STORRS, CT — Where people live is a major predictor of health outcomes in the U.S. and worldwide.
For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that a child born in a Glasgow, Scotland suburb has a life expectancy 28 years shorter than a child born 8 miles away.
According to a recent WHO report, “Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale…[The] toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics is, in large measure, responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible.”
It is for this is reason that the University of Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos (CEHDL) has chosen to focus its 4th annual conference on social determinants of health. The conference is taking place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday May 19 in the Rome Commons Ballroom at UConn’s main campus in Storrs.
According to the WHO, the social determinants of health are ‘The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices.
The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities - the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.’
The conference’s keynote speaker will be nationally renowned professor and public health practitioner, Dr. Adewale Troutman. He is the director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, founder of the Center for Health Equity, and an Associate Professor at the University of Louisville.
Dr. Troutman was recently featured in the PBS acclaimed documentary “Unnatural Causes: Is inequality making us sick?” Dr. Troutman will be presenting the keynote address entitled, A Cultural Look at Health Disparities and Social Justice, with a question and answer period to follow.
This CEHDL conference will bring together researchers, physicians, public health practitioners, community agencies and students to discuss, and learn about the forces behind health disparities in our country and ways to address them. The conference program includes panels addressing workforce development, community based solutions and research approaches. More information about the conference and directions to the program can be found at http://www.cehdl.uconn.edu/conferences.html.
During the afternoon, conference attendees will participate in round table discussions about the social determinants of key health issues including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and mental health. The conference will conclude with a series of recommendations resulting from these discussions.
The conference is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The University of Connecticut is partnering in the organization of this conference with the Hispanic Health Council, Hartford Hospital, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The Connecticut Cancer Partnership also supports this conference.
May Releases |
