Morton Plant Mease Partners with the City of Clearwater and Pinellas County to Educate Citizens on Lung HealthPark Signs Installed to Promote Healthy Lungs
CLEARWATER The Morton Plant Mease Lung Center, City of Clearwater and the Pinellas County Health Department, are partnering together in an initiative designed to educate the community on exercises to build healthy habits and stronger lungs. Instructional signs have been placed along the walking path at Glen Oaks Park on Court Street near downtown Clearwater. The eight signs along a 1/3-mile trail offer instructions and illustrations for walkers to work the upper body, and increase breathing ability. "Good lung function can greatly contribute to overall health and wellness. We want to help walkers strengthen the diaphragm and muscles surrounding the lungs," says Dilshad Merchant, manager of the Morton Plant Mease Lung Center. The idea came from Morton Plant Mease Lung Center Respiratory Therapist Carol Proctor. She was researching methods to help patients in the health system's Lung Center and discovered a similar program in Germany. Morton Plant Mease designed the signs and the City of Clearwater installed them through funding from the Pinellas County Health Department. The signs were installed at a level that gives citizens in wheelchairs the ability to view the information.
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