Health & Wellness
Healthbeat
Roundtable to discuss
effects of school shootings
Byrd I
"Mental Health as a Public Health Issue"
is the topic of a Tuesday, Feb. 26 roundtable
discussion that will be held from 7-9 p.m. in
the Calhoun Room of Saint Paul's Episcopal
Church, 3ZU summit St.
Organized in
response to the
Newtown, Conn,
tragedy and other school
shootings, the free dis
cussion will focus on
mental health issues
affecting children, ado
lescents and young
adults.
Panelists will
include Vicki Smith of the Disability Rights
North Carolina; Dr. Chad Stephens, medical
director of CenterPoint Human Services;
Corporal Jennifer Dobey of the Winston
Salem Police Department; Dr. Yolanda Byrd,
of Winston-Salem State University; and Dr.
William Satterwhite, a pediatrician at Twin
City Pediatrics.
The Mental Health Association in
Forsyth County is sponsoring the event. For
more information, contact the Association at
336-768-3880. or visit
www.facebook.com/tnadmentalhealth.
Campbell accepected into
social work program
Angela Campbell
Bennett College senior Angela Campbell
was recently admitted into the prestigious
School of Social Work at the University of
Pittsburgh to complete her graduate studies.
This competitive program is currently
ranked number 11 on the U.S. News 2013
list of Best Social Work Schools, making it
the top ranked school in Pennsylvania.
Like Bennett, the University of
Pittsburgh was
Campbell's top
choice.
"1 was deter
mined to be
accepted," she
said. "I've been
speaking this into
a reality since my
freshwoman year
so I am humbly
blessed and
grateful for the
opportunity."
Campbell
shared that she
was first interest
ed in attending the School of Social Work
because of the guidance of her mentors, both
of which are graduates of Bennett College as
well as the University of Pittsburgh.
This social work major hopes to impact
the world through child welfare, giving spe
cific attention to foster care adolescents who
are transitioning into adulthood. Campbell
knows all too well the stress of aging out of
foster care because, at the age of 21, she
became an adult in the eyes of the system
and lost the majority of her financial assis
tance.
"It has definitely made me aware first
hand how easily youth get lost within the
system that is in place. Many of them face
homelessness or are at risk of becoming a
college dropout due to a lack of assistance,"
she said. "I plan to dedicate my career to
bridging the gap for this vulnerable popula
tion, especially those pursuing higher educa
tion."
A native of the Hill District of
Pittsburgh, Campbell will begin her gradu
ate studies in August.
Agencies holding
Medicare session
Senior Services, Inc. and the Shepherd's
Center of Greater Winston-Salem is offering
a workshop for individuals turning 65 who
will become eligible for Medicare, as well as
those who already have Medicare.
At the
Welcome
t o
Medicare
workshop,
attendees
will learn
about the
different
insurance
options available, including "Original
Medicare," Medicare prescription drug pro
grams, Medicare supplements and Medicare
Advantage plans. The session is designed to
explain and clarify the Medicare sign-up
process and educate attendees on how to
make smart choices. Trained Seniors' Health
Insurance Information Program (SHIIP)
counselors will be on hand to answer ques
tions. The session is free, and refreshments
will be served.
The session will be held from 5:30-7:30
p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Senior Services,
Inc., 2895 Shorefair Drive. Because space is
limited, reservations are required. Contact
Andi Reese at Senior Services at 721-6957
for more information or to reserve a seat.
(
Gathering to explore church's
role in promoting healthy eating
Malik Yakirii
? mn i a i
Haile Johnston
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
"Food, Faith, and Justice: '
A Common Calling," a con
ference that will explore the
role that churches and faith
communities have in promot
ing wellness through improv
ing access to healthy food,
will be held next month.
Sponsored by Wake Forest
University's Food, Faith, and
Religious Leadership
Initiative at the School of
Divinity, Translational
Science Institute and Maya
Angelou Center for Health
Equity, the conference will
convene from 8:30 a.m.-2
p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at
the Winston-Salem State
University Enterprise
Conference and Banquet
Center, 1922 S. Martin Luther
King Jr Drive.
Malik Yakini and Haile
Johnston will serve as the
keynote speakers.,--}
Yakini is the executive
director of the Detroit Black
Community Food Security
Network, which operates a
four-acre farm. He is dedicat
ed to the development of an
international food sovereignty
movement that embraces
black farmers in the
Americas, the Caribbean and
Africa, and views the "good
food revolution" as part of the
larger movement for freedom,
justice and equality. In'2012,
he was the recipient of a pres
tigious Leadership Award in
Food Justice from the James
Beard Foundation.
Johnston is a
Philadelphia-based social
entrepreneur and founder of
Common Market
Philadelphia, a nonprofit dis
tribution program for locally
grown food. Since 2008, the
Common Market has been
supplying Philadelphia hospi
tals, universities, public and
private schools, and eldercare
facilities with locally and sus
tainably grown nutritious
foods. His "Farm to Faith"
program works with faith
based partners to bring good
food directly to impoverished
urban communities.
The conference is free, but
space is limited. Advance reg
istration is required.
Download a registration form
online at bit.ly/ULOU23.
For more information,
call 336-716-0836.
Statewide anti-obesity
plan released
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
"North Carolina's Plan to Address Obesity: Healthy Weight and
Healthy Communities 2013-2020," a report released last week by Eat
Smart, Move More North Carolina, lays out keys to shrink the growing
waistlines of state residents.
The plan is to zero in on the factors that play into many of the causes of
poor eating habits and inactive lifestyles: a person's zip code.
"We need to help people make better choices in what they eat, and we
can do this by making healthier choices available and easy to access," said
Dr. Carolyn Dunn, a N.C. State University professor and lead writer of the
ESMMNC obesity prevention plan. "Often people's choices {ire driven by
where they spend their time. If healthy foods and drinks are available, peo
ple tend to choose those or at least have the option to make healthy choices.
If the options are less than healthy,
then people really have no choice."
The strategies in the plan are
organized around eight community
settings: health care, child care,
schools, colleges and universities,
work sites, faith-based and other com
munity organizations, local govern
ments, and businesses and industries.
Each sector has a list of proven strate
gies that can be employed to help
those who spend time in those settings
make better eating and activity choic
es.
The strategies outlined, including
access to fruits and vegetables and
places to be active, come from the
most reputable sources of what works
to help people eat healthier food and
get adequate physical activity.
"These proven strategies are
responsible lor the leveling ott ot obesity rates in some populations, saia
Dr. Vondell Clark, a pediatrician from Catawba County and vice chair of
the Eat Smart, Move More NC Leadership Team. "Strategies such as
enhancing workplaces to allow new mothers to breastfeed their infants and
serving healthy food and large doses of physical activity in child care and
schools make a difference because they affect the environment where so
many children spend much of their time."
The plan will be rolled out to the entire state over the course of tfie year
with guidance for all Eat Smart, Move More NC .partner organizations
encouraging them to adopt strategies from the plan. The plan also includes
ways to measure the state's progress over time in both the making of
healthier places, as well as improvements in individuals' eating habits,
physical activity, and body weight.
The release of the plan coincides with the airing of a docu-drama
"Health Crisis in Carolina: Real Families. Real Struggles, Real Solutions,"
a reality-style TV show follows three families as they learn how the places
where they live, learn, work, play and pray impact their ability to make
healthy choices. It airs on UNC-TV on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m.
Standing Tall
PRNrw*Foto/P?rfcer Hannifin Corp.
Michael Gore, a 42-year-old who became
paralyzed after a car accident in North
Carolina, stands upright and moves with
the aid of the Parker Exoskeleton, which
was developed by researchers at
Vanderbilt University. Cleveland, Ohio
based industrial giant Parker, which has
licensed the technology, is working to
widely market the product.
Baptist transplant
program reaches
milestones
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Stratta
The Abdominal Organ Transplant
Program of Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Center has reached two
important milestones - both the
200th pancreas transplant and the
2,500th kidney
transplant were
performed in
December 2012.
The program
averages about 18
pancreas and 160
kidney transplants
a year.
Wake Forest
Baptist's trans
plant program
performs 160-180
kidney/kidney-pancreas transplants
on average annually and is consis
tently ranked among the top 25 most
active kidney transplant programs
nationally. Wake Forest Baptist is
the largest kidney and pancreas
transplant center in the state and one
of the largest centers in United
Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Region 11, which includes North
See Transplant on A8
Site offers inspiration to abuse survivors
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
UNCG Counseling and Educational
Development Associate Professor
Christine Murray, and Allison Crowe,
assistant professor of counselor education
at East Carolina University, have created a
web site and blog to help people, especial
ly women, break tree
from abusive relation
ships.
The site "See the
Triumph" (www.see -
thetriumph.org),
based on research con
ducted by Murray and
Crowe, lets survivors
share their stories and
offers uplifting mes
sages.
"It really shows
the courage it takes to
get out, to leave, to end the abuse," Murray
says.
Murray, who also directs the Program
to Advance Community Responses to
Violence Against Women in
UNCG's Center for Women's Health and
Wellness, and Crowe interviewed 12 adult
women who had been free of violent rela
tionships for at least two years; another
220 people, men and women, responded to
an electronic survey.
Victims spoke about how they experi
enced domestic violence and its stigma,
how they overcame it, and how they have
kept themselves free of abusive relation
ships.
"It was hard doing the interviews, and
it is hard reading the stories, but it was hard
for them to go through these experiences,"
Murray says. "We felt that simply reducing
it to 25 pages in a peer-reviewed journal
would be doing an injustice to the stories."
Murray and Crowe
developed "See the
Triumph" as a more
accessible, more
direct resource. The
electronic survey is
still open, so survivors
can continue to tell
their stories in their
own language, anony
mously, sending the
messages they want to
send.
Positive messages are posted on the
site, supported by uplifting images. The
goal is to build a sense of hope and
empowerment for abuse victims, Murray
says, and hopefully lessen the societal stig
ma.
The name "See the Triumph" came
from a quote from one survivor building a
new life: "The only thing that bothers me
about it is that other people can't see the
triumph in it. Because to me this is a treas
ure to be at this point in my life. ... Some
people don't even start to realize that they
have the issues or start dealing with them
until they get to this point."