Celebrate Wellness iV
October 16-17
OODH sponsored and hosted Celebrate Wellness IV: (CWIV) a statewide conference promoting the health and wellness of Oregonians with disabilities, in Portland, Oregon at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel on October 16th and 17th. Moving the conference from Eugene Oregon to Portland Oregon this year seemed beneficial in increasing the number of attendees from around 160 to approximately 210. Conference attendees included individuals with disabilities, family member, service providers, educators, students, parents, and state and county program representatives from cities throughout Oregon.
Of the two hundred and ten conference participants over 100 of them received either a full and partial scholarship to attend the conference. OODH staff was successful in securing additional funds to help supplement the much needed scholarship fund.
As with Celebrate Wellness predecessors I, II, and III, this year's CWIV conference's was conducted over two days, followed a similar format and agenda, took a holistic approach to wellness and offered conference participants a variety of educational, experiential, and networking opportunities through:
- Thirty, one-hour breakout sessions which covered a wide variety of topics including, Cyber health and web accessibility, Yoga, Tai Chi, motivation, stress reduction, peer counseling, nutrition and physical activity;
- Four keynote presentations by Roberto Dansie, Robin Rose, a panel presentation on Oriental, Naturopathic and Western Medicine, and a panel discussion on a variety of accessible physical activity programs in Oregon;
- Twenty five vendors that represented a variety of disability related health and wellness services and programs;
- Free, on-site chair massages and paraffin wax treatments; and
- Entertainment by guitarist and singer Roberto Dansie and Eric Tyler, as well as a music presentation by the Round Up Band.
