Author: lindseyc0901

Virginia Tech expert talks new healthy eating as we age curriculum

The Virginia Tech Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise reports a significant increase in the number of people 65 years and older in the United States in recent years. As this generation ages, they face more barriers that make it difficult to have access to healthy food. Elena Serrano, Ph.D., has helped develop a program to combat this issue and sits down with Lindsey Cook and Alice Buckley to discuss how.

September is Suicide Prevention Month, but it’s a conversation to be had anywhere, anytime, anywhere starting right here in the New River Valley

The most difficult conversations to have can be the ones that are the most important. In some cases, they could be the conversations that save a life.

WHY IT MATTERS: That conversation is talking about mental health challenges, and in the month of September, specifically suicide. Mike Wade, the Coordinator of Community Wellness and Outreach at New River Valley Community Services says “It’s one in four or one in five adults every year that have a serious, diagnosable mental health condition . . . I would argue that we probably all 100% of us at some point have some kind of mental health setback that a lot of us can manage and get through ourselves. But sometimes we need professional help, and that’s okay. That’s the best way to do it.”

  • Wade says that although the statistics reveal at least 20% of the population battles a mental health disorder, it goes undiagnosed more often than not because people are scared to have the conversations surrounding mental health because of a negative stigma. “Suicide has been a taboo subject that a lot of people aren’t comfortable talking about. But the only way to really address that as a community is to get it out in the open and talk about it, and despite what a lot of people may think, talking about suicide doesn’t increase the likelihood that someone will actually follow through with that act,” says Wade. “In fact, it does just the opposite, and those direct conversations with someone that we may have concerns about can actually prevent them from moving forward with a plan to end their life.”

Mike Wade, the Coordinator of Community Wellness and Outreach at New River Valley Community Services, speaks with TheNewsFeedNRV about Suicide Prevention Month.

THE BIG PICTURE: Wade says 50,000 Americans die from suicide each year and it’s a combination of everyone. “It’s not an issue that discriminates based on income, race or gender,” says Wade. “We know that some populations have a great risk of suicide, but I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn that actually older adults, seniors 80 and over, actually have the highest rate of suicide of any demographic.”

  • There’s no one factor that drives a person to want to commit suicide. The majority of the time, it is the result of a person feeling such emotional distress that they feel the only way out is to take their own life. But Wade says one of the best ways to help someone who might be considering suicide is to just know they are not alone- There’s always an ear willing to listen. “Despite how bad things might seem in your life, in your particular situation or in that moment, there’s always someone you can talk to,” says Wade. “A complete stranger, a friend or a family member.”

ZOOM IN: This month, the country is breaking down those obstacles that make it seem like suicide is a difficult topic to talk about through Suicide Prevention Month. “This month is really just about recognizing that this is something that somebody we love and care about, or even ourselves can go through and there’s no definitive timeline on when we might experience this or any kind of key indicators that might trigger this,” says Wade. “It’s just a really good opportunity for us to raise awareness at the community level so we in turn can do more to help individuals that struggle with this issue.”

  • Although suicide prevention is shared more through the month of September, that doesn’t mean it’s the only time to be aware of it in our community. There are always resources available for those struggling with suicidal thoughts or know someone struggling – Right from your phone and right here in the New River Valley.

The New River Valley Community Service Center is location in Radford, VA.

ZOOM OUT: Suicide prevention is every day, every month of every year. The best way to reach out in an emergency if you or someone you know is in a crisis is by dialing the national line at 988. Wade says calling that number will reroute your call to a local provider, like New River Valley Community Services, to speak with someone in real time.

  • “We at NRVCS have been really intentional over the last couple of years about expanding our crisis continuum to be a little more comprehensive and to really be helpful getting people connected in a timely manner,” says Wade. “So that they can potentially stay in the community and not have to be diverted to hospitals or be served at the crisis level.”

New River Valley Community Service is based in Radford. Wade says no matter what your situation is, they’ll offer someone to speak with so those tough conversations don’t seem so hard.

What’s the “Hokie Plague”? It’s a little bit of everything!

As empty classrooms fill up after a lonely summer, there’s a small chorus of keyboard clicking, backpack zipping, and chatter among eager students as a hopeful year begins. But that back-to-school melody is paired with the disgruntled harmony of coughing, sneezing and whatever sound that kid behind you is making who you swear is hacking up a lung.

At Virginia Tech, we call it the Hokie Plague. It’s a sinister sickness that hits almost every student at some point in the first month of the semester and drives a motivation to make it to class every day to a moment of I can’t leave my bed, I feel horrible! But this “Hokie Plague” isn’t new to Blacksburg, and like many seniors, it isn’t hoping to leave campus anytime soon.

“Definitely heard that over many years,” joked Monica Martin, the Health Quality Manager at Schiffert Health Center at Virginia Tech. “It’s sort of a love-hate relationship. Because we get that students are like, ‘Oh, it’s the Hokie Plague,’ but we also want them to understand it’s not just one thing that’s going around getting everybody, it’s a number of viruses.”

So, there you have it – As much as we all would love to see the “Hokie Plague” listed in the Center for Disease Control as one of the deathliest illnesses (Because, at the moment, it really feels deathly,) it isn’t just one thing. It is not just Virginia Tech that battles an illness at the beginning of each year. Talk to anyone on a college campus, and they’ll tell you the witty name they use for the campus-wide sickness – Like James Madison’s “JMFlu,” Penn State’s “PSFlu” and Virginia Military Institute’s “Barracks Plague.”

If you were hoping for a diagnosis, CareSpot Urgent Care identifies the most common college illnesses as the flu, upper respiratory infections (“illnesses that leave you hacking, coughing and just feeling miserable”), mononucleosis (mono), and stomach bugs.

And let’s not forget that pesky pandemic that banned us from the classrooms for nearly a year. Although many people have gotten their vaccines, Coronavirus is still on the loose, hoping to latch onto anyone.

“I know across the country there was some spikes at the end of summer, so I’m sure there is some circulating,” said Martin. She’s not wrong – The Virginia Department of Health reports that 0.56% of all emergency visits resulted in COVID-19 diagnoses in the first week of April this year. Four months later, in the first week of August, that rate was 2.78%. The highest rate in August for diagnoses was in the third week of August, where it was 3.24%… Right around the same time students are coming back to school.

Students gathered outside Lavery Hall during the first week of school.

“You have thousands of individuals coming into a very concentrated area in a short period of time. And so as everybody convenes back on campus, they bring with them any germs, bacteria and viruses that they may be carrying with them, and that are just in our environment in general,” said Martin. “If you think of it as like a pool, it’s an empty pool. And then you throw everybody into this pool, everybody’s going to get exposed at some point. And depending on what bacteria or viruses that [are] in our community, they kind of have different rates of how they spread and how infectious they are.”

The entire campus is that pool, and it makes it extremely difficult to avoid getting sick between dining halls, football games, dorm buildings, and downtown life. Luckily, Martin said that within the first week of school, the health center wasn’t seeing too many people coming in feeling sick.

“I think last week wasn’t terribly bad,” she said. “That’s also just the first-time students getting together. So it will take time for those all to spread and then people to develop symptoms. I think we’re starting to see some of that now after the long weekend, and individuals have been gathering together and those symptoms are now trying to show after two or three days.”

Although the possibility of sicknesses getting worse as the beginning of the semester progresses, Martin said there are steps students can take to prevent catching the “Hokie Plague.”

“The first thing I would make sure students know, and it’s the hardest one I know for folks, is if you’re sick and feeling sick you should try to stay away from others and stay away from crowds,” said Martin. “Because you are going to be the infectious person who’s spreading it around to everyone else, and that’s where it will start.”

Martin recommends that if you’re feeling that tickle in your throat or a bit of a sniffle to always mask up. Schiffert Health Center has masks available to students in the lobby and Martin said staff would be more than happy to give students any available masks if they want to stay safe.

Masks available to students at the entrance of Schiffert Health Center.

“The second one is washing hands,” continued Martin. “Obviously, it’s been drilled into us since COVID. Wash your hands, wash your hands. So that really is important, whether you’re the ill person or if you’re a well person and you are just trying to prevent getting sick.”

Even if you take every precaution possible to avoid catching the Hokie Plague, sometimes it’s inevitable. But Martin wants to assure all students that Schiffert Health Center is right on campus and willing to help if they feel themselves starting to get sick.

“If it’s the middle of the night and you’re starting to feel sick, you can make an appointment in the evening time and then there’s usually appointments the next day,” said Martin. She encourages students to schedule appointments online at the Healthy Hokies Portal. “If students are really feeling awful and ill and they have concerns that’s like ‘This feels more than just a cough or cold,’ they can call us to talk to a triage nurse and try to get in earlier if they feel like it’s urgent,” she added.

So, whatever you do this semester – Don’t be the person hacking up a lung behind someone in class. But resources are available if you find yourself coming down with the Hokie Plague.