Reading Hospital promotes women's health, self‑care, spring vibes at event
Reading Hospital's "Grow & Glow" women's health and wellness event drew a steady stream of mothers, daughters and neighborhood families to Lauer's Park Elementary School on Saturday, offering free screenings, self‑care activities and a reminder to prioritize personal health.
The four‑hour event filled the school's cafeteria and hallways with vendor tables, wellness stations, crafts, a photo booth and a flower bar where attendees could build their own spring bouquets. Hospital staff scheduled mammograms, answered health questions and connected women with community resources.
Ashley Gallen, program coordinator for Reading Hospital's Mobile Mammography Bus and one of the event organizers, said the goal was to create a welcoming, feel‑good space that blended practical health care with the kind of self‑care women often put off.
"We take care of so many people all the time that it's hard to remember to get your mammogram done, go to the doctor, do all the things you have to do for yourself," she said. "We wanted this to be a reminder to take care of you so you can take care of everyone else."
The timing was intentional, Gallen added, with Mother's Day approaching and spring themes woven throughout the event - including the flower bar and small giveaways like chocolate and lip balm.
The hospital previously held a mammography‑focused event at the GoggleWorks in September, but organizers expanded the concept this time to include yoga sessions, massage and a broader range of women's health topics. Gallen said Lauer's Park was chosen after she attended a community health fair there last spring and saw how well the space worked.
"The vibes were all great," she said. "It just felt like the right fit, and the partnership with the school has been wonderful."
Lauer's Park Principal Jasmin Sanchez‑Lopez said she was glad the school could provide the space needed to carry out the wide range of activities.
"It's just a good partnership, and everybody benefits because it's within my community," she said.
For attendee Chavonna Cooper, the event was an opportunity to support her daughter's school - and to model healthy habits for her own children.
"I wanted to show my girls that it's important to stay on top of your health," she said, holding a bouquet she assembled at the flower bar. "I wanted them to get all the information so we can see what's important to us and what we need to maintain to be healthy."
She attended the event with her two daughters, ages 20 and 9.
Throughout the morning, women drifted between stations staffed by clinicians and educators from the hospital and partner agencies.
Emily Gomez, 20, and her mother, Cindy, had their blood pressure checked at one station and took part in a hands‑on demonstration of CPR - or at least a critical component of it - at the TowerDIRECT table. There, emergency medical technician Anastasia Alvarez encouraged visitors to perform chest compressions on mannequins to the beat of popular songs such as the disco standard "Stayin' Alive."
The activity wasn't intended to certify participants in CPR, Alvarez said, but to give them a feel for the rhythm and pressure of compressions in case they ever need to act in an emergency.
"Compressions are the most important thing you can do as a bystander," she said. "We try to really emphasize compressions."
Prevention was also on display.
At the infection‑prevention display, Savanna Lacek handed out hand‑sanitizer spray bottles shaped like magic markers and emphasized the importance of hand‑washing as a simple but effective way to protect yourself and your family from infectious diseases.
"Even when you're at the grocery store, you should be careful not to touch your face or eyes because of everything you've touched while in the store," she said. "It's just really important that we wash our hands."
The Reading Hospital Center for Public Health, located in the Doctor's Office Building at 301 S. Seventh Ave. on the West Reading campus, shared information about its HIV/AIDS clinic and the STD testing and treatment services it will begin offering May 26.
The hospital's McGlinn Cancer Institute, which provided information on genetic testing for hereditary cancer through its Family Cancer Risk Assessment Program.
In the gymnasium question-and-answer sessions were held on topics such as recogniing the signs and symptoms of stroke.
On the self-care side, women had a lot of choices, none more popular than free chair massages offered by the massage therapists in a room off the main corridor.
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