The Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church held its annual Health and Wellness Fair on Sunday, aimed to educate members of the community about health resources available and how they can practice wellness procedures to prevent disease and illness.   Open to the entire community, the annual fair provided educational lectures about bone health, how to treat an opioid overdose using Narcan, and “Stop the Bleed,” which focuses on how to stop bleeding in a severely injured person, provided by Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.   Retired registered nurse Maggie Halloway said that their goal as a collective of volunteers made up of nurses and local students is to bring in more of the Hispanic community to learn about how they can maintain their health.   In the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino and Hispanic population of Santa Clarita doubled compared to the previous two decades. Data released in March of that year stated that the city’s Hispanic or Latino population totaled 78,735 people.  Halloway has observed that much of the Hispanic community doesn’t prioritize their health due to “fear” that they may be diagnosed with something, among other reasons.   Registered Nurse Elma Alvarez looks over informational documents that will help people understand how to read their body mass index, and other ways to maintain their health at the Wellness Fair hosted by the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church on Sunday. Katherine Quezada/The Signal Alma Alvarez, a registered nurse volunteering during the fair, added that many people within the Hispanic community may not have the privilege of dedicating time to visit the doctor.   “They have obligations and it’s difficult for them to find the time. Some of us have the privilege to be able to have jobs where we’re given time off freely. For them some of these jobs just don’t have that ability,” Alvarez said.   The Health and Wellness Fair was a place where many of them could receive screenings, such as a carotid ultrasound, which detects when arteries are blocked and can cause a stroke, she added.   If they wished to seek more medical care, Alvarez was there to provide them with the appropriate resources and assist with the reading comprehension of the information so they could truly understand.   “We all have different levels of education, and they may be able to read, but don’t understand those words and what they’re really trying to get across,” she added. “That’s some of the things that I try to help with.”   Other things attendees could learn about included how they can accurately take their blood pressure, read their BMI (body mass index) measurements, and receive free vaccinations for the flu, COVID, pneumonia and shingles.   Registered Nurse Sabrina Duncan was at the Health and Wellness Fair hosted by the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church on Sunday performing sidewalk CPR demonstrations, also known as Hands-Only CPR. Katherine Quezada/The Signal The post OLPH Health and Wellness Fair aims to educate local Hispanic community   appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.