HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2010-07-09 CIGNA Health Awareness Tour
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Maritza Irizarry
Employee Benefits Administrator
mirizarry@leesburgva.gov
703-737-7066
CIGNA Health Awareness Tour to Visit Leesburg
Free Mobile Learning Lab experiential health exhibit will be at Freedom Park,
from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday, July 16, 2010
Leesburg, VA (July 9, 2010) – The Town of Leesburg, in conjunction with CIGNA, the Town’s
health insurance provider, is pleased to offer residents the opportunity to experience CIGNA’s
Health Awareness Tour. CIGNA’s Mobile Learning Lab will be at Freedom Park (101 Colonel
Grenata Cir SE, near the intersection of Evergreen Mill Road and Tolbert Lane) from 8:00 a.m. to
12:00 p.m. on Friday, July 16, 2010. The exhibit is free and open to the general public.
Health around the world is deteriorating. The increase of chronic disease is an issue not only in
the United States but around the world. We are confronting significant challenges – obesity,
heart disease, diabetes – and it is putting significant pressure on health systems worldwide. As
we face a wave of disease, we must look not just at common determinants of health, but also at
the way our environment impacts health. According to projections, 86% of American adults will
be overweight or obese by 2030. Why are we facing this epidemic? Is it possible that diet and
exercise are not the only answers? Research suggests that more than half of what determines
health resides in the communities in which we work, play and live.
The CIGNA Health Awareness Tour Mobile
Learning Lab is an experiential exhibit that
helps to raise awareness and
understanding of traditional and non-
traditional influencers of health. It
connects the purpose of the Health
Awareness Tours with CIGNA's mission.
Many health awareness efforts seek to
increase individual understanding of the
importance of key “numbers” or medical
indicators of health, such as blood
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pressure and cholesterol levels. While these measures are important, the Mobile Learning Lab
takes awareness to a new level, challenging guests to look at health more holistically.
The Mobile Learning Lab takes an individual through three levels of thought and awareness:
• Awareness – Guests will see recent
facts and statistics that highlight
deteriorating health conditions in the
U.S. Guests then experience an
interactive representation of an
unidentified U.S. city where health
statistics are presented side by side
with non-traditional influencers of
health. For example, guests can see
the correlation in one community
between high levels of obesity and
low availability of supermarkets or
parks.
• Individual – Once guests build a better understanding of overall health conditions, they
narrow the view to an individual. Through the use of interactive touch screen monitors,
guests can walk through the stories of several individuals who face health challenges
that are impacted by social, environmental or economic factors. Each story is unique
and looks at a wide cross-section of members of the community – men, women,
children, seniors and various ethnic and racial backgrounds. These stories bring to life
the statistics. After seeing health through the eyes of someone else, the guest can use a
few tools and techniques to check their own understanding of healthy behaviors. Guests
can see what 20 extra pounds of weight feels like and test their knowledge reading food
nutrition labels.
• Community – With the new knowledge gained in the lab, guests are challenged to think
beyond their individual health and look at their community – their family, network of
friends, neighborhood, workplace, among others – to find for ways to take control of
their health and to inspire others to do the same. Finally, guests are asked to share their
thoughts and pledges by writing on a sharing wall.
The CIGNA Health Awareness Tour Mobile Learning Lab is not a CIGNA sales tool. There is no
reference in it to CIGNA products or services. It does not make any reference to the financing of
health care. It looks only at health and determinants of health. In fact, the only reference to
CIGNA inside the lab is a small wall which has the CIGNA logo and mission statement.
To learn more about the Mobile Learning Lab, please watch the video available on CIGNA's
YouTube channel.
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