratic representative’s office window  was destroyed only hours after she voted in favor of the bill. Now, Gabrielle Gifford is in Houston, about to begin rehabilitation after surviving a gunshot wound to the head on January 8th.

             It’s unfortunate to hear these stories, especially when they're juxtaposed with stories about those who this reform benefits. For example, pre-term infants born with chronic lung disease are currently guaranteed insurance because companies are unable to deny coverage due to a “pre-existing condition.” Medicare recipients, like Paul Horne who received a $250 rebate check to help cover his prescriptions once the bill passed, are desperate for someone to keep fighting for the Affordable Care Act. Democrats posit that mandating health insurance for all Americans will ultimately save the government money and reduce the deficit. Republicans argue that these conclusions were drawn from false financial reports from the Congressional Budget Office, and that the bill will ultimately put America in more debt.  

Regardless of which side of the aisle you’re pulling for in this debate, remember to also root for civility, compassion and, especially, for common sense. Rhetoric has been toned down, even if only slightly, for the sake of progress.

This time around, we can only hope that the vandalism and threats are kept at a minimum. The real fight needs to exist within the confines of the Capitol building, with lawmakers using only their pens, Pages, and valid arguments as weaponry. 

For more information on what the Affordable Care Act means to you, visit www.healthcare.gov. Read the facts, pick a side...in that order!

This Week: "...It's Who You Know"

January 2011 marks the 10th annual National Mentoring Month, so proclaimed by President Obama just before Christmas last year. Studies* show that both one-on-one and academically-centered mentoring increase college attendance and retention, knowledge of career opportunities, and mentees' self-esteem.

I spoke with Dorothea Parker, the program director for D.C.'s Child Family Life Services (CFLS) Volunteer Mentor Partnership. Mentors are paired with foster youth aged 6-21 years of age, and are committed to a year of service with their mentees. It's an activity-based program, where mentors take their mentees on outings for a total of 4-6 hours a month. Most of the hours are spent exposing the mentees to things that they may be interested in, but have never had the chance to experience. This Christmas, when Dorothea was making rounds to visit various foster families, she delivered gifts to mentees, some of whom told her that it was the first Christmas present they'd ever received. She also told me the story of a young man, age 15, who was ecstatic to bowl for the first time at a group outing for the mentees. By taking mentees to meet professionals in careers in which they've expressed interest, or to auditions for plays, the mentors facilitate personal and professional growth.

In February, Dorothea will enroll at least 25 new kids into the program, all of whom she'd like to match with an appropriate mentor.  No matter the race or creed, any one who is willing to make the time commitment  is encouraged to contact CFLS. Dorothea noted that gender plays a critical role in matching mentors and students. The issue is not so much safety as it is the ability to relate. For example, some of the young ladies in the program are facing pregnancy, and it's obviously easier for a young woman to talk to a female mentor, because she can more readily relate to, or empathize with, that experience.

January 25 is Thank Your Mentor day. We are encouraged to not only personally thank our mentors, or share a tribute online, but to pass on what we've learned and become a mentor to someone else. So, I implore you, DMV readers, to contact Dorothea Parker at dparker@cflsdc.org, or by phone at 202-247-0511. And, readers across the country, you're not exempt- there are plenty of ways to get involved, which you can find here. Remember, in this world it's not just about what you know. So, do your part to guide others toward success. "Help them get there. Be a mentor!"

This Week: Poetic Justice

Everybody wants a taste of the ‘hood

Everybody sings a long with the songs about doing no good

But if you laid there, if you stayed there and couldn’t escape

How many hooks would you repeat about the dirty money you make?

When I was younger the cool thing was to wear baggy pants

Have a limp in your step til you hop up in mom’s minivan

Wearing And1’s and Polo, maybe a Nike wristband

Cuz you’re a baller, shot caller, right? That’s how the words go?

What if you knew they’re only expectation was you go to jail or go pro?

What if you did move on and upward, toward a college degree?

And you excel and do well despite their suspect on your pedigree

You’re all black in all-white schools

In the back but you’re no fool

But the last time you sat front row

The professor slowed down when he spoke to you

And every time you speak up they’re surprised at your eloquence

And should you let loose in front of friends

You hear gasps and “Oh my gosh, say that again!”

Like a puppet. A showman. Just a little more well-spoken than those crazy ones in the YouTube video they’re forwardin’

Is it fair for you to anger or be frustrated at this scene?

After all you were in the library with Soulja Boy on your laptop screen

And then your ringtone went off and Kanye crooned “ghetto university”

And that’s where you grew up, in the School of Hard Knocks

Rocks in palms on your block and you did your best to get out without a jump or gunshot

But, who said they needed saving? Who said they needed help?

Plenty are satisfied and don’t fold despite the hand that they’ve been dealt

When “experts” tell them it’s too much for them to bear

That someone must step in and show “the underprivileged” we care

We have what they don’t. We can succeed where they won’t.

They is not black, they is anyone who has ever been held back

And told that they were equal

They is anyone who was put up in a coop, or sat out on a stoop

‘Cause they were not welcome in buildings, though they paid taxes, too.

They is not Muslim, they is anyone who has ever been held back

When they just tried to move forward. But somehow every time they’re chosen from a random assortment

And then holed up in a room. Hold up. You’ll be released soon.

They is not Jew, they is anyone who was imprisoned in a place they were told would have enough room

But because of their looks, because they looked like they could be crooks

Even though they did no crime except to protest what sat on the books

Persecuted for money, of which they had none, and because they were broke the only choice for their first son

Was be cut up and dragged out, before he could witness the warm sun

There’s not enough room on this mattress for plus one

Not enough air in the casket you pay rent for every month

But somehow every Thanksgiving you fit the whole family in

Grateful at least for a meal and a place to block out the wind

So take back your advice and your Superman complex

That attitude is obtuse your spirit is convex

You’re thinking because you were schooled, because you read about it in school

That you know the rules and the needs and the way to save me from this cruel world

You school boy and school girl

you have attended university but still have no concept of adversity

No respect for diversity.  And you studied facts but you haven’t learned me

You can’t come in with your theories and stethoscope trying to cure

things of which you’re unsure

So be humble and open your eyes to the reason that I’m hurt, but don’t cry

I don’t have luxury to sit by. There are mouths to feed, clothes to dry

And I take the 6 bus to the Red line then walk a few blocks to the bread line

And get back in an hour so that I can pick my daughter up on time

I don’t lay hands except for prayer, so don’t assume I’ll fight back when you arrive

Come with an open mind. Although you’re degree says you’re qualified

You never lived and haven’t seen,

so step back before you step in to save me from misery

This isn’t a study…but you can learn a lot in this ghetto university.

-CelesteAurora

The Great American SmokeOut

During the month of November, which is always reserved to promote lung cancer awareness, BPHSN participated in the Great American SmokeOut. Every year, the American Cancer Society designates a day to encourage people to start their smoking quit plan, or to plan ahead and make the Great American Smokeout day their quit date. Of course, BPHSN played an active role in the event that the Student Health Service and Office of External Relations hosted for a GW campus-wide SmokeOut.

Chidimma Acholonu, a BPHSN E-board member and Community-Oriented Primary Care MPH student, hosted a smoking trivia game table on University Yard during the event. Despite the chilly temperature, Chidimma represented BPHSN for 3 hours, asking questions of passers-by and handing out prizes for participants. 

Other tables at the event included a Wall of Reasons, where people wrote down why they smoke or don’t smoke and why they’d like to quit on faux bricks and help build a "support wall"; and various resource tables with snacks, prescription information, and other activities that quitting smokers can use to suppress their desires to smoke until the craving passes and addiction is broken. The entire University Yard was covered in bubbles, as people were encouraged to “blow bubbles, not smoke”, and the pathways were lined with interesting facts about the effects of smoking. 

Kudos to Ms. Acholonu for representing BPHSN at the SmokeOut! For those of you who would like more info about quitting smoking, visit the American Cancer Society’s website for some starting tips on how to quit; or if you’re a GW student, schedule an appointment with Student Health Service for personal counseling and assistance.

Do well on your finals everyone, and see you at the holiday party on Friday!

This Week: Food For Thought

Ladies and gents, it is my pleasure to introduce this week's guest blogger, class of 2010 MPH Candidate, Acasia Olson. As a member of the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association's GetFED: Food Equality in D.C. subcommittee, Acasia has a unique and informed insight into a major health problem occurring right in GW's backyard.

A Google search of the 2010 national health awareness issues will direct you to a site listing a day, week, or month dedicated to over 100 public health issues. From Celiac Disease to nutrition awareness or minority health, individuals and groups alike have organized and rallied to bring attention to preventable and often overlooked health concerns. While some of us may have known that November was American Diabetes Month, how many of you can say you were excited in the days leading up to National Food Desert Awareness Month? No, seriously…For those of you who almost dropped that leftover turkey leg in surprise, I’m here to tell you that September is recognized as Food Desert Awareness Month. You may be wondering why I would be talking about an observance that took place three months ago. Food deserts are a social determinant that cause a huge disparity within the public's health.

The US Department of Agriculture defines food deserts (not to be confused with the decadent sumptuousness of pumpkin pie and peach cobbler), as geographic areas where access to nutritious, affordable, healthy foods is extremely limited, or absent. Instead of shopping at full scale grocery stores or in farmers’ markets, people trapped in food deserts must rely on an overwhelming supply of fast food, carry-out and cornerstore establishments for their daily source of pseudo-nutrients. Further, food deserts are most often found in communities with large minority populations and low-socioeconomic status. 

So what does this have to do with you, an aspiring or current public health professional in the nation’s capital? I’m glad you asked. I won’t belabor you with statistics which state that D.C. wards 4, 5, 7, and 8 have the highest proportion of overweight/obesity and diabetes. And, I don’t want to assume you’re oblivious of CDC data from 2010, which reports African-Americans as having a 51% higher prevalence of obesity than Whites, and that related illnesses have become increasingly endemic in low-income communities. You’re probably sharp enough to notice that these days, the “chocolate city” isn’t all that sweet. But it can be, and will be. 

The D.C. Council has taken legal action to eliminate the presence of food deserts, through the introduction of the Food, Environment and Economic Development of DC (FEED DC) Act of 2010. Non-profit organizations, such as D.C. Hunger Solutions and Healthy Solutions, D.C. are working with food businesses and residents to increase access to healthy affordable food. The Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association (MWPHA) has also taken action, through the tireless efforts of their GetFED: Food Equality in DC subcommittee, which currently consists of MPH students and interested community members. While members of these groups have made commendable strides, the work has only just begun. Though there may be a shortage of equal access to healthy food within the District, there isn’t a shortage of passionate members within the community of public health…can we count on you?

For more information on ways to eliminate food deserts, visit us at: GetFED, or send us an email at: getfeddc@gmail.com