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WIU public health education master's degree candidates Abbie Baumbach (Davenport, IA), Erin Narby (Davenport, IA) and Matty VanDamme (Moline, IL) designed the winning poster for their Health Sciences 513 course, "Health Education Methods, Techniques and Strategies." Modified to include updated information, their poster design was chosen to promote the WIU Women's Health Hair, slated from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, April 6 in the Multicultural Center on the WIU-Macomb campus. See the WIU Women's Health Fair website at wiuhealthfair2011.weebly.com/ for more information.
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Women's Health Fair April 6; Event to Offer Experiential Learning Opportunities for Students

March 23, 2011

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MACOMB, IL -- Western Illinois University students, as well as women of all ages, will benefit from the first annual Women's Health Fair on WIU's Macomb campus next month. Sponsored by the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), the health sciences department, the kinesiology department, the WIU Women's Center and the Bella Hearst Institute, the event is slated to take place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, April 6 in Western's Multicultural Center, first floor.

According to Diane Hamilton-Hancock, professor in health sciences, the event is open free to all WIU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the Macomb and surrounding communities. She noted it will include information tables, which will provide information and resources on a multitude of women's health topics.

"There will also be free screenings available," Hamilton-Hancock said. "While at the event, attendees can participate in blood glucose screenings, fitness testing, body-fat assessments, blood-pressure measures and skin sun-damage screenings."

Hamilton-Hancock noted that the health fair project was conceived not only as an opportunity to share health resources with the University and Macomb community, but also to provide experiential learning opportunities for students in the health sciences and exercise science programs at WIU.

"For example, graduate students studying in the public health program come into the program with professional training in such as areas as medicine, nursing, counseling and dietetics. Although they have significant professional training, the graduate program offers them opportunities to learn educational methods and strategies for conveying health information to others. It is not enough to have health knowledge without the corresponding ability to share it with others through effective health-education strategies," she explained.

A student opportunity to contribute to the health fair involved those enrolled in the graduate course "Health Education Methods, Techniques and Strategies" (HS 513), Hamilton-Hancock noted. She said students worked in small groups and each group created a promotional poster to advertise the women's health fair. Each poster was entered into a poster contest, and the poster with the winning design -- designed by Abbie Baumbach (Davenport, IA), Erin Narby (Davenport, IA) and Matty VanDamme (Moline) -- was modified to incorporate updated information and then printed and used to advertise the event, Hamilton-Hancock added.

"Students enrolled in the women's health and community health courses are also creating information and resource packets on numerous aspects of women's health. Additionally, students taking exercise-science courses have been trained to perform blood pressure, fitness and body-fat assessments at the event," she said.

In addition to the screenings and information tables, the event will include a women's sexual health panel, which will feature key experts in the areas of sexuality education, medicine, psychology and sexual assault.

"The panelists will be available to answer your questions about menopause, birth control, sexual abuse, human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, pregnancy, sexual dysfunctions and relationships, to name a few areas," Hamilton-Hancock noted.

The panelists include: Dr. Sujata Karkare, staff physician at Beu Health Center; Amy Buwick, counselor at the University Counseling Center; Amanda Divin, assistant professor, health sciences; and Lindsay White, McDonough District Hospital certified sexual assault nurse examiner. Hamilton-Hancock will serve as the panel moderator.

"We've created a website through which individuals can post questions for the panel to consider before the event takes place," Hamilton-Hancock explained. "Anyone interested in posing a question for the women's sexual health panel can do so at wiuhealthfair2011.weebly.com/. Click the 'Sexual Health Panel' link at the top of the page, and you will be directed an area to post your question."

Fore more information, contact Hamilton-Hancock at (309) 298-1076 or D-Hamilton@wiu.edu.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing