A successful pilot program conducted at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) last fall, which helps children whose parents are diagnosed with cancer, is being offered again, thanks to a donation from the Beth Joy Rappaport Memorial Fund. The funds will provide supplies for the CLIMB (Children’s Lives Include Moments in Bravery) program. At the sessions, youngsters are encouraged to use art in order to help identify and communicate difficult feelings. A concurrent parent group helps parents talk to their children about the diagnosis.
A student group at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health has published Healthy Helpings...and a few tasty transgressions!, a cookbook of nearly 100 family-tested and (mostly) healthy recipes, to raise funds for various charities in the New Brunswick/ Piscataway area.
The students of VOICES (Volunteer Opportunities in Community Engaged Services) collected recipes from fellow students, faculty and staff at the school. Healthy Helpings contains recipes for everything from asparagus soup to zucchini bread, including some from three area restaurants: Panico's Brick Oven Pizza, Piquant, and Gaebel's Steak & Fish.
The newly minted cookbook made its debut during a launch party attended by UMDNJ employees and students at the Piscataway campus on May 1. Several recipes from the cookbook were available for tasting during the event.
A report this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that America's senior population continues to have the highest suicide rate in the country. According to Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, interim dean at UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine and founding director of the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, the cause may be a common condition that's undiagnosed and under treated.
He said that too many people, including health professionals, think depression is almost a normal part of aging, but that is really a myth. He notes that depression is a treatable condition. Treatment — usually consisting of prescription medications, counseling, or a combination of both — can mean the difference between life and death.
UMDNJ-University Hospital dedicated this year's "Take our Sons and Daughters to Work Day" on April 24, to helping children explore opportunities in allied health careers. A total of 48 children visited their parents in their workplace, and heard presentations on such topics as surgical technology, cardiorespiratory health, nutrition, emergency response and careers for the 21st century. Surgical technologist Sheila Newton (right) shows Yanique Williams, daughter of Kortu Hansford, how doctors prepare for surgery. The children also enjoyed a presentation on yoga and learned a hip hop dance routine.
