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It's that time of year when families gather at reunions to catch up and have fun. But the Utah Department of Health says reunions are good for something else too.
The health department says family reunions are the perfect place for families to talk about their health histories. As we found out today, many families are already doing it.
Meet some of the Awerkamp family. They've been at the Aspen Grove Family Camp near Sundance all week. "Grandma and grandpa just watch all the kids having a good time," said Dwayne Awerkamp.
Part of that good time is time spent talking. "We know, basically, as a family what we need to look out for and what we don't have," Jacqueline Awerkamp said.
The Crockett family also spends time talking about what runs in their family. "We talk a lot about what runs in the family -- cholesterol, you know, what goes on. I think it's pretty helpful. People realize a lot of those things don't apply to all the children, but they apply to some. And a lot of the time you can get a little bit of a jump if you know more in depth about your family," Heber Crockett said.
Rebecca Bernett, who was also attending a family reunion, said, "It's a great topic of conversation, as to what the pros and cons of our gene pool are."
But for families who might not have as easy of a time talking about it, the Utah Department of Health has put together a free Family Reunion Packet.
"[It has] tips for how to start a conversation with family, games to play so they involve anyone from young kids all the way to older adults, just a quick and easy way to get your family talking about health issues that they've experienced," explained Jenny Johnson, with the Utah Department of Health.
That way, families can see the patterns and learn what they need to do to stay healthy for as long as possible. "We all keep journals. So if there's anything we've majorly worked with, it's in the journals. They can go back and see what it was, how old they were, what we did, what the outcome was," Jacqueline Awerkamp said.
The free Family Reunion Packet is available to anyone online. To get one, just click the related link to the right of the story.
You can also call the Utah Department of Health at 1-888-222-2542 and have one sent to you.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
