News Release

UNC, Yale work with Thailand university to sponsor
Bangkok nursing conference addressing chronic conditions

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University schools of nursing and Ramathibodi Hospital and Mahidol University in Thailand are hosting an international nursing conference this month that addresses prevention and management of chronic conditions.

The conference, "Prevention and Management of Chronic Conditions: International Perspectives," will be held Jan. 25 through 27 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event will be the first conference of its kind to bring together top scholars from throughout Asia and North America to discuss the role of nursing research and practice in helping families and communities worldwide manage chronic conditions.

"Our goal is to create a global network of nursing professionals, to learn from each other and to promote the establishment of collaborative partnerships focused on chronic conditions, a major issue in health and health-care systems around the world," said Dr. Linda Cronenwett, UNC School of Nursing dean.

Chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer represented nearly 60 percent of global deaths and almost one-third of global disease, according to World Health Organization statistics from 2002.

The idea for the conference began several years ago, when Mahidol University nursing school approached Yale and UNC about developing an international faculty and student exchange program to help them build their nursing research capabilities.

Then in 2002, after having successfully started that program, Mahidol University invited Yale and UNC to co-host an international nursing conference to focus on chronic conditions worldwide. Cronenwett traveled to Bangkok in January 2003 to make preliminary preparations.

The three-day conference will focus on topics including the influence of globalization on health, chronic illness across the lifespan, complementary and alternative therapy for chronic illness, family caregiving, and access to and delivery of care in chronic illness.

"Our faculty have been committed to research and practice to improve life for the chronically ill for many years," said Dr. Margaret Grey, dean of the Yale School of Nursing. "The great majority of our work focuses in this area. Thus, this conference provides an opportunity for us not only to share our work but to learn from our colleagues all over the world."

Invited speakers will include Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, director of the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia Regional Office; Grey; Dr. Merle Mishel, Kenan professor of nursing at UNC; and Dr. Yupapin Sirapo-ngam, professor in Mahidol University’s School of Nursing.

More information about the conference is available at www.chronicconf2006.org.

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UNC School of Nursing contact: Amanda Dindino Meyers, (919) 966-4619 or amanda_dindino@unc.edu
Yale School of Nursing contact: Ilya Sverdlov, (203) 737-1376 or ilya.sverdlov@yale.edu