Health news

Childhood mental illness

BANGOR – NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, will offer a free 10-week course in “Living with Childhood Mental Illness.”

The class is open to parents and caregivers of children 5-18 with mental health issues. It will cover aspects of coping with a child’s mental illness, including diagnosis, medications, treatments and school accommodations.

The class will meet 1-4 p.m. Saturdays, Feb. 26-April 30, in the Osprey Room at Acadia Hospital on Stillwater Avenue.

Those interested in taking the course need to be interviewed before beginning the course. For information, call Suzanne Comins at 945-5152.

Trends in health care

BANGOR – St. Joseph Healthcare will present its annual spring continuing education forum for health care providers, “Current Trends in Health Care,” on Thursday, March 24, at the Spectacular Event Center in Bangor.

The all-day event will include separate sessions on chest auscultation and vocal cord dysfunction, presented by Dr. Salvatore Mangione, associate professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

There also will be a session on pulmonary hypertension by Bangor pulmonologist Dr. Andrew Dixon; a session on using Oxy Calcs in critically ill patients by Dr. Ruth Talley, intensivist at St. Joseph Hospital; and a presentation on the Dirigo Health Plan by Matthew Flynn, chief financial officer at St. Joseph Hospital.

The deadline for registration is March 17. Continuing education credits will be available for physicians, physician assistants, nurses and respiratory therapists. To preregister or obtain more information, contact the St. Joseph Hospital Education Department at 262-1730.

Braille Reading Contest

Each January, Maine celebrates Braille Awareness Month. Braille is the system of tactile dots used for reading and writing by people who are blind. Learning and using Braille affords blind and severely visually impaired children and adults the opportunity to achieve literacy so they can succeed in education, compete in employment and live productive, independent lives.

School-age students in Maine who are Braille learners participated in a Braille Reading Contest. The American Council of the Blind of Maine provided a cash prize to all students meeting their goal.

Students who accomplished their goals were Tyler Stephen of Cape Elizabeth, Jacob Allen of Old Orchard Beach, Marcus McLellan of Fryeburg, Abby Michaud of Gardiner, Chelsey Worster of Lee, Carley Henderson of Trenton and Sudeep Stauble of Gray.

For information on Braille, its teaching and use, or the American Council for the Blind, call Jean Small, Education Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Children in Bangor, at 941-2855.

Daffodil Days

Celebrate the arrival of spring by volunteering for the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days.

Volunteers are needed to sell, pack, sort or deliver flowers during the week of March 21 for whatever time they can give.

Daffodil Days helps the American Cancer Society raise funds for research, education, advocacy, patient services and programs while bringing hope and help to cancer patients in the community.

For information, call the American Cancer Society at (800) 464-3102, press 3.

Walk for MS Society

Manpower, Maine’s largest staffing service, has teamed up with the Maine Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for the fifth year to be title sponsor for the MS Walk:

. April 9 in Bangor, Pittsfield, Augusta, Brunswick, Waterville.

. April 10 in Androscoggin County, Camden-Midcoast.

. May 14 in Guilford, Ellsworth, Bethel and Eastport.

For information on participating in the walk, visit www.msmaine.org or contact the MS Society at (800) 526-8890.