Amy Edmunds, professor of health communication at Coastal Carolina University, will lead the discussion, “Moving Toward Reform: Community Awareness and Resources for Young Stroke Survivors,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 at the Waccamaw Higher Education Center in Litchfield.

This session is the first in an eight-week community dialogue series, “Cultural Vitality in Our Community,” presented by faculty and sponsored by the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts Board of Visitors.

Edmunds, who survived a stroke nine years ago, is committed to creating awareness about young stroke care and occurrence – especially in South Carolina, considered “the buckle” of the “Stroke Belt,” with the fifth highest incidence of stroke mortality in the U.S.

Half of the strokes that occurred in South Carolina in 2009 affected patients between the ages of 18 and 65. “We don’t know why, but it is prevalent and that’s the starting point,” says Edmunds. “It’s just not a topic that we in America have vested research in. ... For us to see the word ‘young’ and ‘stroke’ in the same sentence is still very much an oxymoron.”

Edmunds will provide an overview of Senate Bill 26, a statewide legislative initiative for stroke care. There is currently no standardized, professional healthcare training for young stroke care; young patients are often misdiagnosed with migraines.

She will also preview the inaugural Young Stroke Expo, an all-day event that she is organizing for May 21 at the Waccamaw Higher Education Center with the Georgetown Hospital System, Medical University of South Carolina, CCU and Young Stroke Inc. “Everyone has a story connected to stroke,” says Edmunds.

The “Cultural Vitality in Our Community” series, which runs through March 23, is free and open to the public. CCU’s Waccamaw Higher Education Center is located at 160 Willbrook Blvd., Litchfield. For additional info on space availability, call 843-349-6584.