KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifiedsRegion 8 residents are getting tested

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - Shoppers met with more than merchandise available to them at the Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro on Friday, to host a health screening.

Multiple tests were available to residents such as blood pressure checks, blood sugar, bone density, cholesterol and evening BMI tests.

Clinical Pharmacist for St. Bernards, Marsha Crader, says they hold this event to try and help out the community they serve.

"We hold this event every year because it benefits our community. We believe this is a great asset for people who come out and get their screenings done. What we're seeing is people discovering things they need to be doing that otherwise they might not be aware of. Like when and how they take their cholesterol medicine properly. It's just a service we provide the community to make sure their health is at the optimal level."

A number of medical students also get to participate in these screenings done in collaboration with St. Bernards and UAMS.

Student Allison Hollis is volunteering at the Health Screening with St. Bernards for the second time.

Allison says this is an invaluable experience that students should take advantage of.

"I think it gives you a great hands on experience. We do a lot of book work, but this is a great experience to work with the public and work with our patients that we'll be working with when we graduate. You encounter things the book might not tell you. You also encounter experiences you wouldn't necessarily find in a school setting."

Crader says that people of all ages should be getting tested.

"People often think of the older generation when it comes to screenings and getting tested. But we're trying to reach out to everyone and that includes some of our young adults. We're living in different times and often younger people can be suffering from such things as cholesterol they need to get under control and not know it with the days of too much fast food. This is something everyone should do no matter what the age."

Crader says they hold these free screenings every year in the hopes that more people will come out and make sure everything is okay with their health.

"People need to take advantage of these free events when they're available. Please, follow up with your doctor. It's better to know what's going on so you can make the changes that you need to make. We don't want people to act like it's better for me not to know because then I don't have to worry about it because that's when we come into problems and you could end up in the hospital."

This is the fifth year for this event.

For more information about this event, log onto their website.

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