CENTERVILLE, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT)– Residents in Middle Georgia were able go the Houston County Galleria on Saturday, to hear from local healthcare providers about healthy tips and resources at the annual 41NBC Health and Senior Expo.
With over 30 health care vendors and providers from around the Middle Georgia area, the 41NBC Health and Senior Expo gave residents resources to start living a healthy lifestyle.
General Manager of the Houston County Galleria, Christel McCrory, says having an expo like this doesn’t just bring more foot traffic to the mall but it helps spread awareness of healthcare resources to the community.
“There’s a lot of resources out there for every situation that our families are dealing with,” McCrory said “a lot of times we really don’t know what’s out there. some people do and some people don’t, but just to know that you have resources out there if you just ask someone or you reach out just to know, so coming out here today will open up the awareness.”
Along with different vendors, the expo also hosted a variety of live demonstrations, including fitness dances and healthy cooking tutorials presented by Houston Healthcare.
Nurse Manager for Community Education at Houston Healthcare, Danielle Ray, says the goal of the demonstrations is to help encourage and promote living your best life.
“You can have a 100% increase in bettering your diet just by eating at home, so the more you can cook at home the better,” Ray said “and using fresh fruits and vegetables whole grains all those good things that we love that make our food so good making your own sauces and it’s super easy.”
The expo also provided resources for senior citizens including hospice care options and Medicare fraud prevention.
Community Outreach Specialist for Senior Medicare Patrol, Gayla Yochum, says it’s important to give seniors the resources they need to make the next steps in life easier for them.
“It’s really important so they can know what’s the next steps are,” Yochum said “we get a lot of questions especially if people are getting closer to 65 like ‘what do I do,’ ‘where do I go,’ ‘who do I talk to,’ and really putting yourself out there in the community is important to give them those options.”
Ray says the important part of the health and senior expo is to let residents know there ways to start living healthy and there are resources to help you along the way.
“I just think it’s important for people to know that there’s healthy choices available everywhere and there’s people out there to support them in doing that.” Ray said “sometimes if you decide to make a lifestyle change you feel like is hard to keep up with because you don’t have the support and there’s a lot of options for health choices and support within our community.”
If you were not able to participate in the 41NBC health and senior expo on Saturday, you can find more information on local health care providers and the resource they provide by clicking here.
