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Rachel Dove-Baldwin

Staff Writer

SOUTH WILLIAMSON, Ky. — The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently celebrated the graduation of the newest volunteers in the Community Health Advisor (CHA) program. The ten volunteers were recently recognized at a celebration held at the Appalachian Regional Hospital.

The ceremony featured motivational remarks from Vicky Hughes, and each new CHA graduate was awarded with a certificate.

The new Community Health Advisors are: Janie Baisden, Emma Pack, Marcy Cooper, Sandra Justice, Dee Kapourales, Laura Meade, Martha Roberts, Joyce Roddy, Marlene Spaulding and Linda White.

The Society recently launched the CHA program across Mingo County. The Society’s CHA staff worked to train these newly graduated volunteers on how to improve the health of the people in their community through education about prevention. The ultimate goal is to have these groups, who are traditionally in underserved communities get the appropriate screening for breast, cervical and colon cancers.

“With our new CHA program in the area, we are hoping to see more people go for screenings,” stated Hughes. “Our volunteer CHA’s will be encouraging individuals to go for screenings by speaking one on one with them and helping to remove any barriers that individuals may have. Our goal is to reach at least 100 individuals who have not yet been screened and encourage them to make screening a priority.”

In addition to the newly trained CHA’s, the ACS also works with Community Network Partners to ensure the success of the program. These partners work within the community to reduce barriers to cancer screening programs and are an important part of the work to reduce colon, cervical and breast cancer mortality rates.

The local CHA program works specifically in Mingo, Logan and Boone counties where the communities have lower than average cancer screening rates. CHA’s in each area will strive to educate others on the ways to prevent cancers when they are the most treatable, and also point men and women toward ways to get screened. CHA’s will also teach the community about all the ways the ACS can help families affected by any types of cancer.

The ACS saves lives and creates more birthdays by helping people stay healthy, by helping them improve from illnesses and by finding cures and fighting back against these potentially deadly diseases.

For more information or to become involved in these events, you may contact the ACS at 1-800-227-2345, visit their website at www.cancer.org, or contact Vicky Hughes at her Charleston office by emailing her at vicky.hughes@cancer.org.