High Point event combines fitness, mindfulness and blood drive to boost health awareness

A fitness class, a mindfulness session and a blood drive came together in High Point on Saturday, April 18, but the larger point was Guilford County’s stubborn health divide. The event, called Movement Is Medicine, was built around a simple idea: health outreach works better when it meets people where they are and gives them more than one way to take part.

That matters in Guilford County, where public health leaders have said the county still ranks among the five worst in North Carolina for infant mortality. In 2023, 5,757 babies were born in Guilford County and 53 died before their first birthday, a reminder that the county’s most serious health problems are not abstract and do not affect every neighborhood equally.

The county’s 2023-2024 Community Health Assessment was designed to support collective action for health equity, and it tracks more than just hospital statistics. Guilford County says the report looks at life expectancy, mental health, education, economic stability, access to care, transportation, housing and food security. In late 2023, county staff, partners and volunteers interviewed more than 360 randomly selected residents about those issues and other social conditions that shape whether people can stay healthy in the first place.

That context helps explain why an event in High Point can carry countywide significance. High Point is one of Guilford County’s major population centers, and a gathering built around exercise, mindfulness and blood donation offers several entry points for people who may not be drawn to a formal health fair or a clinic visit. For some residents, the movement piece may be the draw. For others, the mindfulness component may feel more accessible. The blood drive adds a direct public-health benefit at a time when local hospitals and emergency care depend on steady donation levels.

The effort also fits into a larger push to close the life-expectancy gap between different parts of the region. Cone Health has said there can be a 15-year difference in life expectancy between neighborhoods in the city and has committed $150 million over five years to communities with substantially lower life expectancies, including Guilford County. Its CATCH 5 in 5 initiative aims to add five years of life in five years.

Every Baby Guilford has set an even more specific target: cut racial disparities in infant death by 50% by 2026 and eliminate them by 2031. Held during National Minority Health Month, Movement Is Medicine reflected the same message running through Guilford County’s broader health work, that prevention, equity and access have to be part of the same conversation if the county wants better outcomes to reach every corner of High Point, Greensboro and beyond.