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2008
Community Wellness Conference
 The
fall weather arrived in full force in Tribune on October
11th bringing a slight change of plans to the
2008 Community Wellness Conference. With a low cloud cover and forecast for storms on track for
later in the day, the University of Kansas plane was not
able to land with scheduled speakers.
Fortunately with the help of high school principal
Ken Bockwinkle and four amazing students, the conference
agenda was not negatively impacted.
Leann Thieman, RN began the
day with a phenomenal keynote address on Balancing Life.
She spoke to the crowd of mostly healthcare workers
and shared stories of her experiences in the Vietnam baby
lift operation and years of work in healthcare.
Following the keynote, the morning breakout
sessions featured a local physician, Dr. Robyn Liu with a
presentation on pregnancy related health concerns and a
teleconference lecture from Denise Curtis, M.P.H.
 A
delicious and healthy lunch was next on the agenda and it
featured the top three winning health-based media
presentations created by area high school students.
The first place topic of Teen Drug Addiction was
created by Tanya Tankersley and Ross Trejo. Second place featured Self Concepts by Madison Moser and
Kelli Crittendon. Leah
Houston and Haley Myers created a great presentation on
Depression. The award winners for the poster contest were also announced.
Area high school students created posters on health
topics. In
first place were Gabrielle Kuhlman and Taylor Weinland,
second place were Kinsey Bellamy and Jena Eder.
Audrey Rupp took home the third place check.
Brianna Sharp and Sierra Collins were the fourth
place winners and Audrey Mote and Caitlyn Elder placed in
fifth place. Grade school students also participated to win healthy
activity prizes. Grace
Hammer was the first place winner in the grade school
contest with Callahan Grund in second, Cassidy Hild in
third, Clay Schemm in fourth and Jordan Compton in fifth
place.
Following the lunch,
conference goers reconvened to experience the Hospital
Evacuation: The Gustav Experience with local doctor, Dr.
Robert Moser who was involved in the Louisiana hurricane
evacuation. Matt
Reese, PhD presented on Autism via teleconference.
Dr. Robyn Liu also repeated her session on
pregnancy concerns.
 The
Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care were
discussed by Thao Bui, MA.
The final session featured a discussion of HPV
Information and Updates by Mary Ryan, ARNP and Program
Development in Healthcare by Chrysanne Grund.
Four outstanding student
facilitators were very helpful in conference management.
Despite a very late football game the evening
before, these students showed up bright and early and
handled the change in schedule with great professionalism.
They are Chip Schneider, Taylor Harris, Brian
Hampel and Audrey Rupp.
Conference goers reported a positive evaluation of
the conference with more than 90% reporting having gained
information to improve the delivery of healthcare.
Breakout sessions consistently received high marks
as did the overall content of the conference. This is the fourth year for the Community Wellness Conference
co-hosted by Greeley County Health Services and the
University of Kansas Area Health Education Centers and
Departments of Family Medicine and Nursing.
 Evaluation Results:
Conference attendees
reporting “excellent or very good” = 86%
I will use this information
to improve my healthcare delivery = 90%
Audience members who will
change their lifestyle = 76%
86% reported the conference
was “worth their time” and 90% will recommend the
conference to others.
Breakout sessions averaged
2.16 on a scale of 1-5 with 1 as excellent and 5 as poor.
Leann Thieman, the keynote speaker was a highlight
of the day. She was described as “phenomenal” and one participant
said, “she changed my whole outlook on today”.
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