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RESSON hosts health fair

Delta Healthy Families Project announces sponsorship of the annual Delta State University Robert E. Smith School of Nursing (RESSON) Health Fair on Feb. 26 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the State Room of the H.L. Nowell Union on the campus of Delta State.

Dr. Monica Jones, assistant professor or nursing, and fourth semester nurse practitioner students are coordinating this year’s event, titled “Be One in a Million.” The fair will focus on heart attack and stroke prevention through the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

Jones is pleased to announced RESSON is one of three universities in Mississippi to partner with Ohio State University’s Million Hearts® Fellowship program to bring the Million Hearts program to the Mississippi Delta.

Million Hearts is a national initiative that was launched by the Department of Health and Human Services in September of 2011 to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by the year 2017.

Through the partnership with Ohio State, nurse practitioner students, nursing students and nursing faculty have an opportunity to complete the fellowship educational module, complete Million Hearts community screenings, input de-identified data from the screenings into an online survey, take a post-test and become a certified Million Hearts Fellow.

The Million Hearts Fellowship educational module is a free, online module that was designed by the Ohio State University’s Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Medicine to assist with the education and implementation of the Million Hearts initiative.

The fellowship module was designed for interdisciplinary teamwork by health sciences’ students and healthcare professionals. The goal is to teach students and health care professionals how to conduct, interpret and triage a Million Hearts screenings in the community setting.

In addition to the screenings, various interactive healthy lifestyle education stations developed by the students will be available. Delta State students, faculty and staff are encouraged to come by the State Room to complete the Million Hearts screening and visit the educational stations.

RESSON gratefully acknowledges that all programs, services and resources provided by the Delta Healthy Families Project are made possible through funding from HRSA Grant # D60RH25756 awarded to Delta State University by the Office of Rural Health Policy Delta State Rural Development Network Grant Program (DELTA).

Shelby Polk, assistant professor of nursing, serves as the director of the project. Grant Leadership Team members from RESSON are: Vicki Bingham, Emily Newman, Jean Grantham, Lacey Blessitt, Carleen Thompson and Betty Sylvest. Grant Leadership Team members from the Healthy Lifestyle Center are: Cindy Belenchia, Teresa Haynes, Laura Wood, Brownya Thomas and Kristin Williams.

To learn more about the Delta Healthy Families Project, call the Healthy Lifestyle Center at 662-843-6251. The Healthy Lifestyle Center is located in the Western Plaza, 1321 Hwy 8 West, Cleveland, MS 38732 in Suites 9, 11, and 12.