Jean Mills Health Symposium will be Feb. 3
Participants at the eighth annual Jean Mills Health Symposium on Feb. 3 will learn about past and present day efforts to reduce health disparities and increase access to care for minority populations in eastern North Carolina.
Presenters will use this year’s theme, “Enhancing Community Health in North Carolina: Looking in the Mirror,” to describe the history of health disparities, interventions and research and to critically reflect on progress in those efforts.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the symposium will be held 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, in the Greenville Hilton, 207 SW Greenville Blvd., Greenville.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Brian Smedley, vice president and director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.
The symposium will feature a dozen presenters on collaborative health projects and studies including falls prevention, diabetes self-management, teen health disparities in Greene, Lenoir and Jones counties, a community health partnership in west Greenville, and a study on periodontal disease in diabetic and obese children in eastern North Carolina.
Luncheon speakers will be Dr. Beth Velde, professor of occupational therapy and assistant dean in the College of Allied Health Sciences, and Dr. Robert Campbell, assistant professor of health services and information management, on “A Historical Study of ECU’s Impact on Health Disparities in Eastern North Carolina.”
Registration is $35, and $20 for students, by Jan. 27. After that date, fees are $45 and $25 respectively. The fee includes all program supplies, refreshment breaks and lunch. Continuing education units are available. Visit http://eahec.ecu.edu or call Amy Bullock at Eastern AHEC at 252-744-5205 or email bullockamy@ecu.edu for more information.
The event is sponsored by the ECU College of Allied Health Sciences in collaboration with the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation and Eastern Area Health Education Center.
Mills earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977 and a master’s in public administration with a concentration in community health from ECU in 1984. She died from breast cancer in 2000.
Amos T. Mills III, Jean’s brother, created the symposium in an effort to keep her spirit of discovery and community outreach alive.