2 residents' work puts them in nationally distributed calendar

Lee Moultrie is tired of blacks dying at disproportionate rates from a myriad of diseases.

Kim Williams-Odom doesn't want people to die prematurely like her mother did.

To that end, the two Lowcountry residents are working to make health information easier to find and understand, and their efforts have been highlighted in a nationally distributed calendar called "Health Literacy: A Dose of Understanding."

Moultrie and Williams-Odom were chosen for the December 2008 pages of Aetna's African American History Calendar. The Connecticut-based insurance provider has been publishing the calendars for more than 20 years, each with a different theme. Printed on each date is a significant event in African American history, from Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863) to blues and folk singer Odetta's birth (Dec. 31, 1930).

Both Williams-Odom and Moultrie "help people find health information in the library, on the Internet and through local health experts," the calendar states.

They do this mostly through their involvement with Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Charleston and Georgetown Diabetes Coalition, which is coordinated by MUSC's College of Nursing and funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the coalition's community outreach coordinator, Moultrie helps people find reliable and up-to-date information in order to make better health decisions with their doctors, he said.

He aims to simplify and spread the message of good health so that everyone can understand it, asking people to eat nutritional meals and exercise. "Everywhere I go, from the barber shop to the churches to the nightclubs, I'm sharing the message," he said.

And he solicits help from others — ministers, elected officials and organizations. "Everyone has to play a part in this in order to save our community, because we're dying," Moultrie said of the African American community. "We're dying disproportionately from every disease there is."

He also works with libraries like the St. Paul's Branch of the Charleston County Public Library System, where Williams-Odom is manager.

Inside the small building, "one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets," Williams-Odom shows people how to find health information in books and online, she said. She has also organized several lunchtime programs to teach people about diabetes and breast health.

Williams-Odom has visited the Hollywood Senior Center and multiple churches in the greater Charleston area to teach people how to use computers to find information about health conditions, medications and even nutritious recipes. She also talks about applying for a library card in order to take advantage of the library's many resources.

Libraries are an essential part in providing the community with the health information it needs, she said. "Giving people as much information as possible is going to help them be a better patient in the patient/physician relationship."

The mother of two feels called to make people aware of serious health conditions like diabetes, which her father has, and early onset Alzheimer's, which her mother died from at the age of 50.

"It touches my specific household," she said.

To download a free copy of the calendar, visit www.aetna.com. Paper versions are available for $4 via the Web site or by calling 860-273-0509.