KEOP Screenings

It was a relatively short drive for me to get to this particular screening on Saturday, April 4. While many of the KEOP screenings involve an hour-plus drive from Chapel Hill to the target communities in North Carolina, this screening took place in our very own backyard in Chapel Hill.

The Kidney Education Outreach Program was invited to take part in an annual free health fair held at the Hargraves Center in Chapel Hill. This health fair, "Health on the Block," was hosted by The NC Health Careers Access Program (NC-HCAP), a UNC-Chapel Hill organization that promotes increased minority presence in the health professions and promotes healthy communities by raising awareness about health services and programs.

We set up our tables with kidney disease materials and the screening station in the gymnasium of the community center. Other health vendors surrounded us, some provided blood pressure screenings or wellness checks, some dispersed health information.

One of my tasks at this screening was to administer surveys to participants. The participants appeared to come from all walks of life. Some were well-spoken and well-dressed, some were homeless.

It occurred to me that this health fair might be the closest that some of the participants would get to an actual doctor's visit. This thought made me feel disappointed in our health care system.

Despite this, it was encouraging to see the community spirit at work - volunteers and participants alike.

Three of the participants I spoke with, Linda, her brother Charles, and their mother Emma, all came out together and each had their kidneys screened.

I asked them why they decided to be screened for kidney disease.

Linda described some of the risk factors that appeared to run in their family, such as high blood pressure. This prompted the three of them to participate in the health fair together.

It was delightful to talk with each of them- they really seemed to grasp the importance of preventing kidney disease before it starts.

You can listen to their comments here.

Listen to Charles

Listen to Emma

Listen to Linda

Kristen Hendrickson

Over the past two years, I have been on several screenings with the UNC Kidney Center's Kidney Education Outreach Program (KEOP) throughout the state. I have traveled to small towns, busy cities, baseball games, and beautiful countryside. Frequently the screenings have been held at community-based church health fairs, gatherings or other small, local events. This March, however, we experienced a very different change of pace as we headed to downtown Raleigh to offer free CKD screenings at the Legislative Office Building. In addition to providing screenings, we were raising awareness among members and staff of the NC General Assembly about the need for additional funds to continue the KEOP's targeted screening and educational efforts in rural counties with high prevalence rates of CKD.

The day began with TV interviews with representatives from the Kidney Center and the Legislature, and then we began to screen in the main atrium right outside a large conference room. We screened 55 members of the legislature and their staff as they passed by on their way to meetings and had conversations about the risk factors for kidney disease.

A few lawmakers, particularly those representing NC counties with high prevalence rates of kidney disease, asked us what they can do to achieve improved kidney health for their constituents. Moments like that gave me hope that the benefits of this single screening event could potentially help extend CKD awareness and prevention across the entire state.

Bradley Layton

On September 12, 2008 I boarded the van to travel down to Clinton, NC to take part in the UNC Kidney Center's screening. This took place at a health fair hosted by the Clinton Drug Company in their parking lot on Beamon Street.

I am from Clinton, NC. Growing up in Clinton, NC simply means that every body knows everybody else or "who their people are," as we commonly say. Having graduated from UNC-CH and going back to Clinton afforded me the opportunity to help give back to those who had given so much for me. Through participating in the screenings, I reunited with teachers I haven't seen since middle school, family, and friends.

More importantly, I am familiar with health care options in Clinton, NC, especially for those with a kidney disease. My father and others have Polycystic Kidney Disease. He having a late diagnosis and seeing the phases of the disease manifested in his life has made me an advocate for kidney screenings. With the improvements in treatments and drugs potentially being offered to help those with the disease, it's important to have people screened, especially in underserved areas where the numbers are more prevalent. Grabbing my clip board and going through the routine of questions that Friday was not a chore at all for me rather, a delight.

I appreciate having had the experience of talking sometimes personally and sometimes to strangers of the importance of having this screening. The sun was hot and my throat did get a little dry that day but, looking those individuals in the eyes as they took the steps to not only come sit next to me but to have their kidneys screened was worth every bit of it.

I look forward to doing it again.

Shawnda Herring

Welcome to the KEOP blog! The KEOP team welcomes you to our new blog--where KEOP volunteers will help us chronicle our outreach activities across North Carolina communities.