Newswise — Faculty, staff, and students from local universities and community members who are concerned with the disproportionate incidence of HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes/obesity, and some forms of cancer among minority groups in North Carolina, will have the opportunity to learn about local, targeted research underway in these areas of concern and the resources available.
NCCU's Associate Professor of psychology, Dr. Walter Charles has collaborated with Michelle Manning, project manager for UNC " Chapel Hill's Ethnicity, Culture and Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, to present a conference on health disparities research on Monday, June 12, 2006, on the campus of NCCU.
Presenters from NCCU, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Shaw University will introduce research that addresses health disparity issues that affect minority populations. For example, the mortality rate for women of color is the highest among all demographic groups with breast cancer. NCCU researchers suggest that the remedy may lie in a more proactive approach to minority breast cancer screening. Obesity and the associated health implications are epidemic among African Americans. Shaw researchers will present an educational program offered through the churches that promises to assist minority group members to lose weight and lower risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Charles understands the tremendous potential created to significantly advance this field of study when representatives of a multiplicity of university and community programs as well as the public are brought together to share ideas, research results, and resources.
"Research by its nature is a collaborative activity," said Charles. "It's important to build a network linking university researchers with each other, with workers in the field, and with members of minority communities to enhance the relevance and appropriateness of the studies and ultimately, to quicken the pace of development of successful interventions."
According to Charles, research cannot happen without the support of the minority community to serve as participants in these studies. To this end, the conference will have sessions dedicated to exploring better ways to connect with and communicate to the minority public the benefits of research participation to themselves, to their loved ones, and to the cause of eliminating health disparities. Information booths will provide the public with a view of the resources available to them, particularly with regard to the diseases and cross-cutting issues targeted at the conference. Through panel discussions and networking activities, the public will have the opportunity to convey to researchers their perspectives and priorities in the conduct of research intended to positively impact their lives.
Manning's ECHO program at UNC-Chapel Hill has as its core mission the elimination of health disparities by sponsoring research, offering training to faculty and health-care professionals, and by reaching out to the community to educate and facilitate grass roots involvement in the process of research. Two community outreach specialists manage Centers for Community Research within the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) located in Rocky Mount and Greensboro and each serve several surrounding counties in their work to inspire community-based research in collaboration with university researchers.
"We want the idea, the impetus for the research to come from the community," said Manning. "The outreach specialists are there to inspire this type of community-based research."
Conference organizers are hoping the event serves to inspire students and young researchers to enter this field of study. They believe health disparities are critical issues and not ones resolved without more talent, ideas, collaboration and resources trained on the problem.
Charles earned his bachelor's degree at Long Island University and his master's and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton. Manning received both her bachelor's degree and her master's degree in public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This conference is free and open to the public beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 12 at the School of Education Auditorium on the campus of NCCU but advanced registration is required. Please register online by June 2, 2006 at: https://www.sph.unc.edu/wfk/?k=WBRTQRMNABPSCJBY>;.
RSS