MEDIA RELEASE
March 24, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Allison Clark, Executive Director
ACTION Health
Phone: (570) 275-9150
allisondclark@verizon.net

ACTION Health program to offer free screenings, educational sessions on cardiovascular health

COAL TOWNSHIP (March 24) – ACTION Health, Family Medical Home Health Agency & Shamokin Area Community Hospital are partnering to provide a free cardiovascular health educational program and screening to area residents. The event will be held at the Shamokin Area Community Hospital cafeteria on Thursday, April 23 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It is open to the public, and interested persons are asked to call Kelley Morrison, community education coordinator, at (570) 644-4274 to reserve a space.

Free cholesterol screenings will also be provided to registered attendees, who must also schedule a time with Kelley Morrison.

Guest speaker Angela Furca, RN, MSN, Bloomsburg University nurse practitioner student, will hold an educational session titled, ‘Healthy Heart Choices.’

“Knowing how to keep your heart healthy is extremely important in the depths of a recession where people are seeing their retirement funds disappear,” said Allison Clark, executive director of ACTION Health. “Educating yourself now about cardiovascular health will help you prevent unnecessary, expensive complications later.” She added that this program is effective in enabling people to make the right choices that promote long-term wellness.

Members of ACTION Health’s Aging & Wellness Task Force will be in attendance as volunteers and vendors. The Task Force is comprised of local health and human service professionals and volunteers from area agencies.

“The Task Force is really excited to bring this program to the community,” said Lorri Perkins, AmeriCorps volunteer and liaison to the Task Force. “We want to serve as many people as we can–improve their health–, but making a difference in just one person’s life is a success.”

Please call ACTION Health at (570) 275-9150 with additional questions.

About ACTION Health

ACTION Health is a collaborative partnership in the Central Susquehanna River Valley that provides community health outreach and education. ACTION Health strives to be the recognized leader in providing quality, innovative, easily accessible health programs focused on enhancing community services and developing new initiatives to address unmet health and wellness needs. It is divided into six separate task forces, comprised of volunteers and agency partners, each focusing on a specific health need or population. ACTION Health is also the designated SHIP (State Health Improvement Plan) partner for the five service counties of Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties, working collaboratively with over 65 agencies to meet the unmet health needs and improve the health status of the people in our communities.

The Aging & Wellness Task Force’s mission is to educate and improve the health of older adults in our five counties with an emphasis on the rural population.

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