Lieutenant Governor Julia Stratton visited Governors State University on Feb. 24, 2022 to commend the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) on their work around The Stroke Education and Awareness House Bill #5014 which was signed by the Governor and went into effect January 1, 2023. More recently, Illinois Public Act 102- 102-1070, sponsored by Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin, awarded a $1,000,000 state grant to CHHS to partner with the 38th District and Illinois Department of Public Health in order to develop a 12-month stroke awareness and education campaign tailored to communities at high-risk for stroke within Chicago’s Southland communities.
Dr. Tonya Roberson, CHHS Director of Community Outreach and Program Development, said she and Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin bonded when they discovered both of their mothers had strokes in the past and they saw the community need for better education and support before, during, and after a stroke.
“Debbie said she didn’t know about strokes, and I didn’t know about passing bills—so we teamed up to make it possible,” Roberson recalls.
The Legislation was submitted by Illinois State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin and written in partnership with GovState’s College of Health and Human Services, as well as the Illinois Department of Public Health (Office of Health Promotion), the Far South Chicago Coalition-Quality of Life, and the 38th District of Illinois. The Bill includes fostering community/academic partnerships to develop a stroke health and prevention education campaign to mobilize resources in the Chicago Southland and improve stroke outcomes. This work is of paramount importance since, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States.
For the Dean of the College, Dr. Catherine Balthazar, this work is indicative of the college’s commitment to their mission, “The aims of the legislation are deeply-rooted in serving the community and seeking health equity for underserved populations—cornerstones of the college’s mission.”
By utilizing the effectiveness of a pool of trained or experienced community members, experts, patients, stroke survivors, stroke caregivers and persons working to promote health equity, the bill is supported in its effort to provide stroke, recognition, and prevention education to community members.
This goal comes to life in class for GovState’s Community Health students, where Dr. Roberson has students create stroke awareness materials and messages specifically for a given sub-population. These materials will be used in the stroke awareness campaign and teach the community health students how to plan, develop, and implement community health education programs.
For Dr. Roberson, this Bill is only the beginning.
“As a Community Psychologist, I have always seen a pattern in health care inequities that exists in the U.S.,” said Roberson.
“The Stroke Education and Awareness Bill HB #5014 will pave the way for GovState to collaborate with other academic/ medical institutes and community-based organizations to develop an outreach and education program to raise awareness, prevention, and eliminate disability and death by increasing knowledge about causes and risks, signs and symptoms, necessary action and treatment, self-advocacy and recovery support within Chicago’s Southland communities.”
And the work truly hasn’t stopped, as the bill has continued to inspire more initiatives as well as garnered more research and grant funding for GovState.
Dr. Roberson presented “Put the unity back in community: A cross sector collaboration for improving stroke health” with Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin at the 2023 American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference, based on the work around the bill.
Chair of the Communication Disorders Department, Dr. Jessica Bonner, facilitates a stroke support group on campus.
“Our goal is to provide emotional, physical, cognitive-communication, educational, social, and resource support for the participants.” Bonner explains.
Dr. Bonner received a fellowship from the Center for Community Media (CCM) for the Media Research Institute Fellowship Program to develop a stroke awareness infographic. The aim of the fellowship is to develop a videographic with the goal of making the word “stroke” a household name.
“I want everyone – a nine-year-old to recognize signs and call 911 for grandma, an executive who is experiencing symptoms to leave work and go to the hospital (rather than go home first) with the understanding that it is important to get to the hospital quickly – to know the signs/symptoms, what to do if someone is having a stroke and why,” she explained.