Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           985/549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
    Date: 03/28/01
      Contact:                           Angey Saucier   101

Editors: Photo accompanies release
COMMUNITY OUTREACH MAKES HEALTH TOP PRIORITY
     HAMMOND   On Thursday, March 15, Southeastern Louisiana University's
Department of Nursing, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and North Oaks
Medical Center provided cattle owners and farm workers with free health screenings and advice
at the cattle auction at Amite Livestock Sales.
     "Agriculture ranks as one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States," said
Ann Carruth, Farmworker Health Initiative Project Director and Associate Professor of the
Southeastern College of Nursing and Health Sciences.  "That's why the FWHI, our collaborative
endeavour, offered free education and screening outreach programs, such as the one held at the
livestock auction."
     An estimated 60 to 65 farm owners, workers and children participated in the program
before and during the cattle auction.  A project conducted by senior nursing students Sherryl
John (Baton Rouge), Brian Patterson (Baton Rouge), Sara Lepito (Baton Rouge), Alletia Stokes
(Baton Rouge), Sherry Paretti of Lallie Kemp Medical Center and volunteer physician Dr. Rab
provided skin cancer screenings and education on prevention.  
     Carolyn Davenport, nurse practitioner, and junior nursing students Makenzie Barrosse
(Baton Rouge), Cassie Brassette (Gonzalez), Rebekah Fountain (Baton Rouge), Chip Guillory
(Franklinton), Mike Holliday (Covington) and Mary Yoder (Franklinton) checked blood pressure
levels, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.  
     Audiologist Annette Hurley and Southeastern communication sciences and disorders
students Mike Korowin (Independence), Rebecca Hull (Prairieville), Robin Leggett (Denham
Springs) and Jessica Henson (Greenwell Springs) provided hearing tests through Southeastern's
mobile audiometric van.
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Community Outreach Makes Health Top Priority   add one 
     Also on hand for the event were Kathy David and Kay Singleton of the LSU Ag Center,
who taught the public how to read nutritional labels and the dangers of smokeless tobacco;
Gabriella Peterman and Mitch Pousson of AHEC, who recruited and registered participants; and
Tracy LeBlanc and Ruena Effler, respiratory therapists of NOMC, who conducted pulmonary
volume screenings.
     Coming up on April 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., senior nursing students, representatives
from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Tangipahoa Parish
Public Health Unit will be at the Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula.  Free tetanus
immunizations, blood pressure and hearing screenings and first aid information will be available
on 5th Street across from City Hall.
     These and other outreach projects are made possible by the Healthy Farm Families and
Farmworkers Health Initiative, a $560,000 grant provided by the Department of Health and
Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. FWHI incorporates educational,
medical and agricultural network partners and communities in Tangipahoa and St. Helena
parishes to educate, prevent and detect health problems among agricultural-related workers.

                            - SLU -
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