NEWS

Student-run minority health conference to examine health policy’s role in reducing health disparities

CHAPEL HILL -- Throughout the years, progress has been made in improving the quality of health care and access to that care, but minority populations, in particular, often still find challenges in those areas.

Effective health policy, shown to play a major role in decreasing health disparities among racial and ethnic communities, will be the focus of the 25^th Annual Minority Health Conference that will be held Feb. 28. "The Evolution of Health Policy: Influences, Interpretations and Implications" is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health and organized by its students.

This day-long conference will be held university’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.

"Exploring the evolving and expanding role of policy and politics in addressing racial and ethnic health disparities is at the core of this year’s conference," said Angela Thrasher of Springfield, Va., a doctoral student in the School of Public Health’s department of health behavior and health education and co-chair of the conference.

The conference opens with a continental breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by introductory remarks at 9 a.m. The William T. Small Jr. Keynote Lecture, this year given by Dr. Camara P. Jones, will begin at 9:45 a.m.

Jones is research director on social determinants of health at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She will discuss health policy’s role in reducing health disparities and its impact on conducting research, developing interventions and the provision of care, as well as the political, social and economic realities that influence health policy.

Jones also is a family physician and epidemiologist whose work focuses on the impact of racism on the health and well-being of the nation.

Smaller group sessions covering a variety of related topics – including the return of race-based medicine, American Indian health and politics and social policy – and two poster sessions showcasing student research will be featured during the day. A special session titled "Where Will We Be in 2010? Putting Health Disparities on the Political Agenda" will be held at 3 p.m. and feature a panel of experts addressing the questions and concerns of conference participants.

"We aspire to propose solutions to many of the problems plaguing minority populations," said Kacey Hanson of Austin, Texas, co-chair of the conference and a master’s degree candidate in the School of Public Health’s department of maternal and child health. "By uniting the different disciplines both within and outside the public health arena to address health disparities, we are confident progress will be made and strategies will be developed that conference participants can utilize in their work and studies."

The first Minority Health Conference took place in 1977, an initiative of the School of Public Health’s Minority Student Caucus. The conference consistently draws more than 400 registrants each year, among them students, educators, health-care professionals and social scientists.

"This conference was born out of a student-driven initiative to address public health issues impacting minority communities," said Aundra Shields, associate dean for students at the School of Public Health. "Our students’ collective efforts in producing this event continue to be the most vital component in the success of the conference’s overall mission to encourage productive discussion and research on minority health issues."

In addition to the Minority Student Caucus, sponsors include the school’s Student Union Board, the Minority Health Project, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of the Dean and the N.C. Institute for Public Health Office of Continuing Education.

For more conference details, including an agenda and registration information, visit www.sph.unc.edu/oce/mhc or call (919) 966-4032.

The keynote address will be broadcast via satellite from Chapel Hill and over the Internet at 2 p.m. on Feb. 28, with a live question-and-answer session with Jones and the satellite and Internet audience until 3:30 p.m. For details on the satellite and Internet broadcasts, visit www.minority.unc.edu/sph/minconf/2003/.

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School of Public Health contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 966-7467 or lisa_katz@unc.edu
News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415