OREGON/REACH  v8 final 09.01.05

VIDEO

AUDIO

An aerial view of the city of Portland, Oregon fades
to women in a beauty salon talking and laughing. Three women are seated in salon chairs while stylists stand and cut hair.

Corliss McKeever:

If you sit in a beauty shop long enough you can get the pulse of what’s going on in the community. The people are coming in and sharing information on a regular basis. 

The shot zooms on two women sitting in salon chairs conversing, while stylists are standing.

Rosie:
“I promised my doctor that I was going to lose some weight, so I wouldn’t have to have surgery on this knee.” 

While Corliss McKeever speaks, the shot focusing on the women in the beauty shop, with their conversations in the background.

Corliss McKeever:
I started thinking, what if we were passing pertinent information through the beauty shop, and what if we were using this as a vehicle to save lives?

The scene zooms to two women seated in salon chairs, conversing while stylists cut their hair.

Beauty Shop Sound:
“I’m working on losing weight, but I know that if I can continue to exercise and watch what I eat that-my main motive right now is to feel good.

As the women’s conversations fade, the screen transitions to a portrait shot of Capt. Williams. This shot fades into a view of young adults walking on
the sidewalk of a busy street, and then fades to a young man leaning on a wall as a bus drives by.
The shot fades back to the busy street.

Capt. Williams:
Cardiovascular Disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. On average, African Americans are twice as likely to die from Cardiovascular Disease than are whites. The idea of REACH is to learn specific community driven strategies that are effective in reducing and eliminating health disparities.

The front page of “The Oregonian” newspaper
fades into the screen, and the shot transitions to a portrait of Corliss McKeever.

Corliss McKeever:
So we ran an ad in the paper… that simply said, “if you had a million dollars, what would you do to reduce cardiovascular disease among blacks in Oregon?” And the ideas poured out in woodwork.

McKeever’s face fades and the shot transitions
back to the beauty shop, where two women seated in salon chairs are conversing while having their hair cut.

Rosie: I love water aerobics. I do, there’s two.

Marcia: Come to my shallow class. I have a lot of people who don’t swim in my class. I could sign you up right now. You know that’s part of the free exercise program.
 
Woman: Well, maybe I could do that!

With Corliss McKeever’s voice in the background, the shot of the beauty salon continues. The shot zooms in on Marcia, a stylist at the salon, while working on a customer.

Corliss McKeever:

Marcia Jordan, who is a hair stylist, had wanted to be a physical activity instructor for years, but couldn’t afford the training.

And we paid for her to become a certified water aerobics instructor.

The scene cuts to Marcia standing beside a pool.
As she walks the screen pans to show a pool full
of students in a water aerobics class, as Marcia shouts instructions to the students.

Marcia Jordan:
“Start jogging in place! Right here. Punch it out. Y’all can get closer to me, I’m not going to hurt you!
Marcia Jordan cont:
I have people that are coming on walkers, canes, and when they get in the water they are totally liberated.

The pool shot fades back to a portrait shot of
Corliss McKeever, and fades back to an aerobics class. The shot pans around the class room focusing on the students.

The aerobics class fades to a portrait shot of Capt. Williams, and transitions to a young woman who is instructing at the front of a classroom seated full of students.

Corliss McKeever:

We’re not out making super athletes out of these people, nor are we athletes ourselves. But we’re making small incremental changes that are making a major impact.
 
 

Captain Williams:
It’s very important, right out of the womb, to start a healthy life style. CDC has had aggressive programs to help youth learn the things they need to know about prevention.

The shot pans the class of students and transitions to a shot of Brianna, the teacher in the classroom, standing outside in front of the school

The shot transitions to two women walking down a crowded street.

Brianna:
Heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol…these are silent killers…

Since I’ve been in this program I’ve been sharing this info with my family, especially my mom, she’s been going to kickboxing classes, and our whole diet has been changing in a way. My mom has started cooking different types of dinner, with more vegetables.

The screen fades to a portrait shot of Corliss McKeever then to various shots of numerous individuals shopping in a busy, outdoor market.

Corliss McKeever:
Because everyone is not going to become vegan and eat tofu. They need to learn how to cook the foods that they are culturally connected to in a healthy way.
 

The shot focuses on Brianna and her mother at the same outdoor market.

Brianna’s Mom:
I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, and I’m trying to eat a lot better than I’ve been doing before, because of her helping me out with what she’s learned.

As McKeever speaks, the shot shows Brianna and her mother continuing to shop at the outdoor
market, and fades back into the beauty salon.

Corliss McKeever:
They know these people. So, when they say something to them they believe them.
 

At the beauty salon, stylists are standing and three women are seated in salon chairs.

Rosie:
It’s good to see people just more radiant because they’re feeling good. And it’s not what other people are thinking about them it’s what they’re thinking about themselves.

The screen fades to a portrait shot of Captain Williams, focusing on his face as he speaks.

Captain Williams:
Apart from the camaraderie and the fun a lot of the participants in the interventions are having – they’re working and people’s lives are being improved.

The scene moves to a portrait shot of Brianna and her mother, with the busy outdoor market in the background.

Brianna:
I’m seeing my mom lose a lot of weight, and she feels a lot better. I see her smiling more and that feels good to me because you know I feel like I’ve put some help in and that things have changed.