Memorial Hospital - Carthage IL issued the following announcement on July 9.
UnityPoint Health - Memorial Hospital has put together an awareness program ‘Detox Your Brain’ which is slated to be held on Thursday, July 11, 2019 from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm, at the Memorial Medical Building on the hospital campus, 1450 N. County Road 2050, Carthage, Illinois. The event is a health fair with the goal to increase the awareness of opioid abuse in the community, which is in turn triggered by underlying mental health issues.
Studies have revealed there is an increased need for mental health services in rural America. For instance, according to data obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2017, nearly 1 in 5 rural residents older than 18 have challenges with their mental health. This particularly ties in with the findings of the 2018 community health needs assessment conducted by the Hancock County Health Department, in collaboration with UnityPoint Health - Memorial Hospital, which revealed that mental health was one of the key priority health needs of the county. Unfortunately, there are still barriers to receiving mental health care in rural areas. For instance, reports from the 2018 Hancock County community needs health assessment showed that 37% of Hancock County residents did not know there were mental health specialists in the county. Even more interesting, more than half of county residents were unaware of the availability of substance abuse counselors in the region. As it were, the mental health situation in Hancock County is a paradox. On one hand, there is a high burden of individuals needing mental health intervention; while on the other hand, those who need the care the most cannot access it because of a variety of factors, including lack of awareness.
One of the organizers, Promise Tewogbola – an intern at UnityPoint Health - Memorial Hospital with a public health master’s degree from Western Illinois University, said, “The opioid crisis in rural Illinois is truly nerve-wracking. I am a numbers person, and sometimes, I get lost in the data, failing to realize that behind every statistic is a real human being with family and friends, with dreams, and hopes and aspirations. It is sad to see lives lost to opioid abuse. It is sad to see destinies cut short because of our failure to have these conversations about mental health issues and how they can be properly managed. With ‘Detox Your Brain’, we know we are headed in the right direction.’
‘Detox Your Brain’ will be held on Thursday, July 11th, 2019 from 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm. There will be a presentation by recovering opioid addict, Jerome Lee, who will share his riveting story of how drugs turned his brain into a cocktail of chemicals, and how he broke free from the shackles of opioid abuse. In addition, there will be free health screenings, including skin checks by Krista Carle, DNP, APRN- FNP sharing her specialty in dermatology, blood pressure screening, blood glucose (A1C) screening, and, blood typing for participants who do not know their blood types. Free massages and healing touch sessions will be available for those interested. The Hidden in Plain Sight display will also be available for viewing. Food will be served and door prizes will be drawn. Prizes include Dinner for two and two tickets to the Dennis Watkins show at The Legacy Theater, a full massage, gift certificate to Farmhouse Meats, Grill accessories set and more.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Memorial Hospital - Carthage IL
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