Meredith Orndorff, a second-year physical therapy student at CU Anschutz, measures the height of a health booth drop-in visitor at the National Western Stock Show on Jan. 23, 2015.
Five-year-old Zoe Atkins enjoyed the free health screenings at the National Western Stock Show so much that she came back for seconds. The volunteers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus-operated booth were more than happy to oblige.
The Atkins family
The Atkins family (at right)—Zeb Sr., Stacy, Zeb Jr., 8, and Zoe—returned to the CU Anschutz booth on Friday evening. As usual, a small army of friendly volunteers, mostly CU Anschutz students, screened a steady stream of Stock Show patrons at multiple stations. Stacy said the Stock Show is an annual outing for the Atkins and since high blood pressure runs in the family, the health booth is a popular stop. "Zoe had her blood sugar checked on Wednesday," Stacy said of her daughter. "She was brave—she didn't mind (the needle) at all. Now she wants some more."
Both Zoe and Zeb Jr. got health screenings on Friday. "And they like the free bandanas," Stacy said, as volunteers handed colorful Western souvenirs to the kids.
David Atz, 31, another regular Stock Show attendee, said his doctor recently advised him to check his blood pressure regularly. Since Atz was staffing a nearby Goodyear booth in the Exhibition Hall, the CU Anschutz booth was an easy stop. "I got in and out quickly, it's very informative as well as friendly and relaxed. Not to mention," he added with a smile, "these ladies (the volunteers) can be very persuasive."
Jennifer Hellier, director of the Colorado Health Professions Development Program at CU Anschutz, said the Stock Show screening outreach is in its eighth year. The booth, which exudes good health and Western hospitality, averages 2,500 people screened annually (ages 2 and up) with this year's count nearing 3,000.
Visitors are screened for height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and blood glucose. This year, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences donated 250 vials of flu vaccine, which were administered early in the Stock Show. The CU Anschutz booth this year added vision screening because folks with diabetes often forget they need regular eye checkups. Also, the booth offers a limited number of cholesterol screenings for visitors with high BMI numbers.
"Last year we had a guy who came here and said, 'You guys saved my life," Hellier said of the drop-in cholesterol check.
"We have people who come every year," said Hellier, who is also associate director of the Colorado AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) Program Office. "For a lot of farmers and ranchers, we end up being their annual health visit."
Booth staffers explain follow-up care that folks should receive from their primary providers. If primary care isn't readily accessible—as is the case for many rural residents—volunteers tell them where federally funded health care centers are located in their area.
Besides the 200 volunteers who contribute over 2,000 volunteer hours during the Stock Show, the booth is staffed by CU Anschutz clinical professionals as well as dozens of staff members who recruit passers-by to get screened. Claudine Black, a pediatric researcher at CU Anschutz, was a "recruiter" this year. "I'm having a blast," she said. "This is fun. I'm definitely going to do it again next year."
Besides making the screenings fun, Hellier said, booth staffers advise visitors on how to make good-health choices in their daily lives. "Our students get to work on their clinical skills as well as their interviewing skills; they've got to learn how to gauge the conversation about a person's health," Hellier said. "So, our students are winning on that front, and the people being screened are benefiting health-wise."
The booth uses the fun and interactive program HeartSmartKids for children between 2 and 18 years old. HeartSmartKids is a company founded and headed by Kevin Gilbert, who designed the software as part of his doctorate work in the College of Nursing almost 10 yeas ago. This year, the CU Anschutz booth added similar Gilbert-designed software for adults. So after the interview session of the screenings, both children and adults get a colorful printout of their BMI, as well as—for kids—their future height and weight trajectories.
With all the services available, at no charge, it's no surprise the white-coat team is a must-stop for many Stock Show attendees. "CU really gives a lot back to the community," Hellier said. "And it's not just to the Denver metro area—it's to all of Colorado."
