Health & Wellness Healthbeat Baptist's Stichl t oiler available I for birthday parties for children I Children's birthday parties are now being offered the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center While die Sticht Center is best known for its work '' aging adults, swimming lessons in the warm pool have long been available to children of " ages. According to learn- to-swim coordina te Drayton, the pool parties were started : of growing requests from parents whose chil i were taking swim classes. s believe it is good to share our knowledge of "? ming with children and their parents in any ble said Drayton. "The specialized birth present an opportunity for children to pool safety, safe swimming and _ M ' -j? ? i 5 pool at the center is fully staffed with hfe and trained individuals in recreational therapy, I, first aid and water safety. Party packages vary i individual and can include pool games, craft and other fun learning activities. Party themes ~tly offered include dolphin, pirate and tropical ?L "' 'ren who attend these parties receive a $5 i for their next swim lesson. Currently, the ? does only two parties per month, so space is more information, contact Drayton at 336 190 or by email at ddrayton@wfiibmc.edu or t, www.wfubmc.edu/aquatics. Hospital hires i resources chief E. H. Locke, a career human resources * and innovator, has been named the new " for human resources and chief human omcer or wake University Baptist Center, beginning i$ a new position , cre following the restructur Medical Center in will be responsible resources functions Carolina Baptist and Wake Forest Health Sciences, has been the chief Tfcsources officer for of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)| 2005, where she had responsibility fori and hospital human resources services She is recognized for "reinventing" i at UAB, providing staff and faculty Qtly enhanced customer service andj i on all human resources issues t is a graduate of Brown University, and her ourcel experience also include* Brigham A Hospital (Boston), University Medical aville, Fla ), Bell Atlantic (Arlington,1 American Express (Jacksonville, Ha.), and her husband, Ron, will be relocating to | I in October. County's Mountain Valley receives WSF grant Winston-Salem Foundation has awarded i Valley Hospice & Palliative Care, official .je of Surry County Inc., a grant of $7j000, to Mountain Valley Hospice's "Transitions" for patients and families. The i funds provided by the Elkin Community | Valley Hospice's Transitions I January. It was created as a non-i k to identify unmet needs of patients, nts, with life-limiting illnesses or a prognosis of 12 to 18 months, or a shorter prognosis but do not wj care. The program provides at and volunteer services and with referrals and links to r *?ci nt from The Winston-Salem to help Mountain Valley Hospice ' : of patients and family transportation to I ents and treatments, as well as w I, educational materials and in other | offer fewer sugary drinks ? in beverages served at schools have I 58 percent since 2004, according to a '? American Beverage Association,^? tfSD06, leading beverage companies r a Healthier Generation (a Joint in merican Heart Association i Foundation) announced j i in school beverage*. Ac< everage Guidelines Progress " 79 percent of all contracts betw _ ols have achieved compliance with I i surpasses the benchmark nt by 2008. f also points to an ongoing shift i tis water, portion-controlled t drinks, accompanied by a twe Jpments of full-calorie soft drinks. t was released at a Sept. 10 1* York, where the AHA was hy Gardner, M.D. He was J t Bill Clinton and California Gov.l t, co-leader of the ABfawfl^l Bullock Ford Hutchinson Lewis Smallwood Williamson JNurses honored for being 'Great CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT o Next week, several local nurses will be among those honored in Greensboro for being the best of the best in their professions. Sixteen Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center nurses have been named to North Carolina's "Great 100" list for providing excellent health care. The Great 100 Inc. lets nurses across the state nominate their peers. Those who demonstrate excellent care of their patients and a commitment to their profession are selected for the list. The Great 100 Inc., which was formed in 1988 when Nurse Heather Thorne called on her collegues from across the state to develop the recognition program, also raises funds for nurs ing scholarships, and over the past 12 years has awarded more than $140,000 to help others pur sue a nursing career. This year's nurse honorees will be feted at a gala event on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. "It is an honor to have 16 nurses from our staff to be inducted into this prestigious group of nurses from across North Carolina," said Patricia Johnson, vice president of operations and chief nursing officer at Wake Forest Baptist. Nurses at Wake Forest Baptist who were recognized are: Sarah Bullock (pediatric behav ioral health); Patricia Ford (adult behavioral health); Christine Hastings (Rapid Response Team); Sally Hauser (Breast Care Center); Billy Haynes (Life Support Education); Ann Heilig (4B - ICU); Kim Hutchinson (behavioral health); Theresa Johnston-Crews (Neurology/ALS Center); Deborah Krueger (interim Magnet coordinator); Todd Layland (Emergency Department); Robin Lewis (Breast Care Center); Mitzi Robinson (Rapid Response Team); Sheila Smallwood (staff development); Carol B. Tilley (8 Reynolds Tower); Valerie Vestal (Nursing Clinical Systems); and Vera Williamson (adult behavioral health). o Mental illness treatments Last week, we discussed some basics about mental illness and the impact it bas on our community. This week, ^fce wjfl touch on some factors to consider whenSeeking treat ment for mental illness. It is important to keep in mind that treatment plans will vary from person to person, and only you and your doctor together can determine what is right for you. Treatment for mental illness frequently centers on medication, psy chotherapy ("talk therapy"), or both. Sometimes, it may be necessary to try a few different options before finding one that works best for you. Medications for Mental Illness Of course, the types of medication that can be prescribed to treat a condition depend on what the condition is and how severe it is. For some conditions, a single medication may be prescribed as part of a treatment plan, but for many others, a combination of med ications is needed. Different medicines do different things to help manage your symp toms. Also, a medication that works well for one person may not work as well for another person, or one person may experience differ ent side effects than another person would. It may take some time to tailor pharmacothera py (medication treatment) so that it is just right for you to treat your symptoms. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) divides medications used to treat mental ill ness into four broad categories: antipsychot ic, antimanic, antidepressant, and antianxiety medications. It is important to keep in mind that different medications may be used to treat children and the elderly. Antipsychotic medications are traditionally (though not exclusively) used to treat psychoses, or "breaks with reality" that may include hallu cinations, extreme paranoia, or delusions (see last week's article). Now, newer ("atyp ical") antipsychotics are sometimes used to treat other conditions, like bipolar disorder. Antimanic medications, such as lithium and some anticonvulsants (anti-seizure medica tions), are used to treat the manic stages of bipolar disorder. Antidepressants, converse ly, treat major depression and depressive episodes of bipolar disorder and are some times used in conjunction with antianxiety medications to treat anxiety disorders. While some medications are fast-acting, it is important to keep in mind that some medications might not work right away. It may take a couple of weeks or longer with some medications before the medicine has an effect. That's because some medicines take longer to build up in your body and begin to act like they're supposed to act. For some people, the right dose may be ten milligrams of a given medication, whereas for others it may take twenty milligrams of the same medication to achieve' the same effect. Everyone's body is different, and the pre scribed dosage does not necessarily corre spond to the severity of the illness. You may experience side effects, espe cially when you first start taking the medica tion; sometimes these side effects will become less troublesome with time, but other See Treatment on All Call for Action MtNmfWADAPT National Disability Rights Activists (ADAPT) protest in front of the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. The group is upset at what they call a lack of accessible and affordable housing for those with disabilities. Protesters spent a week outside the building, even setting up a tent village called "DUH City." .Conference to tout health jobs to minorities CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT The former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will keynote a conference next month in Durham aimed at addressing the need for minority faces in health care. "Preparing Future Health Leaders: Hand to Hand, Generation to Generation" will be held Saturday, Oct. 4 from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on the campus of N.C. Central University. The conference is being presented by the Center for Health and Healing's Minority Health Careers Initiative CMHCI), in partnership with Durham's Union Baptist Church .the North Carolina Hospital Association and NCCU. Dr. Louis W. Sullivan will give the keynote address. He served as the HHS secretary in the Cornell administration of the first President Bush. He is also the founder of the Morehouse School of Medicine. "We are facing a shortage of health care professionals both locally and nationally," says Cornell Wright of MHCI, which primarily works to edu cate middle and high school youth about the opportunities in healthcare. The MHCI staff also partners, trains and provides opportunities to churches and community groups to plan health careers conferences, create Health Careers Clubs and other health careers related activities. For more information about the Center tor Health ana Heating please visit tneir Web site at www.c4hh.org. Next month's event is free and open to the public. But registration is required by Sept. 30. Wake students open free clinic CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Wake Forest University School of Medicine students began offering a free evening medical clitic at the Community Care Center yester day. The students will offer the clinic - called the DEAC Clinic (Delivering Equal Access to Care) - every Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. at the Community Care Center on New Walkertown Road. Patients who are not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and whose income falls below 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible to receive free services at the clinic. "The response from students has been overwhelming," said Brian Mikolasko, a second-year student at the medical school. "When we put a notice on the Internet asking for volunteers for a three-month time period, every slot was filled within 15 minutes." Mikolasko has coordinated the opening of the clinic along with second-year students Keli Beck and Tricia Williams, third year student Cameron Webb, ? I and many other WFU medical students. Mikolasko, who is jointly pursuing his M.B.A. from the WFU Babcock School of Management, developed the initial budget for the clinic. Since 2000, the Community Care Center has offered free medical and dental clinic servic es to patients who lack health care service. The center is staffed by volunteer health care professionals. Community Care Center is providing its building to the DEAC Clinic at no cost. LabCorp. a clinical laboratory based in Burlington, will supply complimentary services. The DEAC Clinic will cost about $15,000 a year to ran. It has already received a $30,000 grant to be distributed over four years from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and an American Medical Association (AMA) Fund for Better Health grant of $2,000. The students have applied for membership in the See CHnk on A13