Voices of Change Discuss Health Disparities with NABJ

NABJ Conference on Health Disparities
Policies, Politics and Practice

March 4-6, 2010
Barbara Jordan Conference Center at Kaiser Family Foundation
1330 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 2005
(one block west of Metro Center)

Sponsored by:


Kaiser Family Foundation


Eli Lilly and Company

Co-sponsored by:


American Cancer Society

MedStar Health

Program Goal:
The goal of this annual conference is to provide print, broadcast and online journalists the tools to effectively report on the impact of health care reform and health policy on underserved communities.  Journalists and media professionals will leave with resources to inform and empower readers and viewers to action in their lives.

Before February 25, 2010
Members: $59
Non-Members: $99

After February 25, 2010
Members: $99
Non-Members: $179

Register now »

Fax/Mail Registration Form »
(PDF, requires Adobe Reader.)

Table Top Exhibit
Member: $1000
Non-Member: $1500

Exhibitor Registration Form »

Conference Program Advertisement (due Feb. 5)
Dimensions:   8.5" x 11"
Rate:$750

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
Subject to change. Last updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:10 AM

THURSDAY, MARCH 4

9:00 a.m.
Welcome

Keynote Address
Kathleen Sebelius
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

SYMPOSIA

9:30 a.m.
Deciphering the Numbers

Covering health, health policy and health disparities all involve data and statistics, often without easily understandable context. We’ll talk about ways that numbers and data are used in writing about and discussing key issues in health policy, and diversity.

Jennifer Kates, Vice President, HIV/AIDS Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation
Cara James, Director of Race, Ethnicity and Health Care and the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program, Kaiser Family Foundation

11:00 a.m.
Social Determinants of Health:  A View From The Field
Discussion of the things that impact the health and well being of people of color from the field. Without addressing housing, employment, maternal health, air quality and education how will we truly be able to create a healthy America.

Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project,
Gina Wood, Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies
Debra Joy Perez, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Tonya Lewis Lee, maternal child health advocate, author and documentary filmmaker

12:00 p.m.
LUNCHEON

Louis Sullivan, M.D., President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine, Founder, Sullivan Alliance

2:00 p.m.
From Study to Story: The Breast Cancer Screening Debate

The recent release of new recommendations on breast cancer screening created a storm of controversy among the medical community, health advocates and insurers. It also created some interesting dilemmas for health and business reporters. Follow the story with our panel of experts.

Lynya Floyd, health editor, Essence
Lisa Newman, M.D., University of Michigan Medical Center
Linda Blount, Vice President, Health Disparities American Cancer Society
Alexine Clement Jackson, board chair, Susan G. Komen for the Cure


3:45 p.m.
Leveling the Playing Field:
 
A discussion, importance of bringing in more people of color in the medical and health care fields as a part of health care reform. What are various groups doing to increase the numbers of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers?

Cindy George, health reporter, The Houston Chronicle
Vernell DeWitty, PhD, RN, deputy program director, Robert Wood Johnson
Darin Gilstrip, president, Inner City Medicine

5 p.m.
Regina Benjamin
Surgeon General of the United States

6:00-7:00
Cocktail Reception
hosted by Kaiser Family Foundation

FRIDAY, MARCH 5

8:30 a.m.
Policy Breakfast:  Access to Cancer Care for People of Color

Despite notable advances in cancer prevention, screening and treatment, a disproportionate number of uninsured, minority and other medically underserved populations are still not benefiting from our progress. While the causes of cancer disparities are interrelated and complex, public policy can help reduce them while improving access to care and saving lives. Public health and health policy experts from the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), will discuss health disparities through the eyes of cancer patients and survivors, and policy solutions to address them, including health care reform.
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

9:30 a.m.
What Really Happened to Health Reform, and What Happens Next?
Lively discussion on what really happened to health reform, the public option and cross party collaboration to change the health care system. Panelists will talk about what happened, and what is the future of health care for all Americans.

Brian Smedley, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Eleanor Hinton Hoytt
Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, president, Black Women’s Health Imperative
Rea Pañares, M.H.S., director of Minority Health Initiatives, Families USA

11: 15 a.m.
HIV/AIDS in Communities of Color
In 2010, HIV/AIDS is still very real and is still disproportionately impacting the lives of men and women of color. Learn about the latest developments in screening, prevention and managing living with HIV/AIDS.

Sherri Williams, journalist
Greg Millett, senior policy advisor, The White House office on National AIDS Policy
Phill Wilson, founder and executive director, Black AIDS Institute
LaShawn McIver, MD, MPH, CBCF, Center for Policy Analysis and Research, HIV/AIDS Research Fellow
Vanessa Johnson, deputy executive director, National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA)
Goulda A. Downer, PhD, RD, LN, CNS ,principal investigator & assistant professor, National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center, Howard University College of Medicine

12: 30 p.m.  
LUNCHEON

Speaker
Henrie Treadwell, Ph.D.
National Primary Care Center
Morehouse School of Medicine

Incarceration and its Impact on the Health of Communities of Color
Dr. Treadwell will address health policy and the reentry population. What policymakers and those that inform policy need to know and do as national health care policy is formulated.

1:45 p.m.
Stigma and the Media:
A Journalist’s Guide to Accurately Reporting on Mental Health

The public's primary source of knowledge about an illness, particularly mental illness, is the mass media. Yet, distorted perceptions of people with mental illnesses persist, and some experts claim that public perception is more negative today than it was a half-century ago, despite significant advances in treatment.
This panel will provide journalists with insight into the realities of mental illness, evaluate health care disparities related to mental illness in the African-American population, debunk some of the myths associated with it and address ways journalists can more appropriately cover stories related to mental illness.

Moderator: TBA

Panelists:
Annelle Primm, M.D., director of Minority and National Affairs for the American Psychiatric Association.
Pete Earley,  formerly of The Washington Post, author of "CRAZY: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness"
Julio C. Abreu, director of Government Affairs, Mental Health America

sponsored by Eli Lilly & Company

3:00 p.m.
Food, Culture and Health
What are the real impacts of food deserts on people of color. They are the most impacted by the lack of fresh, affordable and accessible food. But what are the health prices that people are paying in chronic disease and what can we do about it? Gail Christopher of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will discuss the ties between health, food and communities of color.

Gail Christopher, DN, vice president for Programs for Food, Health, and Well-Being; and Racial Equity, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Maya Rockeymoore, Global Policy Solutions,
Ed Cooney, executive director, Congressional Hunger Center,

SATURDAY MARCH 6

Saturday’s series of panels may be the most important content offered  to journalists attending the conference. The day is designed to take all the information given during the conference and answer the key question in this changing climate for journalists: How do we continue to write about and report on key issues in health?

Even more important, in a time when news outlets are shrinking, how can journalists continue generating income for health stories, and to find funding to cover long form reporting on health.

9:00 a.m.
Telling the Stories and Finding the Audience
Journalists who write and report on health talk about the challenges and opportunities to tell long and short form stories

Jamila Bey, freelance journalist,
Cindy George, health reporter, Houston Chronicle
Monique Fields, reporter, Birmingham News,
Linda Villarosa, freelance journalist
Sam Fulwood, American Progress Foundation Fellow

10:00 a.m.
Editors Talk about Covering Health and Health Care
Editors discuss opportunities in print and online to tell stories that revolve around health, health policy and health reform.

Lynya Floyd, health editor, Essence
Yanick Rice Lamb, Heart and Soul,
Peggy Girshman, Kaiser Health News,
Kimberly Allers, editor, Women’s E News Network

11:00 a.m.
Out of the Box Opportunities to Write About Health
Aside from traditional media opportunities, how can journalists generate health content and generate income?

LUNCHEON
12:00 p.m.
Fellowships, Grants and Funding

Want to do a long form project on health or health policy but need to get funding, or time and space to do the work? It’s time to explore funding options for training, research and writing.

Sam Fulwood, American Progress Fellow
Monique Fields, Kaiser Foundation Fellow
Andrea King Collier, IATP/Kellogg Foundation Mental Health Fellow

CLOSING REMARKS