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Press Room
Project VISION bus visits
Lions sponsor free eye tests, health screenings, info on diabetes mellitus
Published in Hawaii Tribune Herald: Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Hawaii Island Diabetes Conference was held on Aug. 29 at the Hilo High School cafeteria. Sponsored by the Akaka Falls Lions Club, the conference was designed to educate the resident population on the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) also known as diabetes.
Conference participants had the opportunity to receive a free health screening on cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure checks. Second year associate degree nursing students from the Hawaii Community College Nursing and Allied Health program staffed the health screening tables.
Another big draw was Project VISION, a division of the Hawaii Vision Project Foundation.
The "vision van" is a mobile vision screening van that is equipped with a state-of-the-art digital camera. Providing free eye screenings as a Region VII service project were Lion members from Crescent City, Hilo, Waiakea, Puna and Akaka Falls. A total of 91 individuals were screened.
Additional vision screenings took place at the Hawaii County Senior Center in Hilo on Monday, Aug. 31, and former Big Island Mayor Harry Kim took the opportunity to have his eyes screened.
The conference featured Wilfred Fujimoto, M.D., a renowned researcher and medical doctor from the University of Washington, who spoke about his diabetes research on Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and other ethnicities. Clifton Otto, M.D., an ophthalmologist from the Retina Institute of Hawaii, explained how diabetes affects vision. V. Ted Leon, M.D., from The Queen's Medical Center Comprehensive Weight Loss Program, explained how metabolic surgery is able to reduce the incidents of diabetes. Mary Bowman-DeMent, R.D., a dietitian with Hale Anuenue Restorative Care Center, discussed how nutrition plays an important role in everyday lives.
A lunch break cooking demonstration by Audrey Wilson was a popular hit with the conference participants.
The weekly food columnist for the Hawaii Tribune-Herald demonstrated how to make tofu from scratch and chicken okara with the leftover byproduct of tofu processing. It was a delicious and educational session.
The conference ended with a break-out session with Rand Mundo, M.D., a podiatrist in private practice, CIS Cheryl Aruga, R.N., FNP, Certified Diabetes Educator with Kaiser Permanente, prospective members Dan Brinkman, R.N., MBA, chief nurse executive for Hawaii Health System Corporation East Hawaii Region, and Jamie Brinkman, R.N., cardiology nurse for Hilo Medical Center. These guest speakers as well as the four conference speakers were available to answer participants' health related questions. It provided everyone with a one on one session with a subject matter expert.
Comments such as "excellent and informative" and "learned more today than in the three conferences attended over a period of time" truly do say "We (Lions the world over) serve and made a difference," said a spokesman for the coordinating committee.
