Children’s Wellness Week for families at Min No Aya Win Clinic
Squeezing in a health check-up for kids can be difficult during the busy school year. The Min No Aya Win Clinic on the Fond Du Lac reservation is providing families a Children’s Wellness Week.
The clinic is offering dental services, walk-in immunizations, and behavioral health resources for kids this week. Abby Danelski is the assistant dental coordinator. She says there’s significant growth over the years.
“Why not have a focus for a week, when it’s not in time for school sessions and having where it just be about our youth all in one week? At one spot where they can do kind of a one-stop shop,”Danelski said. “We started the dental clinic. It’s our third year doing the dental exams. When we brought it to the other divisions that are part of Fond du Lac Human Services, they jumped on board. It’s just starting to grow.”
Medical Director, Dr. Charity Reynolds, says they started offering all their services on Monday July 22nd. But it’s running through Thursday July 25th this week.
“We’re also making sure that their whole health is being addressed. So we have our specific, whichis a dental. We have pharmacy to be able to give back and talk to pharmacy as well,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Social services, car seat safety, immunizations, if they need to be updated, they can walk in today and get those updated.”
Maintaining dental health, staying up to date on shots, even exercising and having a balanced diet are all essential parts of wellness, doctors say. But another key component is mental health. Kari Stroik is part of the behavioral health team. She says building mental health skills is critical for kids before they head back to school.
“This week we’re bringing awareness to back to school anxiety and anxiety that happens with our youth, primarily peaking after COVID,” Stroik said. “So we’re bringing resources to not only the kids for coping skills to deal with the anxiety related symptoms, but also resources to help parents and guardians to, support the children with their anxiety. Utilize the resources that are available to help the kids get off to school in a good way.
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