Delta Health Disparities conference slated

Arkansas State University’s Department of Social Work will host the seventh annual Delta Health Disparities Conference, Friday (Nov. 15) on the third floor of the Carl R. Reng Student Union. This year’s theme is “Mind, Body and Soul Holistic Approach to Health Care in the Delta Region.” The symposium is co-chaired by associate professor Dr. Patricia Guy-Walls and assistant professor Dr. Tamara Pace-Glover and runs from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Linda B. Cottler, associate dean for research and dean’s professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine at the University of Florida, where she was the founding chair from June 2011 through December 2018, is the keynote speaker for the event.

She is involved in studies in several major areas with public health importance including the development of culturally reliable and valid measures for identifying substance use, abuse and dependence, along with psychiatric disorders and their risk factors, innovative methods for conducting national surveys of high-risk behaviors and community based, peer-delivered interventions to change HIV risk behaviors and substance abuse.

Breakout sessions will focus on wide ranges of topics, including but not limited to, activism and advocacy, cultural competency, health and mental health, stigma and discrimination as it relates to service delivery and support for caregivers.