Action 8’s River Region Healthy Living Expo Connects Residents With Wellness Resources
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — Hundreds of people gathered in east Montgomery for Action 8’s annual River Region Healthy Living Expo, where more than 50 health and wellness organizations and businesses offered resources, screenings and information aimed at improving community health.
Held at The Shoppes at East Chase, the expo featured vendors and healthcare professionals providing services ranging from blood pressure and blood sugar screenings to wellness education, medical weight-loss information and IV hydration therapy.
Dean and Jean Baskett attended the expo for the first time and said they appreciated being able to learn about a variety of health services in one location.
“Without your health, you have nothing really,” Jean Baskett said. “You can be the richest of the rich, but if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. It’s important to find out what to look for and to routinely screen for those kinds of things.”
Dean Baskett said managing ongoing health issues motivates him to stay informed about available resources.
“In my case, I go to the doctor almost weekly and I have a lot of problems,” he said. “But I like to know if something is going to happen to me, and if there’s something here that I can use, I’ll do it.”
Among the organizations participating was Apex Infusion and Wellness, which provides IV hydration and other wellness services.
“Apex Wellness and Infusion is an IV hydration clinic, and we offer IV hydration, medical weight loss, body optimization and hormone replacement,” said Azari Price of Apex Infusion and Wellness.
Students and faculty from South University also participated by providing free health screenings and education to attendees.
Katoria Gray, an adjunct clinical instructor at South University, said visitors asked questions about blood sugar levels, blood pressure and healthy diets.
“Typical questions they would ask their physician or doctor when they go to the doctor’s office,” Gray said. “This allows the students to get certain skills in blood pressure checks, blood sugar checks, and also to communicate and teach people in the community about diabetes as well as hypertension.”
Gray said the event drew a strong turnout throughout the day.
“It’s been a great day,” she said. “We’ve seen so many people. It’s been awesome.”
This year’s expo was sponsored by the Montgomery Police Department, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Baptist Health, Mobility Plus, Trenholm State Community College and the Wellness Coalition.
