VAPHA Health Equity Conference

Filed under: Annual Conference

Research has documented striking disparities in the health, life expectancy and mortality of those living in the United States, with residents of some Virginia inner city and rural census tracts having an average life expectancy up to 19 years less than the state average in 2009. In Virginia, 15.2% of children (268,597 total children) lived below the Federal Poverty Level, with Hispanics nearly twice as likely to live in poverty as their White counterparts, and Black and Native American children 3 times as likely to live in poverty as White children. Also in 2009, the all-cause mortality rate for Virginians with the least education was 3 times higher than that for Virginians with the most education. Ample evidence demonstrates that some subgroups in the United States are more likely to experience death and diseases, such as HIV and cancer. Despite efforts to reduce health inequities, research indicates widening socioeconomic disparities and continuing gaps. Join the Virginia Public Health Association for a conference that will feature nationally renowned speakers with presentations that will address relevant issues facing underserved populations in Virginia, as well as national and global health disparities, how disparities are defined and measured, strategies for the reduction of disparities, and current policy and advocacy issues.

When	Sep 22, 2011 07:45 AM to Sep 23, 2011 03:25 PM
Where	Greater Richmond Convention Center
Contact Name	Mary Kidd
Contact Phone	(804) 367-4860
Attendees	Public health workers, legislators, policy makers, city and county managers/planners, non-profit representatives, health care professionals, community and housing representatives, social workers, transportation planners, geographers, parks and recreation staff, educators, including faculty and students, and faith communities.
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Conference Purpose
The conference will serve as a forum to discuss practices and policies to strengthen communities and address the root social, political and economic causes of inequities in health in Virginia.

Conference Objectives
This program will help participants increase awareness and identify needs surrounding health disparities, and evaluate the effectiveness of current practices, in order to improve the capacity of the public health workforce to address health equity. Participants will:

· Learn about health inequities and their root causes and some of the effective methods being developed at the local level to address them

· Discuss how place can affect health and what we can do to begin mitigating negative impacts and transforming neighborhoods

· Discuss how health equity measures can be used to help improve health at the local level

· Learn how to communicate more effectively across cultures

· Understand and apply specific tools that can aid in addressing inequities in the neighborhood environment, including community-based participatory approach; coalition-building; and health impact assessments.

Conference Handouts (follow the link for the handouts for each session):

Thursday September 22

Opening Keynote Address, Dr. Linda Rae Murray (no handout)
Discovering Relationships Among PLACE and Health: Emerging Lessons from the PLACE MATTERS Initiative, Dr. Vincent Lafronza
Health Equity Measures, Amber Haley and Dr. Michael Royster

Health Equity Measures part 2

Community Mobilization, Dr. Crystal Clark and Beth Merchent
The Healthy Homes Concept and its Application with Asthmatic Children in Norfolk, Judith Taylor-Fishwick
Training and Engaging Individuals to Lead Community Health Equity Dialogues, part 1 & 2, Collette Frazer and Susan Triggs
Evaluating Health in All Policies: Using Health Impact Assessments to Improve Public Health, part 1 & 2, Maya Pack (presentation) and Resources

Friday, September 23

Best Practices in Promoting Health Equity, Dr. Adewale Troutman (no handout)
Creating Food Security, Kay Cherry, Patti Kiger, and Sally Schwitters

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The Human Impact of Environmental Justice (presentation), Trieste Lockwood

The Human Impact of Environmental Justice (resources), Trieste Lockwood

“I Say Potato, You Say Diabetes”: An Interactive Discussion of Rural Health Equity, Dr. Wendy Welch
Leveraging Healthy People 2020 Frameworks to Advance Health Equity in All Policies, Dr. Vincent Lafronza and Karen Reed
Using a Community Engaged Approach to Advance Health Equity, Dr. Mary Anne McDonald
Resources to Aid Multicultural Communications, Collette Frazer and Valerie McAllister
Building Your Coalition Competence, Patti Kiger

Check out the video clips that have been posted on You Tube:

Dr. Adewale Troutman, MD, MPH Professor and Executive Director of the Public Health Leadership and Practice at the University of South Florida. Dr. Troutman quotes Albert Einstein "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details." Dr. Troutman explains that in order for us to close the gap and create more health opportunities for everyone, we must shift our way of thinking to the big picture. (1:02 minutes)
Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH Cook County Department of Public Health Chief Medical Officer and President of the American Public Health Association. Her comments tie her granddaughter's request to be informed of the "important stuff" to the responsibility of public health to tell the public the "important stuff" about health inequities. (3:06 minutes)
Conference attendees were provided with an overview of the soon to be released 2011 Virginia Health Equity Report, by Dr. Michael O Royster, Director, VDH, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. He introduces a new feature to the 2011 Health Equity Report the Health Opportunity Index (HOI). The HOI is a tool that assists public health practitioners, policy makers, organizations, health care providers, and others in creating policies that promote opportunities for all Virginians to be healthy. (20:35 minutes)

More information about this event…

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VAPHA Health Equity Conference