PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Temple Health is hosting a healthy block party. It’s an event aimed at meeting people who don’t normally go to regular checkups at the doctor in the middle.
With a quick finger stick, Alexander Cooper found out his blood sugar was elevated, a sign that diabetes might be in his future.
“It scared me,” Cooper said. “I was surprised.”
Diabetes screenings, among many free services offered with Temple’s mobile van, will be part of a block party on Saturday.
“Going out into the community is because it helps to address those undiagnosed things that people don’t know about because people are afraid to go to the doctors,” Tonja Belo, a Temple nurse, said. “And so what we do is like sometimes you have to like take the doctor to the person.”
Belo said the mobile unit travels around North Philadelphia, where people will find personalized testing inside.
“We take this all over the city,” Belo said. “We will provide blood pressure screening and blood glucose monitoring inside.”
Bringing health services into underserved neighborhoods to reverse high rates of disease and premature death.
“We are taking the solutions to the people,” Belo said.
The healthy block party will be at the Temple Women & Families Campus on Wyoming Avenue.
Special bonus – there will be lots of free giveaways at the block party, including water bottles and gun locks.
“An accident can happen and so if a gun is in the home, you want to have a lock on it,” Belo said.
Along with addressing the epidemic of gun violence, the mobile van will also focus on the high rates maternal and infant mortality rates in North Philadelphia, encouraging pregnant women to get prenatal care.
“There’s disparities that exist among women of color and then it knows no bounds,” Belo said.
This Temple team is about breaking barriers to get more people the medical care they need. The block party, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, will also include free school supplies and fun activities for kids.
