Celebrate Wellness VII
October 15, 2006

People with disabilities are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, and face considerably more barriers to cancer screening services than their peers without disabilities.

The importance of screening for cancer and detecting cancer as early as possible was the message heard loud and clear by 160 conference attendees at this year's Celebrate Wellness conference. The annual conference now in its seventh year, brings together teens and adults with disabilities, their family members, and professionals that provide support services from all over Oregon to learn about and promote the health and wellness of people with disabilities. Although the theme of the conference varies each year, (this year's theme was cancer) the conference also offers health and wellness sessions and vendors on a variety of topics such as nutrition, physical activity, personal safety, and relaxation.

Celebrate Wellness VII offered a free Halloween Dance to kick off the conference the evening before. The dance was well attended by many ghouls and goblins, vampires and villains, all in the holiday spirit who enjoyed dancing to the hoppin' music provided by DJ Lamar a local Portland DJ.

The following morning, Celebrate Wellness started off with an informative and inspiring keynote address by Flora Maiki and Judith Rogers with Breast Health Access for Women with Disabilities (BHAWD), a nationally recognized, consumer-focused partnership program, located in California that focuses on improving health access for women with disabilities.  The second keynote address was provided by Dr. JoAnn Theirry with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who shared a recent CDC public health campaign to increase breast cancer awareness among women with physical disabilities. Women with disabilities are often underrepresented in health promotion campaigns, and Dr. Theirry's presentation focused on how to reach and encourage women with disabilities to adopt preventive practices through the use of health communication messages and campaigns.

As the rest of the day unfolded, conference attendees were able to attend the concurrent breakout sessions, visit the many health and wellness vendors, eat a healthy lunch and be entertained by PHAME, and relax and enjoy one of CW's on-going and very popular traditions- a free on-site chair massage. Furthermore, this year, for the first time, Celebrate Wellness also offered a Teen Action Room. The Teen Action room provided teens and young adults with the opportunity to engage in hands-on educational activities that promote good nutrition, physical activity, and appropriate self care. (see article)

Celebrate Wellness VII was sponsored by several organization located at OHSU, they include, the Oregon Office on Disability and Health, the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Health, the RRTC on Health and Wellness, the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, the Oregon Institute on Disability and Development.  The conference was also supported by a generous grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as other donations provided by the Oregon Partnership for Cancer Control and several disability advocacy organizations.