SHSP and StuHE Ready for National Public Health Week

The Student Healthcare Executives (StuHE) in the School of Health Sciences and Practice (SHSP) is gearing up for National Public Health Week, April 3 – 9, with a week full of special activities and lectures. View the full schedule here. Highlights of the week include a public health fair at the Greenburgh Health Center on Wednesday, April 5 and a special Dean’s SHSP Lecture on Thursday, April 6. The lecture, “Public Health Practitioners as Guardians of a Civilized Society: Making Practical Changes in Public Health Law” will be presented by Eli N. Avila, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., FCLM, distinguished visiting professor in the School of Health Sciences and Practice and commissioner of health for Orange County, N.Y. 

The public health fair is a collaboration with alumna Judith M. Watson, R.N., B.S.N., M.P.H. ’07, standing center, executive director of the Greenburgh Health Center in Greenburgh, N.Y. The fair will launch FitKid, a new public health program for obese children, ages two to twelve, to engage them in organized physical activity and connect them with a nutritionist to improve their health behaviors and reduce their chances of experiencing complications associated with obesity. There will also be a ribbon cutting of the Center’s new pediatric fitness facility, available to the patients and families of Greenburgh Health Center.

Adesola Akinyemi, president of StuHE, who is completing his practicum at the Greenburgh Health Center, coordinated the involvement of StuHE with the health center. At the launch of the FitKid program, representatives from StuHE will be conducting a variety of workshops and activities on-site to educate the children and their parents about healthy behaviors including oral hygiene, screening, nutrition, sanitization, and physical activities that can be done at home.

Ms. Watson’s cable television talk show, Family Health: Body, Mind and Spirit will feature four StuHE representatives, Minal Patankar, seated right, vice president of communications; Jason Xenakis, seated left, School of Medicine liaison, Ikram Hussain, standing left, vice president of marketing, and Shanila Shagufta, standing right, steering committee member. The group will discuss the details of the workshops for FitKid’s launch day and advocate for the importance of preventive programs in the community. The show will air on Mondays and Thursdays during the month of April at 8:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 7 p.m. on channels 75 on Cablevision and 34 on FiOS. It can also be viewed online at www.greenburghpublicaccess.com.