Celebrate Wellness VI
October 22, 2005
Celebrate Wellness VI was held on October 22nd at the Embassy Suites Portland Airport Hotel. The conference was sponsored by the Oregon Office on Disability and Health, the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Health, the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, the ADA and Information Technology Center, and the Oregon Institute on Disability and Development all located at OHSU. The conference was also supported by a generous donation by Kaiser Permanente and several contributions from disability advocacy organizations.
Approximately 180 people attended the conference including personal care attendants, conference staff, volunteers, speakers and exhibitors. As with previous Celebrate Wellness conferences, the majority of conference attendees, approximately 70%, experienced a disability. Of the 180 attendees, approximately 120 attendees, attended the conference after having received a full or partial scholarship. Scholarship recipients were roughly 85% adults and adolescents with disabilities, and 15% family members. Other conference attendees included state, county and local agency representatives and service providers.
The morning started off with an inspirational keynote address by Shari Rusch a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of special education and advocacy for children and adults with disabilities. Through humor, Shari shared her personal story about her childhood and adolescence and growing up with multiple challenges, including learning disabilities. The audience fully enjoyed her presentation and she closed with a moving and uplifting song!
The next two morning presentations focused on nutrition. Tom Ohling, Portland's Nutrition Magician and Amelia Hard, a well respected Oregon Nutrition and Food advocate, entertained and educated the audience on the importance of good nutrition and being an informed consumer. Twelve concurrent breakout sessions followed that were organized within three tracks. There was a Nutrition Track that focused on eating healthy foods and related food issues, a General Health Track, and two other tracks that targeted specific populations: 1) adolescents with disabilities, and 2) their family members. The Adolescent Track's presentations addressed nutrition, sexuality, and physical fitness. The Family Track's presentations offered information on taking care of yourself as the care provider, healthy transitions into community living, and other transition issues including education and employment.
Celebrate Wellness VI also hosted a variety of exhibits and a two hour town hall meeting. There were twenty-three interactive and education exhibits for conference attendees to explore. Exhibits offered healthy food samples, health promotion materials, service program information, advocacy information, free on-site massages, and other disability and health information. The town hall meeting served as a forum for interested conference participants to share their stories and views regarding access to primary health care. Two OHSU doctors specializing in health research, conducted the meeting and obtained valuable information that will be used to facilitate future research efforts.
The conference concluded with an educational and delightful chocolate tasting presentation by Dr. Erika Schuster, with Kaiser Permanente, that explored the benefits of eating dark chocolate. Thanks to a generous donation by Trader Joes, each conference attendee received a chocolate bar made the worldâs finest dark chocolate to enjoy during the presentation!
As a precursor to CW VI, OODH and Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, hosted a FREE Halloween dance Friday night from 6:30pm-9:30pm, at Embassy Suites. The dance was open to conference participants as well as persons with disabilities ages 13 years and older from Portland and its surrounding communities. The dance offered music provided by a DJ, prizes, and good food! It was a fun time shared by all!!
