HEALTH DEPARTMENT HOLDS WALK & ADOPT

Haley Carlton and Cristina Martinez holding a shelter animal, at the table are Lauren Rivers, Kayleen Pafford and standing are Tonya Hobby, Commissioner Quincee Messersmith, Liz Jessup, Amelia Morse and Donna Clark.

By LINDA ANN McDONALD Correspondent

The Florida Department of Health in Wakulla County (DOH-Wakulla County) Healthy Communities program and Minority Health are partnered with Wakulla Animal Services to host a Walk and Adopt event on Saturday, June 17.
The event was geared toward hypertension and migraine awareness as well as the opportunity to adopt an animal from the Wakulla Animal Shelter. The distance of the walk was approximately half a mile.
“Walking the dogs is an opportunity to lower stress and exercise while giving love and attention to the animals who need a home,” said Health Educators Cristina Martin and Kayleen Pafford of DOH-Wakulla. “We love to see folks in our community getting out and walking, getting healthy, and we also hope to have an empty animal shelter due to this event. The dogs are happy to be walked and for the cat lovers, there is a room full of kittens at the shelter that will gladly play with you. All animals are ready to be adopted and waiting for their forever home.”
Certificates of ‘Pawticipation’ were distributed to those who participated in the walk which included a photo of themselves with the animal they befriended that day.
Cristina Martin and Kayleen Pafford participated in the event to bring awareness for hypertension and migraine awareness.
Health Department Administrator Tonya Hobby said, “This is a great opportunity for Wakulla to get out, get healthy and learn more about health conditions that are prevalent in certain populations within our community. We are grateful to have such great partners like the Animal Shelter and the Sheriff’s Office to assist us in our efforts of health outreach to our community residents.”
Six out of 10 American adults have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 adults have more than one chronic disease. Chronic diseases are those that go on for a long time and often don’t go away completely. They are among the most common and costly health problems; however, we often know how to prevent them.
Chronic diseases affect people of all ages, races, socioeconomic statuses, and ethnicities.
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Your blood pressure changes throughout the day based on your activities. Having blood pressure measures consistently above normal may result in a diagnosis of high blood pressure (or hypertension).
As the third most common disease in the world, migraine affects 1 in 4 households in the U.S.
Migraine is a neurological disease with no cure. Symptoms vary from person to person, but the most common include head pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, brain fog and dizziness. Even if you don’t live with migraine, chances are someone you love lives with this invisible disease. From relationships to careers to mental health, migraine can disrupt every aspect of a person’s life.
You can reach Cristina Martin at Cristina.Martin@flhealth.gov or Kathleen Pafford at Kayleen Pafford@flhealth.gov or calling DOH-Wakulla at (850) 926-0400.