Avance Center Conference to Address Latino Health Disparities

GW community invited to attend Oct. 7 event hosted by the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

October 5, 2015

Milken Institute School of Public Health

The all-day conference will be held at the Milken Institute School of Public Health Wednesday.

WHAT: Regional Latino Health Disparities Conference: Breaking Down Structural Barriers to Latino Health Equity
WHEN: Oct. 7, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Milken Institute School of Public Health, 950 New Hampshire Ave., NW, First Floor 
HOW: Those interested in attending can register online.  

By Lauren Ingeno

Compared with non-Hispanic white adults, Latinos suffer from higher rates of obesity, chronic disease and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To address the high burden of health problems that affect Latinos living in Washington, D.C., the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University will host an all-day conference Wednesday.

The Avance Center for the Advancement of Immigrant/Refugee Health—an NIH-funded center housed at GW—the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Regional Primary Care Coalition are co-sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public.

At the conference, researchers, practitioners and advocates will share emerging research, best practices and community perspectives that could help to break down structural barriers to Latino health equity. Speakers will include U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), chair of the Healthcare Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Jackie Reyes, director of the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs in the District of Columbia. The event will conclude with a reception and a salsa performance.

“Latino populations are marginalized for many reasons. They don’t always have good access to healthy food. A single parent may have to work two or three jobs and not have a lot of time to cook,” said Mark Edberg, director of the Avance Center and an associate professor of prevention and community health. “And they’re coming to the United States often from rural areas in Central America, where the customary diet and the physical activity that they might engage in are different from here. They can suddenly buy lots of meat, for example, very cheaply.”

The Avance conference sessions will address topics ranging from the health impact of immigration policy to methods to reduce depression, substance abuse, risky sex and gang violence in Latino communities. Many health problems that immigrants face once they arrive in the United States result from trauma, Dr. Edberg said.

“People migrating up from Honduras, or Guatemala or El Salvador right now are going through extremely difficult circumstances,” Dr. Edberg said. “Health disparities are in part a consequence of the limbo people live in, which contributes to these broader factors, like limited access and marginalization.”

The Avance Center, based at the Milken Institute SPH, was established in 2012 to better understand and address health disparities that affect immigrant and refugee communities in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States.

Its latest project, called “Water Up,” is a communications effort launched in Langley Park, Md., and its surrounding communities to encourage residents to drink more water. The campaign is funded by a $1.5 million Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) initiative award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Edberg and his team chose to focus their efforts on promoting water, since sugary drinks are a primary contributor to obesity in Langley Park, a Washington, D.C., suburb with a majority population of Latinos. The researchers are working with community advisory boards, schools and businesses to make water more accessible and prominent in the community.

Dr. Edberg will speak more about the project at Wednesday’s conference. He said he would encourage anyone at GW with an interest in public health to attend.

“You’ll get a broad range of people talking about the issues and hear from a number of well-known individuals in the Latino community,” he said. “I think it will be a learning, networking and just an enjoyable experience.”