NYAM Attending the 7th Annual International Conference on Urban Health

NYAM President Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, will be attending the 7th Annual International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on October 29, as one of the plenary speakers. The ICUH conference gathers world leaders representing different contributing fields to the topic of urban health. This year, participants include Trudy Harpham, Professor of Urban Development and Policy at London South Bank University, Jacob Kumaresan, Director of the World Health Organization Kobe Centre, Roderick Lawrence, Project Manager of the Swiss Virtual Campus project SUPPREM (Sustainability and Public or Private Environmental Management), Julio Montaner, a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and President-Elect of the International AIDS Society, Alex Chika Ezeh, Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), and Anthony Zwi, Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine in Sydney, Australia.

The conference theme, “Knowledge Integration: Successful Interventions in Urban Health” will open the forum for delegates to move beyond description and studies and to share their actions, which have contributed to improving the health of urban communities.

Jonathon D. Gass Jr., a Research Associate for the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) at NYAM will present Factors Contributing to Sustained Cessation from Heroin Use: Findings from the CHANGE Study, a study which showed significant resilience and ongoing efforts to change populations who use heroin, despite a number of challenges. Short periods of abstinence provide motivation and insight into potential life changes. In combination with motivation and behavior change, these “experiences of success” may be important contributors to eventual sustained cessation.

Gass will also present Increasing Access to Language Appropriate Medication Information for Immigrant New Yorkers: a Pilot Intervention Study, which implemented pilot interventions in eight New York City community-based and outpatient pharmacies that serve high numbers of limited English proficiency patients. Following on-site needs assessments, interventions were offered that met the specific needs and capabilities of participating pharmacies. The study found pharmacists working in multiethnic neighborhoods recognized the need for language access services, but generally lack the resources to provide them. The final phase of the study will continue to assess changes in language access among pilot pharmacies and broadly disseminate project findings to promote replication of promising practices.

For more information on the conference please visit: http://www.icuh2008.com/

The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) has been advancing the health of people in cities since 1847. An independent organization, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world’s urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to policy leadership, education, community engagement and innovative research. Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are to create environments in cities that support healthy aging; to strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public’s health; and to implement interventions that eliminate health disparities.

Posted on August 11, 2008

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Andrew J. Martin
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The New York Academy of Medicine
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amartin@nyam.org

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