This coming Friday, Community Action’s Head Start/Early Head Start Program will launch a new bi-monthly virtual initiative known as the Health Café. The purpose of the Health Café is to engage early education and childcare professionals, parents, caregivers, and the larger community on critical health issues that, in particular, affect low-income households and members of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and immigrant/refugee communities.
The first Health Café will take place on Zoom, Friday, February 12, 2021, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. The discussion for this Health Café will revolve around the latest research on COVID-19 Long-haulers. The Zoom Link to join this event can be found below, along with Meeting ID and Passcode information:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/99899251168?pwd=R1FHK3l6QzNqY1U0SEY0OHNhSm5mQT09
Meeting ID: 998 9925 1168
Passcode: Cr6Trf
About COVID-19 Long-Haulers
There is increasing concern in the medical and scientific communities about those who are experiencing prolonged symptoms of COVID-19. Members in this group include a mix of individuals who have had severe symptoms, mild symptoms, or even no symptoms at all. Recent studies suggest that as many as ten percent of people infected with COVID-19 will suffer symptoms for up to 9 months, and some symptoms might turn out to be life-long. COVID-19 Long-haulers have included the young and old, those who were healthy and those already living with a chronic illness, and people who required hospitalization and people who did not. And, the new science emerging on the Long-hauler phenomenon makes it all the more important that people receive the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available to them.
This event will include a presentation/discussion about what scientists and physicians are seeing in their communities and the meeting will then be open for participant questions.
Future Health Cafés
Future Health Cafés will cover such topics as oral health, second-hand exposure to smoke, vector-born diseases (caused by ticks, mosquitos, mice), summer safety, and regular COVID-19 related updates. Community Action Head Start/Early Head Start will also be sponsoring virtual meetings on COVID-19 vaccinations targeted to specific cultural communities and in languages including Oromo, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. Future schedules and additional information on Health Café topics will be continuously updated on the Working Together Blog and Community Action’s social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter).
