By Rosemary Lewallen
St. Irenaeus Health Ministry held a free Health Fair on Sunday, Nov. 4 at the St. Irenaeus Parish Hall that partnered with a large variety of community health and safety organizations. It provided a wealth of information about health and wellness resources for the whole family. Included were the Alzheimer’s Association, Orange County; The Orange County Office on Aging, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Visiting Angels, Diocese Whole Person Care, One Legacy, Cypress Police Department, Cerritos Optometry, a registered Dietician, Ask a Pharmacist, blood pressure checks and blood pressure information; 211; Providence Speech & Hearing; volunteer opportunities in St. Irenaeus Health Ministry; Right At Home; Healing Touch and Inner Shakti Yoga. Cypress College Nursing students were there to help with the blood pressure checks.
Information available at this event was amazing! Did you know that the Office on Aging has a Senior Non-Emergency Medical Transportation number to help get people to their medical appointments (800-510-2020)? There was also information about the difference between palliative care and hospice; the hotline to report suspected human trafficking (1-888-3737-888); how to become an organ donor and how to get referrals on a long list of issues by dialing 211.
St. Irenaeus’ Faith Community Nurse, Jennifer Dagarag, RN, did an outstanding job organizing this event. Her position within our parish is multi-faceted as she serves as a personal health counselor, health educator, trainer of volunteers for home visitation, referral agent for health resources as well as a maintainer and developer of health support groups. Jennifer is able to assist families in care navigation, a very valuable role. She is partnering with nurses in our parish to expand services available.
If you have any questions about health and wellness resources, contact our Faith Community Nurse, Jennifer Dagarag, RN, at 714-826-0760, Extension 124.
