NCSC to Focus on Men’s Health June 21

The National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) will be observing Men’s Health Day (June 21), with a healthy lifestyle symposium, at the Girl Guides Headquarters, Waterloo Road, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Themed: ‘Healthy Lifestyle, How Involved Are You?’ the day’s observance is geared towards educating male senior citizens about how to adapt to a healthy lifestyle,   enabling a longer life.

Executive Director at the Council, Beverly Hall-Taylor, said that each year, the NCSC observes a day in June for men’s health, and for 2012 the focus will be on the colon.

She informed JIS News that information will be provided on proper nutrition, self- care, physical activity, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and other life threatening diseases.

“Many senior citizens sometimes are unable to make public appearances, because of colon related problems. We want to seize this opportunity to educate them about the importance of exercising and eating healthy, which reduces the risk of colon cancer, and other life threatening diseases,” she noted.

Emphasising the importance of physical activity, she said the Council, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), has been steadfast in promoting physical activity among senior citizens, through several initiatives for 2012.

The Move for Health is one such initiative, which encourages persons, senior citizens in particular, to exercise daily to keep healthy.

“Whatever activities we are involved in, physical activity is always core, because the Council aims to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among the nation’s elderly,” the NCSC Director said.

She told JIS News that several specialists will also be making presentations on different health topics, as well as offering professional services to the seniors.

Some of the specialists include: oncologists, cosmetologists, nutritionists and urologists.

“We will be  placing special emphasis on self-help care practices, particularly the hair and the nails, because a lot of seniors are living with diabetes, and when you have diabetes, you have to be careful about how you deal with your nails, as it relates to grooming,” she explained.

Mrs. Hall-Taylor informed that the symposium will provide a forum for senior citizens, particularly men, to be more educated about how to fully take care of their health, and most importantly their colon.

“I am encouraging the men especially, to come out and participate in the day’s event,” she added. The Director is also imploring the women to support the males by attending the symposium, primarily because “they sometimes play an integral role in their lives, in the capacity of food preparation and grooming”.  

Participating organisations include: the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), Mona Ageing and Wellness Centre, Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, the Coconut Industry Board (CIB), and National Health Fund (NHF).

Men’s Health Day has been celebrated in Jamaica since 2006.

By Jeneva Gordon, JIS Reporter