5th Annual Maine Minority Health Conference CHALLENGE: Raising the Bar for Health Equity in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine – The City of Portland Public Health Division’s Minority Health Program in collaboration with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office of Health Equity, Down East AIDS Network & Health Equity Alliance, Medical Care Development, Healthy Androscoggin, Maine Migrant Health Program, Maine AIDS Education and Training Center (MEAETC), and Bates College will host the 5th Annual Maine Minority Health Conference from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday June 3rd, 2015 at Bates College’s Olin Arts Center at 75 Russell Street, Lewiston, Maine.  The conference theme is “Advancing Health Equity in Maine through Community Health Workers (CHWs).” The conference is free and open to the public.

Conference highlights will include an opening keynote by Jason Turi of the nationally renowned
Camden Coalition, on “CHWs and Leadership/Adoption of CHWs in Traditional Care Settings and Health Equity;” a panel discussion showcasing other states’ experiences in moving policies on CHW certification training standards, and a luncheon keynote by Don Operario, PhD,  Associate Professor of Public Health, Brown University, on the challenging needs for equitable and improved access to services for vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV and Hepatitis.

According to conference coordinator Kolawole Bankole, MD, of the City of Portland Public Health Division, the symposium is open to all health care professionals, CHWs, staff from community-based organizations, students, patients, clients, and anyone interested in the care and treatment of minority patients. The aim of the conference is to advance the understanding and capacity of CHWs in Maine.

"This conference will help to raise awareness about the potential impact of CHWs in achieving health equity through enhanced communication, community, and service providers’ engagement in sensitive health care delivery," said Dr. Bankole. "In order to reduce health disparities and to promote health equity, people need to be educated about the impact and importance of CHWs as an emerging workforce.  It is a very important theme given the calls for improved quality care, improved population care, and low cost care delivery; all of which CHWs contribute to through their work mitigating challenges providers face in serving vulnerable populations."

MEAETC is providing generous support with funding from the New England AIDS Education and Training Center project, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.

To register, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RQ3MKDM
Registration is required by May 29. To exhibit or obtain a program brochure, please contact Roanne Seeley, R.N. at roanne.seeley@gmail.com or 207-596-5154.

For additional information on the Minority Health Conference, please contact Kolawole Bankole, MD at bak@portlandmaine.gov or 207-874-8773