UChicago Medicine and WVON 1690 AM launch new season of “Community Health Focus Hour”

In an ongoing effort to address health issues that affect communities on the South Side and beyond, the University of Chicago Medicine is launching another season of the Community Health Focus Hour on WVON 1690 AM on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Entering its eighth season, the show will feature topics on diet and nutrition, adult attention deficit disorder, heart health, diabetes, arthritis and memory loss, among many others.

“The content that we plan to discuss weekly not only will be of interest to WVON listeners, but it also aligns with the health priority areas that were identified in our 2015 Community Health Needs Assessment,” said Brenda Battle, vice president of the Urban Health Initiative and chief diversity and inclusion officer. “It also brings forward the voices of other community organizations involved in helping us work towards addressing health disparities.”

The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is a 2015 UChicago Medicine study that identified the most pressing health needs in the communities served by the medical center. These areas include: access to care, breast and colorectal cancer, diabetes, asthma, pediatric obesity, STI/HIV awareness and prevention, and violence prevention.

Community Health Focus Hour’s weekly broadcasts — airing from 1 to 2 p.m. each Saturday — will feature fresh takes on healthcare topics, an expanded rotation of hosts, and guests with deep expertise in medicine, patient care, research and community health.

Topics on the show’s upcoming programming schedule include:

• Jan. 27: Exposing Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
• Feb. 3: Men’s Health – Physical, Mental and Spiritual
• Feb. 10: Women’s Heart Health
• Feb. 17: Learning to Cope: Is It Memory Loss, Dementia or Alzheimer’s?
• Feb. 24: Control Your Food, Control Your Health

UChicago Medicine physician Doriane Miller, MD, has hosted the show since its inception in 2010 and is a returning host for the new season. Returning hosts Miller and Carl B. West, the CEO of Truth Be Told news service, will be joined by two new rotating hosts from UChicago Medicine, gastroenterologist and trained chef Edwin McDonald IV, MD, and acute care nurse practitioner Cedric McKoy, MSN, ACNP. The show’s executive producer is Susan Peters, former community relations manager for UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative.

The Community Health Focus Hour airs on WVON 1690 AM on Saturdays, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. CST. Listeners can stream the show online and through mobile devices through IHeartMedia.com. Audio files are uploaded and archived on soundcloud.com.