Members and partners of the Evangeline Community Health Centre in Wellington recently offered a health and wellness expo which involved staff and related support workers of the Evangeline School in Abrams Village.
Thirty-five staff visited the exhibit and were offered several interactive information stations which included subjects ranging from body mass index and its impact on health to information on physical activity, breast health, and stress management. The number of participants represented approximately all the people working at the school.
Body Mass Indexes (BMI), for example, were measured to help educate people on healthy body mass ranges and then explanations were given on how the BMI can link to the development of various health conditions such as on diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. Public Health Nurses offered a variety of health information and carried out glucose screenings for participants.
Participants were also taught ways of finding early warning signs for various forms of cancer development.
Elise Arsenault, Coordinator of the Evangeline Community Health Centre noted that, "When we visit specific work sites and groups in the community, we are able to send out a clear message that health awareness and overall wellness are things that can be a community effort. When fellow co-workers have exposure to such topics, conversations about health issues are generated and awareness builds."
Partners in the project included Nancy Malcolm-Sharrat of the Health Information Resource Centre, Francois Caron of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs (Recreation and Sport Division), Libby Logan, regional coordinator of the PEI Diabetes Education Centre and Patricia Richard of Public Health Nursing.
Each participant received a tree seedling, provided by the Department of Forestry, as a gesture to help create healthier community environments.