Mills Symposium set for Feb. 6

The 11th Jean Elaine Mills Annual Health Symposium, which focuses on health concerns and health equity issues plaguing minorities in eastern North Carolina, is set for Feb. 6 at the East Carolina Heart Institute at East Carolina University.

This year’s event will address new models for empowering personal and community health and will feature a presentation by Dr. L. Allen Dobson Jr., president and CEO of Community Care of North Carolina, the comprehensive network that manages health care delivery for the state’s Medicaid recipients and low-income insured residents.

The day-long symposium will also include sessions on creating community partnerships focused on the behavioral causes of obesity, improving outcomes among African- American women with Type 2 diabetes, innovative approaches to mental health issues for minority adolescents, community partnerships as portals to access, improving health through community engaged dental education and new models for empowering community and minority health.

Mills was an ECU alumna who died of breast cancer in 2000. Her brother, Amos T. Mills III, created the annual event to keep her spirit of discovery and community outreach alive.

The symposium is presented by the College of Allied Health Sciences in collaboration with the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, Inc. Health care providers, community leaders and representatives from faith-based organizations, as well as interested students, faculty and community residents are all invited to attend. To register visit http://go.ecu.edu/cb13b252.