Health screenings, advice offered for Latino community

Free health screenings and preventative care tips will be offered to the Latino community at the fifth annual Health and Wellness Festival from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul Catholic Center.

The Latino Health Fair is sponsored by Bienestar Latino Outreach, a program within Positive Link that provides education about and services for HIV/AIDS for the Latino Community. The fair is also sponsored by El Centro Comunal Latino, a grassroots organization that provides information about various resources for Spanish-speaking people.

The health fair will start after regular Spanish mass at St. Paul’s.

“Other than health screenings, we will have information about community resources so the community will be more aware about the services that they can use that are available to them,” said Ely Medina, health coordinator at El Centro.

The fair will offer hearing and speech-language screenings, blood pressure pre-diabetes screenings, HIV testing, information about immunizations and nutrition, a cooking demonstration and a Zumba workout.

“The Latino population actually has a higher rate in terms of diabetes and high cholesterol,” Medina said.

“We also need to get tested for HIV, and we need that information because we are the second group at high risk for HIV. So we put out those facts, and then we motivate them to get to know their health.”

Heydi Correa-Encarnacion, health educator with Bienestar, said the fair will also offer information about Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, cancer and Hoosier Healthwise, a health care program for low-income families, pregnant women and children. She also said this is the first year interpreters for Spanish speakers will be available at the festival.

“I think it’ll be really beneficial and helpful for the people getting the services and the people coming to the fair,” she said.

Elizabeth Lopez, a bilingual domestic violence advocate for Middle Way House, will hand out white bandanas for attendees as part of the Bandana Project, which raises awareness about sexual harassment and assault for migrant farm workers and in workplace environments. 

Last year, health fair attendees decorated the bandanas, which were hung at the Latino Cultural Center and the Monroe County Public Library. This year, the bandanas will be hung at El Norteno Restaurant in downtown Bloomington.

“Migrant workers aren’t the only ones who face sexual harassment and sexual assault,” Lopez said. “It can happen in any environment, and it’s something that happens to both men and women.”