Asheville African American Health Symposium

According to the January 2020, Healthy North Carolina 2030 Report, there are stark disparities in life expectancy across race, geography, and gender, as well as intersections of these characteristics that show wide gaps between groups. African Americans, American Indians, people in rural areas, and men typically have lower life expectancies than the average. The disparities for African American patients compared to white patients are due in part to issues stemming from limited health care access, lack of trust in medical professionals, social and economic factors like racism and unemployment. Racial disparities are unremitting and widespread within the African American population.

The causes of disparities for African American patients are multifactorial – including historical oppression, implicit bias toward African American patients, community mistrust, lack of diversity within the healthcare field, and social determinants of health, to name a few. The goal of this symposium is to have healthcare providers apply learned evidenced-based strategies from African American healthcare leaders across the nation in order to continue to improve the health of African Americans. This symposium will increase participants' knowledge and awareness of racism as a public health crisis while analyzing the different types of healthcare disparities that specifically affect African American patients.

November 11, 2022 - Care of the Black Patient: An Interactive Experience
(Limited Capacity of 40 Participants)
MAHEC's 15,000-square-foot Simulation Center is located on MAHEC's Biltmore Campus and features operating, trauma, labor and delivery, task training, and clinic rooms, as well as conference rooms for debriefing. Our simulation center provides medical professionals and students with the opportunity to practice real-life hospital, in-office, and emergency scenarios using a variety of simulation modalities for experiential learning including high fidelity manikins, task trainers, laparoscopic surgery, endoscopy/bronchoscopy, point-of-care ultrasound, virtual reality simulators and standardized patients.

This interactive simulation experience was created to mitigate the effects of mistrust in patient-provider relationships within the Black community. Each of the three sessions are separated by specialty to ensure participants are met with patients who are similar to those they encounter on a daily basis. In these sessions, participants will individually work through two patient encounters. Join us for a tour of MAHEC's state of the art Simulation Center and in-depth sessions on communication, patient simulation experiences, and resident experiences. All sessions are designed to provide further education and demonstrate the Simulation Center experience for both patients and providers. The pre-con Simulation day will end with a group debrief to further develop interpersonal skills. Upon completing this interactive simulation experience, participants will be able to have a better understanding of how bias plays a role in caring for patients of color in any healthcare setting.

November 12, 2022 - Keynote Speaker, Kimberlyn Leary PhD, MPA
Our special keynote speaker is Dr. Leary is an associate professor of psychology at the Harvard Medical School and an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is a Senior Advisor and past Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Women's Mental Health at McLean Hospital. For two years, Dr. Leary served as an advisor to the White House during the Obama Administration. As a Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow, she helped launch the "Advancing Equity" initiative for the Obama White House Council on Women and Girls, which focused on improving life outcomes for women and girls of color. She was also an advisor to the Health Division at White House Office of Management and Budget.

Participants will have an opportunity to register for dinner and dialogues both evenings of the symposium. On Friday, November 11th, Odell Dickerson will host a conversation around ‘The Role of the Black Church in Healthcare'. On Saturday, November 12th, Leslie Council will be moderating a conversation with our webinar panelists, Dr. Amanda Calhoun, Dr. Yvette Miller, and Dr. Augustus Parker. You can RSVP for both of these events by visiting www.avlaahs.net