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Dilek Aktaş & Erdal Ceylan & Reyhan Eskiyurt & Birgül Özkan
Another scientific event that AYBU Healthy Life Club has carried out in order to
sharetheir knowledge and skills in the field of health with all the members of society
was the “Hypertension Awareness Day” event which was held in a shopping center in
Ankara. Stands were opened in three different regions of the shopping mall, and ap-
proximately 500 people were checked for blood pressure. It has been observed that
about half of the people who have blood pressure measurements use medication for
heart-related diseases and hypertension. It was determined that the systolic pressure
values of those who did not eat well, did not exercise regularly, had a stressful life, and
had a high salt consumption were generally higher than the others. The mostly asked
question by participants was what could be done to prevent high blood pressure. To
this end, information and suggestions were given about the cessation of smoking,
importance of attenuation, importance of salt restriction, potassium-calcium-magne-
sium-rich feeding, avoidance of saturated fat, alcohol restriction, increase in physi-
cal activity, avoiding stress and recognizing early signs of hypertension. In addition,
handheld brochures in which all this information is included were given to partici-
pants. It was observed that the club members were happy because of the intense par-
ticipation in this activity that was planned to draw attention to the hypertension which
is the most common chronic diseases. In addition, it was stated that information and
the trainingsmade after participant’s blood pressure measurement were very efficient.
Club members were also happy for the concern of the people without hipertension
about hypertension prevention. In addition to the public benefits of such activities,
there are also benefits to the students. These types of activities provide students to
develop a sense of social responsibility, self-esteem, self-confidence, organizational
skills, teamwork, communication skills, and independence. They also have the oppor-
tunity to experience and gain in advance some skills that will make a difference in a
higher education institution or even in business. These kinds of activities carried out
by student clubs can contribute to the development of universities. These events play
an important role in the creation of positive effectsthrough the universities’ commu-
nication with the community. For example, a student club which organizesa theater
show and invites people to this demonstration can improve the attitude of the people
about the university positively. Similarly, a student club which functions as a health
club in the university can inform community about blood pressure, blood donation
and organ donation and even save lives (Eskici and Aktas, 2014).
