April 15, 2023 marked the return of our Kidney Education and Outreach Program (KEOP) and community kidney screenings after a long break through the pandemic. At recent community events we focused on kidney health education, but we were excited to be able to offer kidney screenings this time.
North Carolina Central University hosted the 9th annual Women’s Health Awareness day last weekend, an initiative within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Clinical Research Branch (CRB), and the Office of Human Research and Community Engagement (OHRCE). The UNC Kidney Center has attended this event several times in the past and was able to have significant representation there this year with KEOP handling education and screenings, study coordinators spreading the word about research at the Kidney Center, and Drs. Emily Chang and Keisha Gibson providing a breakout session titled, “Karing for your Kidneys.”
This community event was FREE to the women of Durham, North Carolina, and surrounding counties. It provided health awareness, education, information, and resources. We were able to speak with over 50 women throughout the day, answering questions about ways to keep kidneys healthy, highlighting the importance of the link between hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease, screening urine for abnormalities, and very importantly, spreading the word and raising awareness about keeping kidneys healthy and reminding people to ask, “Hey doc, how are my kidneys?”
A HUGE thank you to all our volunteers for collaborating on this important effort!