NCDHR EVENT DESCRIPTIONS

 

Deaf Festival (May 2009)

Approximately 700 Deaf Rochesterians, their families and friends (and pets, too!) attended the Deaf Festival at Ellison Park on May 30, 2009, for a fun-filled day to celebrate Deaf culture and community pride. NCDHR was one of several organizations with an exhibition booth, providing free blood pressure screenings and health-related information about excess salt in processed foods (which is bad for your health!). Many thanks to members of the Deaf Health Community Committee (DHCC) who volunteered their time to conduct the blood pressure readings and to answer questions about DHCC and NCDHR to the festival attendees. These members were J.T. Reid, Meg Kangai, Mistie Cramer, Angela Hauser, and Tracey Washington. Our booth's schedule was coordinated by Jess Cuculick, Chair of the DHCC. Also, thanks to the National Kidney Foundation Serving Upstate New York for loaning their blood pressure monitors and related literature.

 

NCDHR Town Hall Meeting at Deaf Club (May 2009)

Sixty people attended the NCDHR Town Hall Meeting at the Rochester Recreation Club of the Deaf (RRCD) last May 18. RRCD President Steve DeBottis gave opening remarks, followed by Jess Cuculick and Audrey Schell who talked about the Deaf Health Community Committee. Dr. Scott Smith followed with answering questions about H1N1 (Swine Flu). NCDHR Director, Dr. Tom Pearson (interpreted by Kim Kelstone), reinforced the importance of NCDHR collaborating with the Deaf community. DD Schlehofer then presented some findings from the Deaf Health Survey. NCDHR thanks all who gave their input and comments during the meeting.

International Visitors from Japan tours NCDHR (February 2009)

A group of deaf students, deaf and hearing health professors and interpreters from Japan came to visit NCDHR last February 2009. This visit was coordinated by Dr. Carolyn Stern of DeafDoc.org. The visitors wanted to learn more about how deaf students in America pursue their educational and career goals in health care fields. Prior to a panel discussion, Dr. Tom Pearson welcomed the visitors. Deirdre Schlehofer served as moderator of a discussion panel which consisted of a Deaf doctor, a Deaf public health specialist and a member of the Deaf Health Community Committee (DHCC). Translations and interpretations of 4 languages (ASL, spoken English, spoken Japanese and Japanese Sign Language) were fascinating to watch! Several questions were then asked by the visitors and answered by the panelists. At the end, photos were taken and gifts were exchanged.

Clinical & Translation Science Building Groundbreaking (Fall 2008)

On October 27, 2008, Dr. Thomas Pearson, Program Director of NCDHR, along with other UR officials and New York State legislators, broke ground for the new Clinical & Translational Science Building (CTSB), a $76 million, 4-story 200,000 square foot facility. Slated for completion in Summer 2010, CTSB will be the permanent home of several important research programs, including NCDHR.

NTID Reunion (Summer 2008)

NCDHR participated in the NTID 40th Reunion Anniversary last June 2008 by setting up an exhibition booth as well as a presentation to NTID Alumni and their families and friends. Also, an additional 215 people from across the USA took the Deaf Health Survey (see photo with privacy curtains to maintain survey confidentiality)

Deaf Health Hot Talk Series (Summer 2008)

NCDHR and Rochester Recreation Club for the Deaf's Educational Awareness Program (REAP) worked together to present important health topics called, “Deaf Health Hot Talk” to the Deaf community. Two Family Medicine physicians, Dr. Michael McKee, a Deaf physician and Dr. Betsy Finigan, an ASL fluent hearing doctor, offered different health topics in American Sign Language.

Deaf Health Community Committee Picnic (Spring 2008)

Members of DHCC pooled together to provide a potluck picnic open to the Deaf community at a local park. The purpose of the picnic was twofold: (1) to introduce DHCC and its roles and activities to the Deaf community and (2) to encourage interested individuals to consider joining DHCC.



(Photo on bottom right: Susan Demers Postlethwait (wearing Gallaudet sweatshirt), DHCC's first Chair from January 2005 to June 2007)

NCDHR 1st Open House (Fall 2007)

NCDHR had a successful and fun-filled open house on November 16, 2007 at 120 Corporate Woods. Both adults and children from the Deaf community packed the offices and hallways. Besides our awesome Italian-style buffet feast, visitors were drawn to the first ever demo of the Deaf Health Survey. Tours of NCDHR's Deaf-friendly offices and meeting rooms were proudly guided by NCDHR's full time staff. Children were busy jumping ropes given out by NCDHR to promote their wellness. Steven Barnett, MD, Associate Director and Julia Aggas, MS, Chair of DHCC, gave opening remarks to visitors, welcoming them to the nation's first community-based participatory research center that focuses primarily on ASL communities.


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Annual Spring Festival at Rochester School for the Deaf (Spring 2007)

NCDHR was on of several exhibitors at Rochester School for the Deaf’s Annual Spring Festival. Free screenings for hypertension (high blood pressure) were provided by NCDHR researchers Betsy Finigan, MD and Tamala David, FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner).

NTID Poster Session (Winter 2007)

“Deaf Health Research Poster Session,” hosted by NTID Department of Research and Teacher Education. Eleven posters highlight the research conducted by NCDHR researchers and community partners.

NCDHR Retreat (Winter 2006)

Since its inception, NCDHR has experienced growing pains. As the tasks toward accomplishing our center's goals became clearer over time, so did the accompanying joys and frustrations inherent in any novel endeavor. Some sentiments were predicable enough: there are not enough hours in the day, how will we meet our expected deadlines? Other growing pains were less predictable. For example, limited communication between the numerous committees seemed to create a lack of cohesive partnership within the Center. In turn, this problem with effective communication contributed to a frequent complaint by NCDHR members that the overall direction of the Center was unclear. The Deaf Health Community Committee recognized the need for improved communication and the Center in turn decided a retreat would be useful to address these concerns. The overarching goal of the retreat was to improve participation/interaction/communication/trust within the NCDHR. Nearly all Center's staff and partners participated in the 2-part retreat, facilitated by Lee Twyman and Denise Kavin from NTID, during November and December of 2006. From these meetings 28 recommendations for improved functioning of the Center were submitted, and four themes emerged which are the focus for the next year of the NCDHR: (1) ensuring bilingual communication, (2) streamlining the Center, (3) improving communication within and between committees and (4) redefining and embracing the role of DHCC.

Deaf Awareness Week 2004 (Fall 2004)

NCDHR's participation in Deaf Awareness Week 2004 (DAW) was a result of an early partnership between NCDHR researchers and the Deaf Community. This opportunity gave researchers to conduct a pilot study with 74 adult members of the Deaf Community (see article from Deaf Rochester News, Deaf Awareness Week Health Survey Results.)

Last Updated: 07/10/09