College of Health organizes community health fair in Lake City

(October 29, 2024) - For Assoc. Professor Dr. Comfort Obi of Clayton State’s School of Nursing, the future of south metro Atlanta’s healthcare leadership couldn’t be brighter.

CSU’s student leadership was on full display at the College of Health’s Community Engagement event, which was held in Lake City, Georgia, on Saturday, October 19 at the Lake City Community Center.

At the School of Nursing, Dr. Obi teaches various aspects of nursing leadership and community health in her organizational transition course, which further develops interdisciplinary collaborative skills. The course is available for senior-level undergraduate students in the university’s nursing program.

As part of her class, Dr. Obi uses the annual community health fair as a project to ensure that her students “understand how to plan, organize, implement, and evaluate” leadership and managerial events and situations.

But this year, Dean of the College of Health Dr. Dwayne Hooks looked into Dr. Obi’s project and proposed a slight change, which would provide greater exposure to the hard work and outreach of the College’s students.

“Dean Hooks asked me to extend it to other departments under the College of Health,” Dr. Obi said. “So, I extended it to the Dental Hygiene Department and the Department of Health Care Management.”

In addition to her students showing their understanding of the dynamics of Community Health, Dr. Obi also says the outreach event provided students with the opportunity to apply the collective knowledge and skills they’ve garnered over the first half of the semester.

Clinical services provided on-site by students included checking height and weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, measuring blood sugar, and providing vision screenings.

“We gave out health information on diabetes, managing weight, healthy living, and mental health,” Dr. Obi said. Dental Hygiene students had a table where they shared information on oral health. Of course, we [also] had vendors discussing insurance, reducing harm, and substance abuse.”

The event was jointly organized between the College of Health and the Lake City government, with Mayor Ronald Dodson and several local leaders attending alongside Clayton State students and faculty.

It was the fourth event of its kind to be held in Clayton County since 2019, with the event having been canceled in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19.

Upon seeing the event in action once again, Dr. Obi couldn’t be prouder of both her students and the College of Health’s efforts to help those in need in their community.

“My students felt that they made an impact on the lives of people,” Dr. Obi said. “We attended to people who said they had never visited any healthcare provider and felt they didn't have the financial withal to purchase their medication. The student leaders told me that they felt they developed increased confidence to lead, to collaborate, to work with others, and to even organize such a project or event [like this] in the future.”

While Dr. Obi doesn’t know where next year’s town will be, she is excited for Clayton State University, the College of Health, and the School of Nursing to continue providing a positive impact on the lives of families and community members in Clayton County.

“The university is going to play a very important role in the lives of people – young, old, and respective of creed and gender,” Dr. Obi said. “We will continue to take our pride of place in the community and the lives of people around us.”

The health fair was indeed a collaborative effort, and Dr. Obi would like to thank Dr. Marcy Butler, the assistant dean of Healthcare Professions and chair of the Dept. of Health Care Management, for committing to the project, identifying the student project leaders from her departments, and attending most of the planning meetings despite her busy schedule.

This shows that departments, rather than working in silos, can come together to effectively promote learning, and at the same time, complete community outreach programs.  

Dr. Obi would also like to recognize the College of Health student leaders, Ousmane Amouza and Kelley Greer of the Department of Healthcare Management, Dental Hygiene student leader David Alarcon, and Michael Tigner and Ivy Gilleran of the School of Nursing, who organized and led their peers to execute the project. 

Finally, she would like to thank the Clayton State Retirees Association for providing grant funding for medical supplies used for the health fair.