Gettin' checked out
Community health screening held in Rankin Inlet
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, February 12, 2014
RANKIN INLET
Young and old tried a little preventative medicine when the Department of Health hosted a community health gathering, complete with food and refreshments, at the site of the former Sakku Drugs in Rankin Inlet this past week.
Chantel Tatty, 11, is all smiles while being measured and weighed by Charlene McInnis at a community health screening in Rankin Inlet this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo |
The event ran from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6.
Nurse practitioner Danielle Simandl said the afternoon was, basically, a public health screening.
She said everyone was invited to come and have their blood sugar and pressure checked, as well as their height and weight recorded.
"The idea is to check and see if they're where they should be," said Simandl.
"If not, they may need some follow-up at the clinic.
"In addition to the health stations, there were refreshments and healthy snacks for all who came."
Simandl said the idea for a health screening came about from so many patients being seen at the clinic with diabetes or heart issues.
She said often the issues are picked up without people even knowing they have a health problem.
"We thought there might be a way to start a prevention-type approach so people, who may not ordinarily think to have things checked, would have an easy opportunity to drop in without an appointment to have some basic things checked.
"Because it's so common in the community, and there's such an impact on a longterm basis, the earlier we can prevent or pick up on them, the better a person's quality of life is going to be.
"The previous nurse-practitioner applied for a grant for diabetic and chronic disease prevention.
"The hamlet liked the idea and gave us a bit of a budget, so we're trying to do what we can to put it to good use."
Simandl said her department partnered with the soon-to-be-opened fitness centre to host the screening.
She said holding the event there helps promote the fitness centre as a way for people to keep healthy, and was a way for folks to check the new facility out while getting their health checked.
"People don't like to hear bad news, so, sometimes, they interpret not knowing as not having a problem until the symptoms surface.
"But, by the time the symptoms come up, the problem is often so out of control it's hard to get them back a good quality of life.
"It's quite helpful to see how you're doing before symptoms develop.
"The earlier you catch an issue, the better your chances of a good quality of life while living with it."
