Health Fair Starts Monday

              (The dimt&
Sunday, April 18, 1982
Update editor: 318/459-3275
Shreveport/Bossier/Ark-La-Tex UPDATE Ann Landers 10
Changing Times 12
Religion 14
BLOOD
PRESSURE
CHECK'
'HEIGHT ANP WEIGHT MEASURE1
'VISION TEST1
'FOOT
SCREENING1 ' BLOOP TEST
FOR ANEMIA1
Health Fair starts Monday
By MARGARET MARTIN
The Times
Step right up! Sit right down! Sign right
up!
The Health Fair '82 starts Monday.
Right here in Shreveport and Bossier City.
There's no charge for the basic five tests
— height, weight, anemia, blood pressure
and vision.
And for only $8 (much less than the cost
at a laboratory, some health officials have
pointed out), you can get a blood chemistry
test. It measures a variety of health prob-lems
— diabetes, cholesterol, kidney and
liver disease, gout and thyroid problems
for starters.
At least 6,000 people ages 18 and over
are expected to go through the fair.
You can also be tested for oral and foot
problems and get a pulmonary function
test at some sites during the week.
Glaucoma testing will be done at sites
Tuesday through Saturday.
Breast examinations will be available
only Friday at Central Christian Church
and Saturday at Booker T. Washington
High School. Sickle cell anemia tests will
be given only at the Washington site.
But you can receive drug information at
the Pharmacists Association booth at all
nine sites. The Dieticians Association will
counsel those who want to go on a diet,
those on a diet who feel as though they are
about to give up and those on special
medical diets. The dietitians will be on
duty Monday at Mall St. Vincent and South
Park Mall and Thuiiday at the Convention
Center.
Those planning to participate in the
blood chemistry and foot testing have
special instructions from fair officials:
• If you participate in the foot testing,
you must take socks or hose off, so it is
better if women do not wear hose.
• If you plan to get a blood chemistry, do
not eat anything four to 12 hours before
you plan to attend the fair. This will ensure
accurate results of all blood tests, said
Lynda Zionts, fair director. It is important
that you tell those testing exactly when you
ate or drank anything.
Mrs. Zionts emphasized that the basic
tests will be offered at every site. Some
tests, though, will be offered at one site, but
not at another. She suggested that you
check site lists in the paper to see which
will be offered where.
Participants will not be left in the dark
about test results, said Mrs. Zionts. After
participants have taken the tests, they will
talk to a medical staffer for counseling and
referral. (Except for the blood chemistry
tests; the results will be mailed three to
four weeks later, so bring a 20-cent stamp.)
They will also have an opportunity to ask
questions.
The Times, Northwest Louisiana
Chapter of the American Red Cross and the
National Health Screening Council for Vol-unteer
Organizations of Bethesda, Md., are
major sponsors for the fair. The Gannett
Foundation gave a ?10,000 grant for the
event.
And the weeklong fair has the blessing of
the Shreveport Medical Society and the
Shreveport Ministerial Association. (The
Ministerial Association has selected the
fair as its community project for the year
and will provide volunteers to help out. The
largest contingent will work at Mall St.
Vincent.)
All of the general hospitals in the
Shreveport-Bossier City area are partici-pating.
And 1,000 volunteers from many area
organizations have been trained to provide
manpower at all the sites.
These include students from the North-western
University College of Nursing and
students from the LSU Medical School at
Shreveport.
Veterans Administration Medical Cen-ter
personnel will act as backups for all the
sites, said Mrs. Zionts.
When this week's Health Fair is over, the
volunteers' work will not be done — and
participants may hear from them again.
Volunteers will stuff all envelopes with
test results and mail them back to the
participants. Other volunteers will call
participants who have two or more ab-normal
tests to be sure they understand the
test results and ask if they've done any-thing
to follow up.
Mrs. Zionts said that one of the goals of
the Health Fair from its inception was
getting community organizations together,
so that they could learn more about each
other and about other health resources.
"This is beginning to happen and this is a
byproduct of the Health Fair. This is some-thing
which will benefit the entire com-munity,"
she said.
Another top priority: "Educating the
public on the importance of good health
and preventive medicine. By attending the
Health Fair, participants will have the
opportunity not only to be screened, but to
observe the health learning centers at each
site."
Three sites will serve as kick-off points
Three sites will be kick-off points for the
week's activities.
Fairs will be held Monday at South Park
Mall and Mall St. Vincent from 9 a.m. to 7
p.m. and at Barksdale Baptist Church
South, 1714 Jimmie Davis Highway, Boss-ier
City, from 3 to 9 p.m.
Other sites during the week will be St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, Noel Memorial
United Methodist Church, the Convention
Center, Central Christian Church, the Po-lice
and Fire Academy and Washington
High School.
Overall sponsors are The Times, the
American Red Cross, Northwest Louisiana
Chapter, and the National Health Screen-ing
Council for Volunteer Organizations,
Bethesda, Md.
Volunteer medical personnel will be in
charge of the five basic tests and the blood
chemistry. Additional tests will be admin-istered
by special groups.
If you plan to take the foot examinations,
don't wear hose. You must have bare feet
for examination. And if you are going to
take the blood chemistry test, fast 4 to 12
hours before you go.
Dietitians will staff the sites to answer
questions and counsel participants about
starting and staying on diets and about
special medical diets. They will be sta-tioned
Monday at both malls and Thursday
at the Convention Center.
Also available at each site will be a
Pharmacists Association consultation
booth. If you have questions about your
medicine or prescriptions, bring them with
you to the Health Fair. A pharmacist will
be there to help.
Information about the sites follows:
Monday, South Park Mall
Site sponsors are the churches: Christ
United Methodist, John Calvin Presby-terian,
Our Savior Lutheran, St. James
Episcopal, St. Mary of the Pines Catholic,
St. Stephen Lutheran and Summer Grove
United Methodist.
Tests: the five basics and blood
chemistry plus pulmonary function, oral
hygiene, and glaucoma.
The State Health Department-Eye
Anomalies will give the glaucoma tests;
Doctors Hospital will administer the
pulmonary function test and local doctors
will administer the oral hygiene.
Monday, Mall St. Vincent
Site sponsors: Seventh-Day Adventist
churches of Bossier City, Shreveport First
and South, and McDonald's Inc.
Tests: five basics and blood chemistry
plus pulmonary function, oral hygiene and
glaucoma.
Doctors Hospital will administer the
pulmonary function; Veterans Adminis-tration
Medical Center will administer
oral hygiene and glaucoma tests.
Monday, Barksdale Baptist
Site sponsors: Barksdale Baptist Church,
South, Riverside Hospital, Bossier Louisi-ana
Practical Nurse Association, District
38, Riverside Volunteer Guild and Bossier
Kiwanis Club.
Tests: five basics and blood chemistry
plus pulmonary function and oral hygiene.
Riverside will administer the pulmonary
function and local dentists the oral
hygiene.
Tuesday
Site: St. Paul's Episcopal, 215 Southfield
Road, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Site sponsors: St. Paul's, Hickory Stick,
Southfield Road, McDonald's Youree
Drive, and the Shreveport Medical Aux-iliary.
Tests: the five basics and blood
chemistry plus glaucoma and. foot ex-amination.
The Podiatry Association will admin-ister
the foot examination and the Lions
Club and the Optometric Association the
glaucoma test.
Wednesday
Site: Noel Memorial United Methodist
Church, 520 Herndon St., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Site sponsors: Noel, Highland Baptist
Church Senior Citizens, Kiwanis Club of
Shreveport, Kiwanis Club of South
Shreveport, Kiwanis Club of West
Shreveport and Shreveport Medical Aux-iliar
Tests: the five basics and blood
chemistry plus oral hygiene, glaucoma and
pulmonary function.
. The Lions Club and the Optometrists will
be in charge of glaucoma testing and
Highland Hospital the pulmonary function,
and Shreveport Dental Hygientists As-sociation,
oral hygiene.
Thursday
Site: Convention Center, Clyde Fant
Parkway, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Site sponsors: Agudath Achim Sis-terhood,
Agudath Achim Men's Club, B'nai
Zion Temple Sisterhood, B'nai Zion Temple
Brotherhood, B'nai Zion Temple Youth
Group and Shreveport Jewish Federation,
Young Leadership group.
Tests: the five basics, blood chemistry,
plus oral hygiene, pulmonary function, foot
examination and glaucoma.
In charge of the additional tests: oral
Health Fair '82 learning centers
to offer variety of information
What is your stress level? How much can
you take?
Have questions about your medicine?
And why you have to take it?
Interested in donating your organs when
you die?
Want to quit eating and lose weight, but
just can't?
Ever wondered just what the Bossier
Health Unit does?
Would you like to see inside one of
Shreveport's ambulances and find out how
it works?
Well, check out the Learning Centers at
Health Fair '82.
The big event gets under way Monday at
three sites, with six to follow.
And there will be learning centers at all
of the sites.
And just what is a learning center?
Well, according to Shirley Marcus, area
coordinator for the North Louisiana Health
Agency, who is in charge of the exhibits, it
is "a place where participants 'do.'"
Fairgoers will participate as well as
learn.
The centers will include game boards,
question and answer opportunities and dis-plays.
At some of them, you can pick up
informational pamphlets.
Check the site schedules to see where the
learning centers will be displayed.
At one — the Mental Health Association
— you can write down your own evaluation
of what you think about the center.
The Shreveport Pharmacist Association
will be a familiar center throughout the
week. They plan to staff all of the sites.
Sam P. Cimino said that pharmacists
will be available to give drug information.
For instance, perhaps you have a drug
which the doctor has prescribed, but you
don't really understand why you are taking
it. Bring it to the fair and pharmacists will
discuss it with you.
Cimino said in the past, pharmacists
have found patients who had never had
prescriptions filled and ethers who have
been to several doctors and are taking
several prescriptions of the same medica-tions.
Many people take immunizations for
granted now because they are so com-monplace.
The Northwest Regional Office
of the Louisiana State Health Department
will explain the importance of immuniza-tions
and answer your questions about
them.
The Shreveport Police Narcotic Division
of the Shreveport Police Department will
display drugs of another kind. Their dis-play
will include forged prescriptions and
marijuana.
And on another drug — alcohol: the
Pines Treatment Center will show an alco-hol
detector, which determines the amount
of alcohol content in the system after so
many drinks and according to body weight.
You can leave there with brochures in
hand.
Learn how the blind "see" with the use of
talking calculators, a Braille writer and
Braille clock and light probe. These will be
on display at the Louisiana Association for
the Blind booth.
Take a quiz and "Compute Your Stress
Level" at the Mental Health Association's
Learning Center. You'll also have a chance
to evaluate this center by adding to the
graffiti board — and pick up brochures to
take home.
Play other games at the center spon-sored
by the Northwest Louisiana Chapter
of the American Diabetes Association. You
can become aware of the diabetic condi-tion
and warning signs here.
Explore one of the Shreveport Am-bulance
Company's new ambulances at
(Please turn to Page 8-E)
hygiene, Barksdale Air Force Base; foot,
Podiatry Association; pulmonary function,
Asthma-Allergy Research Unit of Schum-pert
Medical Center, glaucoma, Lions Club
and Optometrists.
Friday
Site: Central Christian Church, 901 West
70th St., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Site sponsors: Central Christian, Chris-tian
Youth Fellowship and Chi Rho, George
Fincher Scale Co. and Federal Envelopes
Inc.
Tests: the five basics and blood
chemistry, plus pulmonary function, oral
hygiene, glaucoma, breast and foot ex-aminations.
The Lions Club and Optometrists will be
in charge of glaucoma testing; Physicians
& Surgeons Hospital will be in charge of
pulmonary function, and local doctors will
be giving the breast examinations. The
Shreveport Dental Hygientists Association
will conduct the oral hygiene exam, and
the Podiatry Association, the foot ex-amination.
Saturday, Police and Fire Academy
Site: 6440 Greenwood Road, 9 a.m. to 3
p.m.
Site sponsors: First National Bank of
Shreveport, Shreveport Police and Fire
Training^cademy, Shreveport Police De-partment
and Shreveport Auxiliary Police
Department.
Tests: five basics and blood chemistry
plus pulmonary function, oral hygiene,
glaucoma and feet.
The Lions Club and the Optometrists will
do glaucoma testing, and Barksdale will
give oral hygiene examinations; LSU Medi-cal
Center, pulmonary function, and
Podiatry Association, feet.
Saturday, B.T. Washington High
Site: 2104 Milam St., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Site sponsors: Shreveport Chapter, The
Links Inc., Black Nurses Association and
Holsum Bakery.
Tests: Five basics and blood chemistry,
plus oral hygiene, pulmonary function,
glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, and breast
examination.
In charge of the additional testing: sickle
cell anemia, tests will be administered by
the VA, but the Sickle Cell Anemia Founda-tion
will pay for the tests; oral hygiene,
local dentists; pulmonary function, VA;
and breast examinations and glaucoma,
local physicians.
E