By Madison Fisler Lewis
Feb. 3, 2015. February is heart month, and to commemorate, Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (ARHS) will sponsor the second annual Heart Shape event on Saturday, Feb. 7. Last year, more than 100 people came to the annual Heart Shape event, and even more are expected to attend this year.
“This is the third year we have done this,” said Gillian Baker, vice president of corporate communications for Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.
“We wanted an opportunity to educate the community about signs and symptoms and to be familiar with them as far as cardiac care. We saw this as an opportunity to educate the community about what we have to offer to help our community better their health.”
The Heart Shape event will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, from 8 a.m.-12:45 p.m. at the Paul H. Broyhill Wellness Center located at 232 Boone Heights Dr. in Boone.
“We hold it in the wellness center because prevention is the number one thing that we are most concerned about,” said Baker. “We want people to be educated as to what they need to do to prevent cardiac problems.”
The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature health screenings, a large, interactive heart, cardiology Health Talks, free fitness classes, Wellness Center tours and healthy cooking demonstrations.
“This is the first year that we have had the interactive heart,” Baker said. “It will be open to the public on Saturday for those who want to come to the Heart Shape Event. People can walk around the exterior of this blow up heart and you can see what the workings of the heart look like. It is a good tool to get educated about the different parts of the heart.”
The Heart Shape event will also feature free health screenings for attendees. Screenings include Etworth Sleepiness Tests, breathing assessments and cardiology risk assessments. Vouches for other tests like EKG screenings, cholesterol and vascular screenings will also be available for purchase.
“The screenings are open to anyone,” Baker said.
Attendees will also have a chance to attend cardiology and vascular health talks with cardiologist Dr. Paul Vignola and vascular surgeon Dr. Peter Purcell. The informational talks will also include prize drawings and the opportunity to ask questions of the cardiac professionals.
Guests are able to spend time at the event touring the wellness center, taking classes and learning from fitness professionals. From a press release:
If you’re not already a member of the Wellness Center, Heart Shape is a great opportunity to check out the facility and excellent fitness professionals. Pending availability, participants can take advantage of free fitness classes, get tours of the facility and talk with fitness professionals about your individual fitness goals. The class schedule includes Spin and Zumba at 9:15 a.m., followed by Yoga, Stretch and Flex and Water Fitness at 10:15 a.m. All event participants will have access to use the locker rooms as needed throughout the day.
At the very end, guests can attend a health cooking demonstration, where they will learn how to create healthy versions of favorites like chili, biscuits and cake! The class will begin at 12:15 p.m.
To learn more about Heart Shape visit wellness.apprhs.org or call the Wellness Center at 828-266-1060.
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