Youngstown amp wellness event strives to save lives of black men | News, Sports, Jobs

Correspondent photo / Sean Barron …. A small line formed at the Mahoning Valley mobile market offering produce and other healthy foods at the 11th annual Black Men’s Health Day Saturday at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater.

YOUNGSTOWN — Hari Pyakurel is aware that there is no correlation between receiving a health check and financial wealth, but such checks can lead to riches in other vital ways.

“If you want to live longer and be healthy and happy, that’s going to give you a million-dollar gift in your life,” said Pyakurel, 48, of Pickerington.

On Saturday, Pyakurel, a community health worker at The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center, put her money where her mouth was, getting a free blood pressure check and walking away with a normal reading of 120/60 . While Pyakurel was at it, he had his cholesterol measured and checked for diabetes — all at no cost.

Free screenings to check people’s body mass index and vital signs were also available during Saturday’s 11th annual Black Men’s Health Day at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater.

August is African American Wellness Month in Ohio. Guy Burney, Executive Director of the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, was Honorary Chair.

Hosting the wellness event, which also included a 5K walk and run, was the African American Male Wellness Agency, founded in 2004 with a mission to reduce disparities in preventable chronic disease and premature death among black men. In its 20 years, the agency has provided more than 10,000 medical tests annually, along with innovative health education programs, according to its website.

Saturday’s meeting, themed “This will be the most fun you’ll have at a doctor’s appointment,” was largely “in the business of bringing the community to the clinic and the clinic to the community,” said the Rev. John- Michael Oliver, executive director of the agency’s Mahoning Valley division, said.

On average, black and brown people die about 12 years earlier than any other race from high blood pressure, diabetes and other preventable diseases, Oliver noted.

Key reasons for the negative trend are that too many black people fail to follow up with their doctors regularly, don’t exercise, aren’t aware of their numbers and maintain a poor diet, he said.

“We have this event to save lives,” Oliver added.

Underlying Oliver’s assessment was Kenny R. Hampton, president of the African American Health Service, who noted that black men die on average at age 67 from preventable diseases compared to their white counterparts , who live more than a decade longer.

“We’re dying 11 years younger … mostly because we’re not going to the doctor,” Hampton said, adding that about 56 percent of men attending events like Saturday’s didn’t know they had high blood pressure.

Another part of the problem is that many black men do not trust the health care system and place a low priority on their overall well-being. Many of them “know more about their vehicles than their bodies,” he said.

Hampton added that his agency is on a 17-city Saving Black Men tour, which included the Mahoning Valley.

Another highlight of Saturday’s health meeting was the number of vendors providing a variety of health-related resources. These included the Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, Alta Care Group, Academy for Urban Scholars, Youngstown City School District, Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, County Mental Health and Recovery Councils Mahoning and Trumbull and Coleman Health Services. . Others were Humana, Sapphire Aesthetics & Wellness, Hannah E. Mullins School of Practical Nursing and CareSource in Salem.

The Mahoning Valley Mobile Market also offered fresh produce and a variety of other healthy foods.

In addition, several American Red Cross representatives were on hand to accept blood donations as well as sign people up for smoke alarms and a blood drive on Sept. 13, said Sabrina Spikes, the office’s district director. Cleveland.

The U.S. faces a shortage of blood donations, in part because collections tend to be slower during the summer, when many people are on vacation and not in school, she noted. On Saturday, her agency offered mini-screenings on people’s iron levels, Spikes said.

“It’s important to know these numbers and if you can donate, you’re saving lives,” she added.

It’s also important that minorities donate blood because certain unique markers in their blood can help treat those with sickle cell disease, Spikes said.

Others who gave free screenings were about 15 students from ETI Technical College in Niles, including Mandy Gaul, who plans to graduate in January, then become a registered nurse.

At one point on Saturday morning, she screened about 20 people, most of whom had numbers in the normal range. However, a few showed signs of high blood pressure, for which the next step was to seek advice from their doctors, Gaul said.

A few simple, quick steps can be the difference between a life extended or shortened, Pyakurel said.

“It’s a very simple thing to get a health screening,” he said, adding: “If you want to save your life, you have to go for screenings.”

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