Douglas/Ozark Counties RTA Meeting May 10
The Douglas and Ozark Counties Retired Teachers and Other School Personnel met Tuesday, May 10 at the Highway House Café in Ava, Missouri. Marie Bristol welcomed the members and one guest. Norma Stillings gave the invocation. The group had a short business session before lunch was served.
The minutes and treasurer’s report were approved as presented with no corrections. Marie Bristol had purchased apples for Teacher Appreciation Day last week. The retirees approved payment to reimburse Marie, Doris Morrison, and Ida Mae Huse for the cost of the apples that were purchased for Teacher Appreciation Day.
Lena Pierce of the Scholarship Committee had handed out two scholarship applications to two students currently enrolled in college majoring in education.
A motion was made and approved to make a $50 donation to the MRTF Building Fund rather than to purchase $50 worth of items for the Silent Auction.
New Retirees will be invited as guests at the 2011 August RTA meeting. Lunch will be provided to the new retirees that come that day.
Suzanne Cooney presented the program on “Self Management.” Suzanne had compiled statistics that showed how Douglas County compares to the rest of Missouri in several areas that impact health such as Education, Poverty, and Health Coverage.
The leading cause of death in Douglas County is heart disease. Cancer and pulmonary disease are also leading causes of death. Heart disease, many types of cancer, and pulmonary diseases are largely preventable by making good choices early in life such as eating right, exercising, and not smoking
With health costs soaring many health professionals are looking to patient self-management as a way to bring about better health. Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma, Cardiac, Arthritis, COPD, and Obesity are causes or contributors to many of the complications and costs of medical treatments.
Individuals need to have a good understanding of how they have the central role in managing their own health. They need to be informed and engage in healthy behaviors.
As Suzanne concluded her presentation she noted that many of the communicable diseases such flu can be avoided by hand washing, social distancing, vaccinations, and good respiratory etiquette. Hand washing is probably the best single prevention of communicable disease.
The next meeting of the Douglas and Ozark Counties RTA will be August 9.
