WSSU Photo by Garrett Garms
A WSSU student participates in last week's cardiovascular health screening.
Former NFL star helps
WSSU tackle heart disease
?; '? ' r 'v* ? ?? ? ? :-'V ? ' ' ? ..... . ? - . -
BY TODD LICK ? J- . .
THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Archie Roberts' visit
to Winston-Salem State
University last week was i
busy one.
Roberts, a former NFL
player and retired cardiolo
gist. spent Thursday helping
WSSU conduct health
screenings on nearly 100
students. Friday morning, he
spoke at the university's
Founder's Day Convocation
along with Leonard Wheeler,
another retired NFL player
who is now a motivational
speaker. Former Carolina
Panthers Players Terry
Cousin and Deveron Harper
were also on hand to talk to
students about the impor
tance of health.
Roberts aUtwipctU lime
on FFiUay helping with 100
health screenings for mem
bers of the community at the
Community Care Center.
On Thursday. Roberts
took part in a forum about
the health screening program
and health disparities in gen
eral. He said he was excited
about the screenings, which
will be part of a year-long
program at WSSU on cardio
vascular health called "Rams
Have Heart."
"At the end of the day, 1
think we'll be proud of what
we've accomplished." said
Roberts.
Last week's screenings
focused on determining car
diovascular risk factors. The
series of tests included an
echocardiogram, which pro
duces an ultrasound image
of the heart.
Students and community
members who are found to
have risk factors will be
teamed up with trained stu
dent heath coaches who will
Photo by Todd Luck
From left: Dr. Archie Roberts, WSSU School of Health Sciences Dean Dr. Peggy Valentine,
Dr. Sylvia Flack, Dr. Jemehl Demons and Dr. Eddie Hoover.
Healthy's first screening:,
program. Similar programs
will be conducted at other
Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCUs) in
the future.
Staff from Living
Healthy worked with faculty
and students from WSSU's
School of Health Sciences
for the screenings. Wake
Forest University Baptist
Medical Center also provid
ed two cardiologists, lab
technicians and equipment.
The forum Thursday
spoke to the netfd for such
screenings.
"I've been tracking data
for 25 years about where we
stand in terms of numbers of
minorities and how we inter
act with the health care
delivery system in this coun
try. and you know it's not
good." said Dr. Eddie
Hoover, an associate with
Living Healthy who helped
with the screenings.
... The Jack of African
Xmerican doctors are a part
of the problem. Hoover
believes. For many years,
black people have only made
up around three percent of
medical providers. Judging
from the number of black
students who are currently in
medical school, that statistic
could get worse. Hoover
said. He hopes programs like
"Rams Have Heart" will
encourage students to con
sider medical careers.
Dr. Jemehl Demons, a
local geriatrician whose
patients are usually over 75.
told the audience she knows
disparities exist because
most of her patients are
Caucasian.
"I don't see many
minorities in my practice,
and that's the biggest dispar
ity, because they don't make
it to my practice," said
Demons.
Cardiovascular disease, a
leading cause of death in
African-Americans, is a big
reason for that, Demons
added. She called the
amount of African American
adults who die from such
diseases "astonishing."
Dr. Sylvia Flack, director
of WSSU's Center for
Excellence in the
Elimination of Health
Disparities, said many fac
tors cause health disparities.
"When you really drill
down into this problem, it's
poverty; it's levels of educa
tion; it's genetics; it's
lifestyles, and we could go
on and on and on," said
Flack.
It will take many collab
orative efforts like "Rams
Have Heart" to make a dif
ference, said Flack, whose
Center hosted a conference
on health disparities this
I week that drew such nota
bles as Dr. Sanjay Gupta and
i Dr. Cornel West.
Month highlights
work of nonprofits
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Novembei is Nonprofit Awareness Month in communities
across North Carolina. This statewide initiative celebrates non
profits and educates the public about how nonprofit organizations
enrich and enliven communities throughout North Carolina.
According to N.C. Center for Nonprofits, the nonprofit sector
also prov ides more than 40() XXX) jobs in North Carolina - almost
10 percent of all jobs in the state. North Carolina is home to
r ?jMj. charitable
nonprofits that
have annual rev
1 1 1 1 4 I enues above
* 0;//?^We$ 2 5,0 0 0.
U V V Smaller commu
nity groups are also an
important part of civic life
in communities from Manteo
to Murphy.
"Nonprofits are doing herculean work every day in commu
nities all over our state," said Trisha Lester, vice president of the
N.C. Center for Nonprofits. "Now more than ever, we need to
recognize and celebrate their impact. Most importantly, we need
to help everyone understand the value of nonprofits. Where
would our communities be without nonprofits' mission-driven
work that touches the lives of all North Carolinians?"
The N.C. Center for Nonprofits is collaborating with local
nonprofits? educational institutions and individuals across the
state to celebrate Nonprofit Awareness Month.
Ptiou> by Kevin Walker
The Rev. Stacey L. Frazier, front, and Rev. Jackson make a
call for discipleship on Sunday.
Jackson
from pane A 7
so exorbitant that banks are
"hustling our children."
Jackson conceded that the
powers that be likely will not
welcome his ideas with open
arms and minds. He says
"60s-style protest marches
may be needed, and he wants
church-folks to step out of
their comfort zones and
march and "speak truth to
power."
"We come to church to
learn how to adjust, not to
change our objective situa
tion," he told those in the
packed sanctuary.
He went even further,
stating that while Jesus was a
true fighter of oppression,
most of his followers choose
to admire who Jesus was
instead of following in his
footsteps.
jacKson uiu not piace an
of the blame on corporate
America. He said consumers
should realize that the low
price items they buy from
Wal-Mart and other retailers
are so reasonable because
they are likely made overseas
by people doing jobs that
Americans once did.
"We get a cheap product
and lose a good job," he said.
Jackson's appearance at
Friendship was part of the
church's 95th anniversary
celebration. He praised the
congregation for choosing
the Rev. Stacey L. Frazier as
its pastor.
"He has intelligence ... he
has vision. You should not
take him for granted,"
Jackson said of Frazier, one
of the pastors he has recruit
ed for this new campaign.
"Young people like him
don't come in bunches like
grapes."
act as their mentors, educat
ing and encouraging them to
take steps to improve their
health. At the end of the
vear. patients will be
screened again to see their
progress. Roberts said col
lege isn't too early to check
for cardiovascular risk fac
tors, which are increasingly
being found in younger peo
ple.
"A certain number will
have high blood pressure, a
certain number will have
high blood sugar consistent
with diabetes, some will be
obese - I think we'll find all
of these problems on some
level," said Roberts.
Roberts, who lives in
New Jersey, was a quarter
back in the 1960s for the
Miami Dolphins and the
Cleveland Browns. He later
became a cardiologist, per
forming more than 5,000
open-heart surgeries and
trained thousands of stu
dents in cardiovascular
health. In 2001, he founded
the Living Heart
Foundation, which provides
screenings to NFL players.
In 2005, he co-founded
Living Healthy Partners to
combat minority health dis
parities.
Thursday was Living
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