• WNC Wellness Dialogues: Robert Allison, marketing manager of Asheville-based Banner Therapy Products, was interviewed this week for the first installment of a series focusing on the people and local businesses of WNC and our interwoven relationships with health and wellness.
• New YMCA blog promotes local health: “Activate Asheville Area is designed to celebrate healthy living and encourage kids and families to embrace a more active lifestyle“, according to a description from the site. A recent blog entry is promoting Healthy Kids Day on April 17. This free family festival will include health screenings, obstacle courses, arts & crafts, healthy snacks and live music from local kids band, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.
• Pharmacy education expanding to Asheville: UNC-Chapel Hill’s plan to expand its pharmacy-education program to UNC Asheville was approved on Friday by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. In partnership with Mission Health System, the satellite program could enroll up to 40 students a year.
• Asheville VA provides new Internet services to vets: The Charles George Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville now offers area veterans enhanced access to information and personal medical records through the website www.myhealth.va.gov. Coming soon will be the ability to instantly view lab results and make appointments online through secure messaging.
• H1N1 not going away: Local health officials are still urging people to get vaccinated for the H1N1 virus as five hospitals in WNC combined have reported one case per month from January to March, according to Rachel Long, public health epidemiologist at Mission Hospital.
• Buncombe County ‘Health Census’ also making its rounds: In addition to Census 2010, another survey is being conducted by Buncombe County Department of Health: a community health assessment. Volunteers are knocking on the doors of 238 randomly-chosen households asking residents more than 100 questions about their health. The results will help set priorities and allocate funding for the years to come.
• The Future of Health: A couple of interesting items caught my attention recently: First, in Painkillers 2.0: Relief without side effects, scientists in the UK have discovered how two proteins play a key role in how we experience pain, paving the way for a new generation of painkillers without side effects. Secondly, FORA.tv has posted a thought-provoking short video, The Promise of Personalized Health Management, featuring Thomas Goetz and Molly Porter discussing a Netflix-style digital strategy for the personalization of health management.
Please follow us on Twitter and submit WNC health & wellness info with the hashtag: #avlhealth
See you next week. Stay healthy.
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