Explanation
This ordinance authorizes Columbus City Council to enter into a grant agreement with the African American Male Wellness Walk Initiative in support of the 2018 Walk, which will take place on August 11, 2018.
The National African American Male Wellness Walk was established in 2004 to empower men to better understand and take action to improve their health. The Walk is currently in its 15th year and will have an estimated participation of 25,000 individuals in Central Ohio and over 50,000 nationally.
The initiative is dedicated to changing health disparities among African American men by encouraging them to know their numbers through health screenings, get moving through increased physical activity and exercise, and to visit the doctor annually.
At the 2016 event in Columbus, 781 individuals completed one or more free health screenings. Medical professionals and advocates explained the screening results and provided information on additional steps to improve wellness. Reporting from the event consists of aggregated results for the following screenings: blood pressure, body mass index, glucose, cholesterol, prostate, HIV, dental, vision, cardiovascular, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, colon cancer, and oral cancer.
The Initiative has partnered with The Ohio State University to collect and analyze data from the event for future research targeted at further improving health and wellness in the community.
Programming at the event includes a “Kids Stay Well” event that provides free health screenings to youth (over 1,000 in 2016) and interactive activities covering nutrition, exercise, and safety education. Quarterly education and life services workshops are also held throughout the year which cover topics such as mental wellness, fatherhood, infant mortality, and financial literacy amongst other topics. The wellness walk event is the culmination of these efforts throughout the year to not only empower African American men, but to address ...
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