DATE: Thursday, July 17, 1997               TAG: 9707170509

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   64 lines

SYMPOSIUM THIS WEEKEND FOCUSES ON HEALTH CARE ISSUES FOR WOMEN

Albemarle Hospital is sponsoring a symposium on women's health Saturday at Southgate Mall.

The program will include 18 health-care specialists speaking on topics ranging from stress to breast cancer.

``Women are the principal users of health information for the entire family,'' said David Cusic, vice president of business and marketing at Albemarle Hospital. ``We wanted to provide a day for her to learn about maintaining health, the healing process and feeling well.''

Opening ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. and closing ceremonies begin at 5 p.m. In between are classes of 15 to 30 minutes each. There will be 26 exhibitors from such organizations as the American Heart Association, the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society. The event will be in the old J.C. Penney store.

U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton and Miss North Carolina, Michelle Warren, will be guest speakers.

``There is enough to do that any thinking woman would want to attend,'' Cusic said. ``It's the whole idea of taking a day for women. We expect a good turnout.''

The idea for Women's Day originated last November with Medina Dukes-Jones, a perinatal clinical nurse specialist with Albemarle Hospital.

``From being in school in different areas I saw there was a need to educate more,'' Dukes-Jones said.

Dukes-Jones is a registered nurse and has recently earned a master's degree in parent-child nursing. She proposed the idea to Mary Sue Zinsmeister, the clinical nurse educator at Albemarle Hospital, and the project grew quickly.

A sampling of classes:

``Staying Healthy and Feeling Good,'' presented by Priscilla Clark, an exercise physiologist with Albemarle Hospital.

``How Women Manage Stress,'' presented by Sam Jones of the Albemarle Mental Health Center.

``DHEA: A Fountain of Youth Discovered,'' presented by Paul Kizen, a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology with Coastal Women's Clinic Ltd.

``What Women Should Know About Heart Disease,'' presented by John Adami, cardiologist at Eastern Carolina Cardiovascular.

Three classes will be on breast cancer, mammography and breast self-exams, a hot topic in the region among health-care specialists. In a 1995 study, Pasquotank County ranked 60th in North Carolina in female breast cancer, with 132 cases per 100,000 women.

The district health department in Elizabeth City regularly holds classes on self-exams and mammographies.

``Awareness is up, but I think it needs to be increased,'' said JillJordan, health education supervisor at the Pasquotank, Perquimans, Currituck Chowan Health Department.

The classes on breast cancer and mammography will be taught by Dr. John Kerr of Carolina Surgical Associates; Diane Zawacki, a registered mammographer from Albemarle Hospital; and Dukes-Jones.

Participants can take any of the classes, and need not stay all day. They should fill out an information card to register at the door. The cards will provide information on who attended and becomes part of a drawing for a shopping spree, Dukes-Jones said.

For more information, call 331-4466. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu