FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2003
FY03-32
Conference and Fair to Address Minority Health Issues
OAK RIDGE, TENN—The “Our Health Is in Our Hands” Inner-City Health Conference will be held on August 1, from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Payne Avenue Baptist Church, 2714 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. Topics to be addressed include Alzheimer’s disease, STD/HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, elder care, breast and prostate cancer, immunizations, parish nursing, and online sources of health information. Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson, director of Medical and Scientific Affairs at the National Alzheimer’s Association, is the keynote speaker for the event.
The conference will be followed by the Success by Six Community Health Fair held in conjunction with the Lonsdale Homecoming on August 2, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Sam E. Hill School in the Lonsdale community.
Parish nurses from six inner city churches are coordinating the inner-city health conference and will assist the United Way in offering health screenings (vision and mammography) and information. Representatives of the Knox County Health Department and the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) will also be on hand.
“Too many minorities die of preventable diseases. It is way past time that we stop accepting this fact and start taking measures to prevent these diseases, because our health is truly in our hands. Both the conference and the health fair are all about empowerment through health education and information dissemination,” said event organizer Rose Durham.
Both events are free and open to the public, but registration for the conference is required. To register or for additional information call (865) 576-6256.
“We heartily encourage the community to come out and participate,” said Durham.
Both events are organized by the Consumer Health Resource Information Services (CHRIS) Project, a collaborative, faith-based pilot program funded by the National Library of Medicine to address minority health disparities. CHRIS is the largest federally funded, faith-based initiative in East Tennessee.
The CHRIS Project was developed by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. ORISE facilitates the CHRIS Project in partnership with Chi Eta Phi nursing sorority, Baptist Health System Parish Nursing Program, Knox County Health Department, Tennessee Department of Health, and the Knoxville Minority Health Coalition.
Related Event—Minority Health Summit, Nashville, August 27–29