HEALTH NOTES
Mental health classes offered
The National Alliance on Mental Illness will offer a 12-week program for family members and partners of people with mental illnesses. Upcoming classes will be:
• Norman, Tuesdays, Sept. 18 to Dec. 4. For more information, email NAMINormanOK@gmail.com.
• Broken Arrow, Thursdays, Sept. 13 to Dec. 6. For more information, call 918-587-6264 or email namitulsa@sbcglobal.net.
• Lawton, Mondays, Aug. 13 to Nov. 5. For more information, call 580-583-8126 or email leigh62sal@ gmail.com.
• McAlester, Thursdays, Aug. 23 to Nov. 8. For more information, call 918-424-7233 or email dbcb81@att.net.
Here are some safe swimming tips
The Oklahoma Health Department encourages people who intend to swim this summer to take precautions to avoid catching or spreading germs:
• Don’t swim if you have diarrhea.
• Shower before getting in the water.
• Don’t urinate or defecate in the pool.
• Don’t swallow the water.
• Put young children in swim diapers.
• Take kids on bathroom breaks every hour, and have everyone wash their hands.
• Don’t swim in a pool that has cloudy or discolored water.
• Don’t touch or allow kids or animals to access ponds that smell bad or have blue, green, red or brown algae.
Student nurses graduate
The first group of students graduated from Norman Regional Health System’s nurse residency program on July 11. The group included 21 registered nurses who graduated nursing school, but wanted another year to transition into practice. The nurses handled all typical duties, attended monthly seminars and completed a project.
For more information, call 307-3160 or 307-1554.
Help available for cancer patients
The central and western Oklahoma chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure donated $25,000 for local breast cancer patients struggling to pay for treatment.
Eligible women must currently have breast cancer and have an income less than 250 percent of the federal poverty line, or $30,350 for a person with no dependents. For more information, call 877465-6636 or email helpline@komen.org.