Body Mass Index (BMI) station The Xavierite
On Tuesday, April 8, collaborating with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, Students for H.O.P.E. hosted a Free Kidney and Diabetes Screening event for preventative care. The event took place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the fourth floor boardroom. The screening was labeled as public, encouraging students, their families, and friends to attend.
According to Cyndi Grobmeier, Ed.D, Director of Faculty Development, 96 people were already pre-registered to get tested and walk-ins were also welcomed.
Daniel Lietz, Program Manager of the Illinois Secretary of State’s organ/tissue donor program, attended the event and explained why it is important for the community to care about their kidney and organ health, as well as getting early detection for kidney disease for prevention.
During the event, there were different stations available for testing. These included a urinalysis, blood glucose, body mass index, blood pressure, a blood draw, and condults after testing.
“The National Kidney Foundation of Illinois is a great way to get an early detection of chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease in Illinois is the seventh leading cause of death, with over 30 million people in the United States having early stages or some form of chronic kidney disease that can be detected by a simple test, which is what they’re doing today. It’s a big problem,” he said.
John McNamara, Vice President of Students for H.O.P.E., and Giluniana Islas, Orientation & Belonging Coord., also explained the importance of this event.
“The kidney screening event was an important one to plan because a lot of SXU students don’t have access to this kind of medical care otherwise. We figured, as Students for H.O.P.E., that organizing this event would combat this issue,” said McNamara.
Islas explained, “This event was so important to have on campus, and I am so happy I got to attend. While I am fortunate enough to have access to healthcare, this is such an incredible resource to bring to campus for students, staff, faculty, and community members who might not have that privilege.”
According to the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, “over 37 million people in the United States are estimated to have chronic kidney disease” and “the leading causes of kidney failure are diabetes and uncontrolled high blood pressure.”
The Kidney Foundation not only aims to help people with chronic kidney disease, it also promotes healthy living.
Those who were not pre-registered were sent to a sign-up table near the entrance for assistance in registering for testing. Along with this, there was also a table that provided informational sheets and packets on kidney disease, organ donation, how to become more active, dieting tips for those who have kidney disease, and information on protein, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium intake.
Lietz (pictured on left) The Xavierite
Over 90,000 Americans die each year from kidney disease with one in three adults being at high risk for the disease.
“As far as organ donation goes, nationally, there are over 100,000 people that are currently waiting for organ transplants. 85% of them are waiting for a kidney. So, from our standpoint, if we can eliminate more people getting sick and being on the list it’ll give people who are already on the list a better shot at getting a kidney transplant. It is vital that they do something like this and to raise awareness about healthy lifestyles and habits of how you eat and exercise,” explained Lietz.
Lietz stated, “Our program at the Organ Donor Secretary of State’s office has 8 organ donor coordinators that go throughout the state and cover all the way from Carbondalle to Rockford, Illinois. Annually, for organ donor events, we did around 600 last year. Throughout the state we are doing 2 a day.”
He continued, “For health fairs, we probably do relatively over 100 in state per year, where we partner with the National Kidney Foundation and other organ donor organizations throughout the state. We try to raise awareness towards organ health and transplantation.”
“I, personally, would love it if we as Students for H.O.P.E. planned more events like the kidney screening in the future,” expressed McNamara.
For more information about Students for H.O.P.E. and future events contact hope@mymail.sxu.edu or visit the SXU Den.
For more information pertaining to the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois contact (312) 321-1500 or visit www.nkfi.org.