The Public Health student organization, Students Engaged in Public Health (SEIPH) is hosting a Universities at Shady Grove Civic Engagement event Wednesday, April 1^st (tomorrow!) from 4-6 PM in the Multipurpose Room (Bldg. II).

Know Your Numbers: Reduce Your Risk for Stroke is an event dedicated to raising awareness and promoting prevention of stroke and hypertension (high blood pressure). Hypertension and stroke are both very serious health issues in America. One-third of American adults have high blood pressure – and this isn’t limited to older adults. Young adults, and even children, can have high blood pressure. Hypertension is the number one risk factor for stroke, which is the fifth leading cause of death.

The event will feature an expert panel, information booths, free blood pressure screenings, and free food! Our experts are Dr. Ulder Tillman of the Montgomery County Health Department, Dr. Rebecca Fitch of Kaiser Permanente, and Susan Emery and Tammy Shepherd from Circle of Rights, Inc. We’ll also have representatives from the American Heart Association, Community Clinic Inc., Salisbury University Exercise Science, UMB School of Pharmacy, and UMD School of Public Health. This event is open to everyone, so we hope to see you there! Click here to see our Facebook event.

As president of SEIPH, I have been involved with planning this event for many months now. It’s crazy to think the event is finally here. I’m so excited for tomorrow and can’t wait to see the results of the hard work put in by our members and partner organizations. If I sound incredibly enthusiastic about my involvement with SEIPH, it’s because I am. I joined SEIPH my first semester here, and became president my senior year. Being in a student organization has been such a great opportunity for me to build skills, but more importantly, it has also been a way for me to make friends and have fun. I want to encourage everyone to get involved in campus activities. If you already are, consider running for an officer position. I promise you won’t regret it.

(P.S. – check out Connect @ USG for more Civic Engagement Events)

Statistics from the American Heart Association