{"id":133926,"date":"2018-02-05T15:53:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T20:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=133926"},"modified":"2018-02-08T14:44:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T19:44:25","slug":"hundreds-receive-free-heart-health-screenings-uconn-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/02\/hundreds-receive-free-heart-health-screenings-uconn-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds Receive Free Heart Health Screenings at UConn Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 160 community members visited UConn Health\u2019s Heart Health Fair for free screenings on National Wear Red Day, Feb. 2 in the Main Building\u2019s lobby.<\/p>\n

Participants hailed from many towns ranging from nearby Farmington, New Britain, West Hartford, Avon and Burlington to even the distant towns of Manchester, Old Saybrook, Norwich, and New London.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Bruce Liang, director of the Calhoun Cardiology Center visited the Heart Health Fair’s educational booths including the Smoking Cessation Program’s table hosted by Diahann Wilcox, APRN (UConn Health Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The large, festive event was hosted by UConn Health\u2019s Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center<\/a> and staffed by a variety of volunteering doctors, physician assistants, nurses, EMS, registered dieticians, nursing students, medical students, communication and marketing department staff, and other employees from across UConn Health.<\/p>\n

Staff and students provided free screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, and body fat percentage. Plus, at educational booths they shared knowledge about heart-healthy lifestyle, nutrition, heart attack and stroke prevention, stress reduction, smoking cessation and more. Also, attendees had the opportunity to take a free yoga class with medical student instructor Dianne Gan who teaches at the UConn Health Wellness Center.<\/p>\n

Each attendee received a personalized heart health assessment by Brad Biskup, P.A., who leads the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at the Calhoun Cardiology Center. Biskup continued to perform health assessments for close to two hours after the fair ended to ensure each and every participant knew their key heart health goal numbers to reach and recommendations they needed to improve his or her heart health.<\/p>\n

Michael of Avon found the event very informative. \u201cThe fair was very good and gave me an idea of where I stand with my heart health numbers. My blood pressure is high, higher than I want it to be. But now I have good educational handouts to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chir-lane Johnson of New Britain attended the fair shortly after learning a family member had suffered a heart attack. \u201cI wanted to check out my health,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cAlways love thyself, so what better way. The heart health fair makes you want to change your diet and exercise more to not risk a heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fair was very nice and I was really excited I got to do yoga,\u201d said Sharon Straka of New Britain. \u201cPlus, the healthy diet information table was really good, along with both the cholesterol and fat density checks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cIt
\u201cIt was fantastic,\u201d said Heart Health Fair attendee, Alex Klaneski, who was also a lucky raffle prize winner (UConn Health Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alex Klaneski really enjoyed the fair. \u201cIt was fantastic,\u201d shared the longtime UConn School of Dental Medicine patient who was in town visiting family in nearby West Hartford. \u201cI discovered my cholesterol is a little high and I also now want to see if I can get back to my fighting weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fair\u2019s free raffle drawing included donated prizes from the UConn Health Bookstore, the Cornucopia Gift Shop, and even a home blood pressure monitoring machine donated by UConn Health\u2019s own Dr. William White, chief of the Division of Hypertension and Clinical Pharmacology.<\/p>\n

Klaneski, also a winner of a raffled-off UConn Husky plush blanket, added: \u201cThe physician assistant that spoke to me for my health assessment gave me really good advice. I would like him as my own physician.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just the community members who loved the Heart Health Fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to help out the community,\u201d said Teotima Hollis, a volunteering UConn School of Nursing student who recently started training in the school\u2019s accelerated nursing program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were busy from the get go,\u201d said Darlene Benson of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine\u00a0at UConn Health\u00a0who organized the free cholesterol screening with UConn John Dempsey Hospital\u2019s nursing leadership team.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Moran, RN, Minal Dave, RN, and Asha Rene, RN were the nursing volunteers conducting the rapid cholesterol screenings for total cholesterol, bad cholesterol (LDL), good cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides. They work on the hospital\u2019s sixth floor dedicated to oncology managed by Beth Brookshire, RN.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was great,\u201d said Benson. \u201cAll the visitors were saying what a wonderful experience to offer. They were all so appreciative. Plus, all the nurses were saying how much they liked it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benson stressed, \u201cIt was a big effort by all to make this Heart Health Fair happen, and it was definitely a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

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