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Second Annual Appalachian Health Summit To Be Held On The 28th
By: Fred Kight
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The Second Annual Appalachian Health Summit will take place in Athens later this month.
Tom Kostorhyz is president of the board of Live Healthy Appalachia which is hosting the summit.
"We had a summit last year in May to prevent chronic disease in Appalachia," said Kostorhyz.
Kostorhyz says the goal of the Health Summit is to reach over 600 individuals and to promote and support healthy living throughout the Appalachian region.
"We're actually talking about changing people and how to facilitate change and how to change for good," said Kostorhyz. "We all know we have to eat better, exercise more, but how do we make those changes and how do we sustain them over a longer period of time."
The Appalachian Health Summit starts on the 28th and will feature nationally known and respected speakers.
Day one is designed to help professionals, quote, "incorporate proven approaches to change management and motivational techniques" into their practices.
"On Friday, we're going to be looking for health care professionals, psychologists, counselors, social service people because we'll be talking about the techniques for motivating change and working with your clients to change," said Kostorhyz. "There will also be a panel of local scholars from different departments of the University and they'll be talking about the barriors to change and the difficulty of changing folks in the Appalachian region."
Day two will include a healthy living workshop.
Saturday will be free to the public at the Athens Recreation Center.
There will be an expo and a screening event, along with doctors and a chef.
"It'll be a fun event for everyone," said Kostorhyz.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Live Healthy Appalachia is a non-profit organization based in Athens.
The group works to improve the health and well-being of Appalachians through education, outreach and advocacy emphasizing nutrition and other lifestyle choices.