Students and faculty from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Colleges of Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmacy provided health care services during the 13th annual Block Party for Peace last month.
Founded by Tennessee Representative Antonio Parkinson, the annual event focuses on peace, community empowerment, education, and living a healthy lifestyle in the North Memphis community .
UTHSC was a participating sponsor, providing direct services by several faculty and students. Altha Stewart, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Health in Justice Involved Youth at UTHSC, participated in a panel discussing adverse childhood experiences and their effect on later life.
The College of Dentistry distributed toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss. The college also provided education about proper oral health care. College of Pharmacy students, in collaboration with Walgreens representatives, provided patient education about medications. College of Nursing representatives provided blood pressure and blood sugar screenings, and calculated body mass index values for participants.
“These values for more than half the participants reinforce the importance of community awareness and education,” said Peg Thorman Hartig, PhD, APN-BC, FAANP, professor in the UTHSC College of Nursing. “The screenings and information from the various colleges are a good start. All screened participants were given written records of their personal readings and were referred to their existing health care providers or we provided with a listing of various providers they could access.”