A documentary featuring Tucker County residents and local business owners, Brad Carroll LMT and Jennifer Walker L. Ac., was chosen to be shown at the West Virginia International Film Festival held at the Historic LaBelle Theatre in Charleston, WV. The documentary was filmed during a trip to Nepal where Carroll and Walker volunteered with a non-profit organization called Acupuncture Relief Project.
Brad Carroll and his wife Jennifer Walker, owners of Allegheny Holistic Health Care, spent November and December of 2011 volunteering in poverty stricken Nepal. Within their group of volunteers was a film maker who documented the work of the Acupuncture Relief Project.
Nepal has an extremely high rate of poverty. Most people don’t have access to or cannot afford health care. Acupuncture Relief Project provides health care at a very low cost which allows patients to afford the services more often. Walker said that with more frequent visits they were able to see patients’ health improve within a short period of time. In the United States California is the only state were acupuncturists can serve as a primary care provider. In Nepal there are so such restrictions, this gives the Acupuncture Relief Project the freedom to offer primary care and affordable health choices. The ability to diagnose patients better allows them to offer treatment options or refer them to western medicine.
Walker, originally from Charleston, WV, has studied in Oregon and China, always with the intent to bring her knowledge back to West Virginia so that she can offer health care options to rural areas. Walker and Carroll believe that people should be able to live in a beautiful, rural place, such as Tucker County, and still have health care options. While the poverty rate in West Virginia is not quite as high as the 25% poverty rate of Nepal, Tucker County alone has an 18% poverty rate among its residents. Carroll and Walker run a private practice in Davis, as well as operate locations in both Garrett and Randolph counties, where they offer acupuncture, east Asian medicine, and massage. They will be opening a new location in Thomas soon where they will offer community health care methods similar to those they used in Nepal.
The documentary featuring Carroll and Walker will be shown on September 14 at 2 p.m. with both in attendance to answer audience questions. The film will be shown again on September 20. If you cannot make it to the film festival in Charleston you can watch the full documentary online at http://www.acupuncturereliefproject.org/.
To learn more about Allegheny Holistic Health Care and the services offered by Jennifer Walker and Brad Carroll visit their website at “http://alleghenyholistichealthcare.com/”
Article submitted By Margaret Brown
The Parsons Advocate
