Merrimack Valley Magazine

NoteWorthy – 1/10/21

by

AROUND THE VALLEY

Andreas Hired for Top Job at North Shore Chamber of Commerce

Karen Andreas has been named president and chief executive officer of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce in Danvers. The chamber’s board of directors voted unanimously last month to hire Andreas, praising her as a proven leader and natural fit for the leadership position.

Andreas unexpectedly departed the North of Boston Media Group in early December, where she had been regional publisher since 2013. She began her media career as a reporter before holding a series of positions including editor, vice president of news, and publisher.

She has been an active board member of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce for many years, recently serving as chair of the board of directors. In 2016, she was inducted into the chamber’s North Shore Academy of Distinguished Leaders.

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Andreas is active in the community and serves on numerous boards including The Salem Partnership, Salem State University Board of Overseers, Northern Essex Community College Foundation Board, and Essex National Heritage board of trustees. She is the immediate past president of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association.

Greater Lowell Community Foundation Awarded $829K for COVID-19 Relief Work

Over the next few months, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) will distribute $829,983 to nonprofit organizations serving Lowell to alleviate hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the GLCF aims to address emergency food, housing support, medical interpretation, educational program support and youth program support.

This new round of COVID-19 funding is made possible by the Baker-Polito administration’s $10 million Community Foundations Grant Program for COVID-19 Relief. The program, administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Department of Housing and Community Development through community foundations across the state, was announced in late November. 

Holy Family Hospital Named The Leapfrog Group’s Top Hospital of 2020

The Leapfrog Group has awarded Holy Family Hospital the Top Hospital of 2020 award. This prestigious award was granted based on the hospital’s low infection rates and high quality and patient safety ratings. The Leapfrog Top Hospital award is one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive. Holy Family is one of only 35 hospitals nationwide and is the only hospital in the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire to earn this distinction for performance on national standards of quality and safety.

 

Alternative Care Site Accepts First Patient, Expects More in Coming Days

The Lowell General Hospital Alternative Care Site (ACS) received its first patient from Lowell General at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 4, and officials expect more admissions in the coming days.

Lowell General officials are reviewing additional patients in their care for possible transfer. They are also in contact with hospitals around the region looking to create more inpatient capacity in anticipation of an expected rise in patients after the holiday season.

The ACS opened its first 14 beds on Monday and has plans to scale up to as many as 28 beds by the end of the week. The beds will be a regional resource for transfer of recovering patients who need some additional medications or therapies before being discharged to home, opening up inpatient capacity for more severely ill patients.

“We are proud to be able to provide this resource for the region and stand ready to accept additional patients,” said Jody White, President and CEO of Lowell General Hospital and Circle Health. “Patients and families should take comfort that this site is staffed by skilled physicians, nurses and support personnel, and will provide the same standard of care as they would expect in the hospital.”

MCC’s Corporate Ed. Partners with Lowell General Hospital to Offer Training to Staff

Middlesex Community College’s (MCC) Corporate Education and Training program has partnered with Lowell General Hospital (LGH) for a number of years to provide leadership training to the hospital’s employees.

The partnership between MCC’s Corporate Ed. and LGH began in 2013 after they were awarded a $50,000 workforce training grant by the Mass. Department of Higher Education. They received a $250,000 Healthcare Transformation Training Fund Grant in 2015 from the Department of Labor to develop leaders.

In their ongoing partnership, MCC offers training in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Certified Healthcare Access Associate (CHAA) exam prep course, and numerous leadership development courses. They also offer an enhanced tuition reimbursement process for employees to pay for trainings.

With MCC’s trainings, LGH hopes to bring out the best in their employees to build a stronger organization overall. It is also important to them to support their staff in their professional development

The New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra Harpist Donates Instrument to Manchester Community Music School

Diana Kolben, a Salem, N.H., resident who studied music at Oberlin College and worked as a music educator throughout her life, is parting with her beloved harp after more than 50 years. Since she is no longer able to play, Kolben has decided to donate her instrument the Manchester Community Music School (MCMS).

“We are so happy to continue working with MCMS and its own mission to change lives through the power of learning, sharing and making music,’” says Mark Latham, music director of the NH Philharmonic Orchestra. When asked how music impacts youth, Kolben, a long-time music educator, replied: “It impacts everything! There isn’t a thing that music doesn’t touch.” She hopes that students at MCMS will share her love for the instrument.

LMACS Seeks New Executive Director

Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School (LMACS) offers an inclusive and supportive environment that holds its students to high standards to ensure that they reach their goals. Margaret McDevitt will be retiring from LMACS this spring after 17 years of service and leadership to the school. James Mabry, president of Middlesex Community College (MCC) and chair of LMACS Board of Trustees, announced on Tuesday that a search committee is looking to hire the next LMACS executive director.

The accredited public charter high school partners with MCC to serve students between the ages of 15 and 21 who have left school or are at risk of dropping out. The program provides academic, social and career skills necessary to succeed post-graduation — emphasizing the importance of college education. The search committee will be looking for a candidate who will contribute leadership, enthusiasm and efforts toward the fulfillment of the school’s mission and the development of an innovative learning community that serves its diverse student body. The executive director is responsible for providing administrative leadership, instructional leadership and student leadership, as well as building community relationships for LMACS.

Click here for details regarding the job posting.

***

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Irene Haley Hired as CEO of The Greater Haverhill Chamber Board of Directors
Irene Haley has been hired as The Greater Haverhill Chamber (GHC) next chief executive officer. Haley will assume the role of GHC President and CEO on Jan. 11, 2021. Haley brings over 20 years of experience in corporate management at both Exxon Mobil and Starbucks. She has a Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from UMass Lowell.

“I am thrilled to be joining this amazing team and vibrant, diverse community.  I bring more than 20 years of leadership experience and a passion to serve others to this role and to this critical moment.  I look forward to partnering with other local leaders to serve our members and our community,” said Haley.

***

Check out the latest episode of The 495 Podcast!

The 495 is back in a BIG way! Host Doug Sparks opens 2021 talking with the crew from Red Antler Apothecary and Hive & Forge. Listen to the podcast here.

NoteWorthy – 9/13/20

by

AROUND THE VALLEY

Top Notch Scholars Announces 2020 Scholarship Class

Joanna DePena, executive director of Top Notch Scholars in Lawrence, an educational enhancement program for local high school students, held the 2020 Senior Awards Celebration on Thursday, August 20, at Tenney Castle in Methuen.

DePena said 13 scholarships were awarded, five of which are full 4-year scholarships. The scholarships are the result of a youth-led fundraising effort that brought in over $7,000 by selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The students enlisted the support of three corporate sponsors who partnered by purchasing the donuts to support the scholarship fund.

The mission of Top Notch Scholars is to provide life skills and leadership opportunities to poor and low-income youth in Lawrence and surrounding communities.

The following students were celebrated: Litzie Alvarez (Notre Dame Christo Rey), Noelia Castillo (Lawrence High School), Erika Dejesus (Greater Lawrence Technical School), Dulce Galan (Greater Lawrence Technical School), Remy Garcia (Lawrence High School), Michael Jimenez (Lawrence High School), Paola Martinez (Lawrence High School), Saviel Ortiz (Greater Lawrence Technical School), Destiney Perez (Lawrence High School), Ileana Rodriguez (Notre Dame Christo Rey), Lia Sanchez (Greater Lawrence Technical School), Kassandra Valdez (Greater Lawrence Technical School) and Selina Vasquez (Greater Lawrence Technical School).

Holy Family Hospital Wears White Socks for Peripheral Artery Disease

Holy Family Hospital’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center is participating in the White Sock Campaign; this campaign is meant to raise awareness for Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a silent disease that if left untreated, can cause unnecessary lib amputations. Approximately 18 million Americans are affected by PAD. The white sock signifies the many wound care patients who often can wear only one shoe, while the other foot is wrapped with dressing.

During the month of September, consider waring one white sock to raise awareness of the importance of caring for wounds. Click here for more information on the White Sock Campaign.

 

Free Soil Arts Collective Launches Vital Voices Series, Presented by Enterprise Bank

The Free Soil Arts Collective is launching the Vital Voices digital series this month. This six-part series will feature an in-depth discussion with local artists of color, moderated by Free Soil Founder Christa Brown. Enterprise Bank is the presenting sponsor of the series.

Featured artists include (chronologically) Veronica Holmes, illustrator and storyteller (Lowell); Marlene Marmolejos, co-founder and motion designer of Motion Mami (Lawrence); Henry Marte, owner of Marte Media (Lowell); Sam Stevquoah, creative director at Mill City’s Finest (Lowell); Princess Moon, poet (Lowell); and Thaddeus Miles, author and photographer (Lowell).

Each episode of the Vital Voices series will air live on Facebook and YouTube via Zoom on the third Saturday of each month from September 2020 through February 2021, with the first episode airing on September 19th. Visit freesoilarts.org to RSVP.

BRM Production Management Partners with AME, Diversity and Inclusion specialists

Founded by University of Massachusetts Lowell alumni Owen Kelly, Allies in Music Education (AME) is an educator driven, researched based organization dedicated to inclusion, allyship, and accessibility in education.

AME recently announced their latest partnership with BRM Production Management. The BRM team is working in conjunction with the AME consulting division to create a custom tailored series of workshops and training in order to evaluate their business practices and provide educational opportunities for their staff to immerse themselves in the world of diversity and inclusion.

NECC Launches Center for Equity and Justice

Nationwide, community colleges educate the largest proportion of low-income students, students of color, and students from a variety of other disadvantaged or underserved backgrounds—more than any other sector of higher education.

This is particularly true for Northern Essex Community College (NECC);  NECC has one of the lowest income student populations out of all 106 colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.

NECC is committing to examining and organizing college staff and resources into a new Northern Essex Community College Center for Equity and Social Justice, and to actively engaging with campus and community partners to identify opportunities for the college to create or contribute to new services and partnerships, or enhance existing ones, that will benefit students through strengthening their communities, ensuring equity and addressing social justice needs.

Some of the ways a new NECC Center for Equity and Social Justice may serve as a vital resource to supporting our students and communities may include:

  • Working closely with community organizations with missions that serve the needs of our students and support their academic, social, and economic progress and success
  • Serving as an educational resource for immigrants in our communities
  • Providing education and training for police, public safety, and correctional officers
  • Expanding access to civic engagement, service learning, and volunteer opportunities for students
  • Providing support and resources to students experiencing housing and food insecurity
  • Expanding access to English language instruction
  • Recognizing accomplishments in community service and social justice
  • Supporting leadership development opportunities focused on equity, inclusion, and social justice

Local Church Celebrates 375 Years with Collaborative Art Project

Members of the North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of North Andover will work with local potter and artist Larry Elardo in a collaborative art project that celebrates 375 years as a religious community. On work sessions held Sept. 18 and 19, church members will bring personal mementos to “make their mark” in clay slabs. Once fired and bronzed, the slabs will form columns supporting a bronze bell, with the finished sculpture to be installed outdoors in the church gardens. For more information, contact Debb Putnam, deborahputnam@gmail.com or 978-852-5033.

Amesbury Carriage Museum Announces a Public Phase of the Campaign for the Industrial History Center

After years of planning, and additional delays caused by COVID 19, the Amesbury Carriage Museum (ACM) is announcing a public campaign to raise the funds needed to build the new Industrial History Center (IHC).

To announce the public phase of the campaign, the ACM is holding a ceremonial ground-breaking event, on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. Taking place in front of the building site in Amesbury’s upper millyard, the event will also include a virtual tour of the IHC interior which is currently under construction. The public is invited to join virtually on Facebook, the Amesbury Community TV website and cable TV.

$300K Grant to Support Age-Friendly Lowell initiative

UMass Lowell was recently awarded a three-year, $300,000 grant from Tufts Health Plan Foundation to create a citywide, age-friendly initiative that builds community capacity to promote health, independence and quality of life for older residents in Lowell.

The effort is a partnership with the city of Lowell and local organizations that is being led by UMass Lowell’s Sabrina Noel, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences and director for community engagement in the Center for Population Health.

The program is designed to provide insight on existing or needed changes to programs, policies and infrastructure within the city of Lowell to support productive and high-quality aging within the community, as well as increase the ability for individuals of all ages within the city to participate in making their city a community that supports aging in place.

This grant is one of 13 new community investments totaling $1.7 million by the Tufts Health Plan Foundation in support of collaborative community efforts and systems change to advance healthy aging.

Element Care PACE Celebrates National PACE Month

Element Care’s Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is celebrating National PACE Month in September. This provides an opportunity to raise awareness and acknowledge the difference that PACE makes in the lives of older adults, their families and their communities.

Element Care, founded in 1995, is a nonprofit, healthcare organization with a simple mission: to provide the support and services necessary to allow people to remain safe and comfortable in their homes and communities. Element Care provides complete health care to eligible people through PACE throughout the North Shore, the Merrimack Valley and the northeast region of Middlesex County.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic Element Care has adjusted to a home-centric and telehealth-enabled model of health care where nurses, home care workers, behavioral health clinicians, activity specialists and other care team professionals pro-actively support participants in their homes.

Salisbury Elementary First in the State to Teach Every Kindergartner How to Ride a Bike in School

Salisbury Elementary School received a complete Learn-To-Ride Program, including Strider Learn-To-Ride Bikes, helmets, and curriculum, thanks to fundraising efforts from the PTA. The bikes will be delivered and assembled this week so kids can get rolling soon.

This generous donation will help approximately 375 kindergarten students learn to ride over the next five years.

Salisbury Elementary School will receive everything they need to get their students pedaling through the Kindergarten P.E. program. The program includes a proven, integrative curriculum, staff training and certification, the revolutionary, child-friendly Strider Learn-To-Ride Bikes, and helmets. The fleet of dual-propulsion 14x Strider Bikes start as balance bikes and convert to pedal bikes. This conversion makes learning to ride easier than ever before and makes training wheels obsolete. The Strider Education Foundation, the program provider, also offers continued support for each school to ensure everyone involved is successful for five years.

***

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Dougan Sherwood Named MassINC Award Winner 

The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) has announced the 2020 Gateway City Champion and Innovator Awards, and Dougan Sherwood, president of the Greater Haverhill Chamber, is among the winners. Sherwood will receive the award for small business inclusivity and diversity during the third session in the virtual series on Oct. 22 from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm.

MassINC will feature the work of Gateway City champions and innovators who are leading the way by advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in three key areas: civic leadership, education, and small business.

Over the course of three digital sessions in October, these leaders will share how they went from ideas to actions. Each session will feature a keynote address followed by case study presentations from the Gateway City Innovation Award recipients. To register for the virtual event, go to MassInc.org.

NoteWorthy – 2/23/20

by

AROUND THE VALLEY

Seeking Young Artists to Help Beach Birds

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is calling on all youth, grades K through 12, to help spread the word about the importance of beaches to shorebirds by entering the refuge’s 3rd Annual Beach Sign Youth Art Contest.

By using informational signs to educate visitors about shorebirds, the refuge aims to provide the best experience for beachgoers and shorebirds alike. Submissions for the 3rd Annual Beach Sign Youth Art Contest will be accepted until March 27. Winning artwork will be chosen from five age categories, which will then be made into signs displayed on refuge beach.

Contest winners will be announced at the refuge’s Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 18, 2020, located at refuge headquarters.

Those interested in the contests are encouraged to review the full contest guidelines and criteria here. If you have any questions email Lauren Healey at Lauren_Healey@FWS.gov.

 

Wayside Youth and Family Support Network Receives $3,000 Grant from the Aubert J. Fay Charitable Fund 

Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s Lowell site recently received a $3,000 grant from the Aubert J. Fay Charitable Fund to hold therapy fairs for children and families who are unable to attend similar community events due to significant emotional, behavioral and mental health conditions. 

The therapy fairs offer a safe and controlled environment for children to enjoy food, visit music and movement stations and make sensory items such as worry stones, slime, glitter calming bottles and deep-breathing pinwheels. Parents also have a chance to meet other caregivers of children with similar behavioral and mental health challenges. 

Andover Musician Holding Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert in Honor of Her Grandfather

On Saturday, March 21, Andover’s own Michelle Canning Band will host an Alzheimer’s benefit concert in honor of her grandfather. “A Night on the Edge!” will raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America to support programs and services for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. The concert will take place at 7:00 p.m. at Chelmsford Elks Hall.

Parker River Refuge Seeks High-School Students Interested in Alternative Spring Break

Join the US Fish and Wildlife Service on an alternative spring break on the topic of careers in conservation. Journey to seven environmentally-minded organizations to hear about their jobs and carry out a service project. Topics will include marketing, solar installation, organic spa care, research, policy, advocacy, education, maintenance, law enforcement and land stewardship.

US Fish and Wildlife Service is currently looking for high school students who are interested in participating during spring break, between April 20 and 24. You can attend one day or all, and he cost is free.

Pre-register by emailing Lauren Healey at lauren_healey@fws.gov.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Fellowship-Trained Breast Surgeon Catherine Tucker, MD, FACS, Joins Holy Family Hospital Medical Team

Fellowship-trained breast surgeon Catherine Tucker, MD, FACS, has joined the staff of Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and Steward Medical Group as a dedicated breast surgeon. She is a board-certified general surgeon and fellowship trained in breast diseases. 

Dr. Tucker is a leading breast surgeon in the Northeast and has specialized in neurosurgery, general surgery and breast surgery at NYU Medical Center, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health, Winchester Hospital, and North Shore Medical Center. Before joining the HFH medical staff, she worked for more than 10 years at Hallmark Health Medical Associates.

Preparing for Tomorrow

by Leave a Comment

Clad in royal blue scrubs, name badge swinging from a lanyard around her neck, Victoria Torres flops into a chair, expelling a loud sigh. The exhausted 18-year-old just completed her second day as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Mary Immaculate Health Care Center in Lawrence.

“We’ve learned how to care for elderly people and how to look for signs of chronic illness,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot and have seen many different types of people and the care they need when they have to leave their homes and depend on other people to care for them. It’s a very good program.”

Torres is one of 16 recent Lawrence High School graduates in the health care pilot program of the Lawrence Partnership’s Training Consortium, an initiative that brings private and public sector institutions and businesses together to provide career paths for hard-to-fill jobs in health care, manufacturing and management.

The catalyst for the program was a 2016 Lawrence Partnership survey of the largest regional employers. Seventy percent of the 94 respondents reported hiring challenges, particularly in finding and retaining entry-level laborers. The most challenging jobs to fill are those that require more than a high school diploma, but less than a bachelor’s degree, such as the completion of a certificate program or an associate degree.

Only 19 of the respondents said they take hiring referrals from training entities and employers report difficulty finding candidates with the necessary leadership, problem solving and other soft skills required for success.

In manufacturing, this gap has led to a decline in customer service and decreased revenues as companies find it more difficult to produce enough to fill demand.

Health care providers reported unfilled jobs and a need for more bilingual employees. “There were jobs not being filled in the city with the second highest unemployment rate in the state,” says Lawrence Partnership Executive Director Derek Mitchell. “Obviously, something was missing.”

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Lawrence’s unemployment rate this June was 7.9 percent, behind only Springfield (8.3 percent) among cities of more than 50,000 people.

The Lawrence Partnership began cataloging existing training and placement programs, working as an engine to connect them to employers and creating new programs to fill existing training gaps.

Partners in the venture include the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development’s Urban Agenda Grant Program, the Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board, the ValleyWorks Career Center, Greater Lawrence Technical School, the Lawrence Working Families Initiative, and Northern Essex Community College.

“The Training Consortium is an innovative and progressive approach to not only training students in a variety of health care roles, but it will also serve as a pipeline for Greater Lawrence Family Health Center and other health care providers throughout the region,” says GLFHC President and CEO John Silva. “We see this as a significant opportunity to address current workforce challenges in filling key positions that deal directly with our patients.”

The health care pilot program began in June. The students have chosen the CNA/HHA (home health aide) or medical assistant tracks, each of which includes a mix of classroom and hands-on clinical training at NECC and the LARE Institute. The training is sponsored by six area health care providers, and the participants commit to working for at least one year.

Top of page: Recent Lawrence High School graduate Wirdalis Gomez, 17, works as a medical assistant at Pentucket Medical in Lawrence while taking certification classes through the Lawrence Partnership’s Training Consortium. Left: Derling Frias, 18, a medical assistant in training at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, says the Training Consortium has given her opportunities she otherwise would never have found. Right: Victoria Torres, 18, a Certified Nursing Assistant at Mary Immaculate Health Care Center and Mariela Ramos, 18, a CNA at Holy Family Hospital, both enjoy helping others and say they have learned a lot through the Training Consortium classes. Photos by Jen Myers.

Many of the students are first-generation Americans or immigrants who have not had any career counseling and were unsure of what to do after high school.

“If I wasn’t here I’d be sitting at home doing nothing,” said Derling Frias, 18, who came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic a year and a half ago and is working as a medical assistant at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center. “It is hard to know what to do in a new country, and this is a great opportunity.”

Working Families Project Initiative Project Manager Odanis Hernandez, who worked with high school guidance counselors to recruit for the program, says it creates a career pathway that young people otherwise would not have.

“Without a post-secondary plan, they’d be trying to find a job, probably working at McDonald’s, and a lot of the students have greater potential,” Hernandez says. “Many of them have other considerations, like having to help support their families that would push college or a good job further away. This gives them training and work experience and keeps them focused on the right path.”

In the CNA program, Torres took classes at NECC from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for four weeks, followed by a week of hands-on clinical training at the Penacook Place nursing home in Haverhill before beginning work at Mary Immaculate.

“When I heard about this opportunity, I just went for it,” Torres says. “I like to help people, and I took care of my great-grandmother who had Alzheimer’s, so I figured why not do something that I am good at.”

She is planning to enroll in the nursing program at NECC next spring and eventually become a radiology technician. She has already earned six college credits through the CNA program.

“I was thinking about being a medical assistant, but I had never heard of LARE Institute before my guidance counselor told me about this program,” says Wirdalis Gomez, 17, who is enrolled in the  six-month medical assistant program and working at Pentucket Medical in Lawrence. “I was really excited and I like the hands-on learning, like how to check blood sugars and how to do all the computer work.”

Mariela Ramos, 18, who is working as a CNA at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, landed in the program because she wasn’t sure what to do after high school.

“It was a good opportunity, so I took advantage of it and I’ve learned a lot,” she says. “They told us during clinical that we would become emotionally attached to the patients, and I did. The patient I had felt she could talk to me, and it was nice. I like helping people.”

In the manufacturing industry, the Lawrence Partnership survey showed the deepest skills gap in the area of mechatronics — an emerging field requiring a hybrid skill set of electronics and mechanical engineering needed to operate and maintain automated machinery.

In March, NECC received a $500,000 Workforce Skills Capital Grant from the state, $350,000 of which was used to purchase mechatronics equipment that will be housed at Greater Lawrence Technical School and used in the newly developed mechatronic certificate program.

NECC also was awarded a Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Direct Access Program grant to create a training program that focuses on management skills employers said were lacking in employees, including leadership, conflict management and effective communication.

“This consortium has tremendous potential,” says NECC President Lane Glenn. “As we reach more residents of the city and involve even more employers, our hope is to continue lowering unemployment rates, creating a talented, competitive workforce, and a successful environment for business in Lawrence.”

Wellness Wednesdays – 7/5/17

by Leave a Comment

WELLNESS TIP OF THE WEEK


Food Shopping? Drop These Tasty Things in Your Cart for Improved Health

If you’re wandering down the aisles of the supermarket, searching for some new, “better-for-you” food to your diet, look no further! Whole Living recommends making a place for these in your shopping cart, as each have interesting and useful health and wellness benefits:

-Bananas, cantaloupe and oranges: Full of potassium, these foods reduce your sodium levels (which is good for heart health, among other things) and can make you less prone to developing high blood pressure.

-Avocados: In addition to being easy to incorporate into foods you already prepare (put some slices of the stuff on everything from burgers to salads), the vitamin E and monounsaturated fat of avocados are great for keeping your skin healthy.

-Broccoli: With lots of this green stuff in your diet, your fears of periodontal disease can be (mostly) allayed. That’s thanks to the high levels of calcium and vitamin C in the veggie — which is why you should take care to prepare it in such a way that it doesn’t lose its nutritional value!

***

HEALTH IN THE VALLEY

Wellness Wednesdays - 7/5/17
Northern Essex Community College’s High Tech Mannequins Help Students Learn to Save Lives

by Liz Michalski (originally published in a 2013 edition of mvm)

The call wasn’t out of the ordinary — a 67-year-old male at a rehab facility was experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. The four paramedics who responded checked his medical history, administered aspirin, and provided oxygen to help him breathe. Then the situation deteriorated rapidly.

“It hurts,” the patient moaned. “I can’t breathe.” The heart monitor he was connected to began to malfunction, making it impossible for his rescuers to get an accurate reading. Within seconds, the man went into cardiac arrest… (read more)

***

WELLNESS AROUND THE WEB

After 22 Years and 83,000 Brain Scans, a Psychiatrist Reveals the “Most Important Lesson”

Brain disorder specialist and New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Gregory Amen has performed over 83,000 brain scans in his capacity as a psychiatrist over 22 years. In a TED talk he delivered in 2013, he revealed “the single most important lesson” he and his colleagues took away from the thousands of scans: that people’s brains can be changed — and when their brains change, their lives change. With that, he says, no two brains are quite the same, meaning a “one size fits all” approach simply isn’t appropriate. “Treatment needs to be tailored to individual brains, not clusters of symptoms,” he says. One example of that: Amen’s nephew Andrew, who had severe behavioral issues — including tendencies toward violence — until a cyst from his brain was removed. After that, the behavioral issues stopped entirely. (via TEDx Talks)

Toledo Man Reverses Diabetes Diagnosis with Vegan Diet

72-year-old Toledo resident Norm Baird lost 65 pounds and reversed his diagnosis of type 2 diabetes after adopting a vegan diet just over a year ago in February 2016. After cutting out all meat, dairy and animal products from his meals, he dropped his A1C score (used to classify a person as diabetic, if the number is above 6.5) to 6.1. Because of that, he was able to stop his twice-daily insulin injections and reduce the number of blood sugar checks he must perform. With diabetes being one of the leading causes of death in the country, and the number of people with the disease expected to double by 2030, this is one story that’s worth keeping in mind. (via TDN.com)

Researcher Spends Three Days as Hunter-Gather to Track Changes in Gut Health

King’s College professor of genetic epidemiology Tim Spector, on the advice of his fellow researcher Jeff Leach, spent three days among the Hadza in Africa (known as one of the final hunter-gatherer groups still remaining on the continent) to see how it would affect his microbiome. After days of consuming baobab, wild berries and porcupine, Spector was surprised to find his microbiobal diversity had increased by a whopping 20 percent. Unfortunately, after just a few days, it returned to its normal levels … but not before the researcher was able to note just how much our gut health pales in comparison to our ancestors’. His advice: to “re-wild” our diets. (via The Conversation)

Who We Are

mvm is the region’s premier source of information about regional arts, culture and entertainment; food, dining and drink; community happenings, history and the people who live, work, play and make our area great.

© Copyright 2021 Merrimack Valley Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.