Dozens of students, faculty and visitors participated in the 16th annual student-run Minority Health Conference at UIC’s School of Public Health on Friday, April 11.
The daylong conference was part of the school’s celebration of National Public Health Week and consisted of workshops, lectures and poster presentations highlighting student-led community work.
Lisa Beltran, chair of the conference and a graduate student in public health, said this year’s conference theme, “Mobilizing for Health: Community Advocacy and Public Policy,” was designed to engage people in public efforts.
“Our goal is to explore how public health can harness the voice of traditionally underrepresented groups to prioritize equity and justice in policy making by fostering discussion,” Beltran said.
The conference aims to create a space for everyone to discuss worldwide trends, health disparities and racial health equity. These conversations are crucial, especially now, Beltran said.
Megan Sanico, a second-year master of public health student and part of the conference’s organizing committee, said among her roles was to assist participants with posters to highlight their work in the communities.
“With our theme, ‘Mobilizing for Health: Community Advocacy and Public Policy,’ we wanted to highlight that meaningful, lasting change often begins at the grassroots level,” Sanico said. “Ultimately, I hope the conference encourages people to not only recognize systemic health inequities but also feel equipped and motivated to act.”
Karriem Watson, chief executive officer of UI Health Mile Square Health Center, was the keynote speaker. He pointed to the history of the Mile Square Health Center, which launched in 1967 and is now one of oldest federally qualified health centers in the nation.
“You had Black nurses, community activists, community organizations coming together saying we need to address some of the worst health disparities that exist for one square mile on the West Side,” Watson said.
While the University of Illinois’s UI Health took over the facility in the 1990s, Watson told listeners, the clinic’s mission is unchanged: mobilization, advocacy and community-centered policy.
“We fit in all three; if there is a problem, there’s a solution, and I firmly believe part of that solution lies in this room with you all,” Watson said. “We have to know that together we can do this work and we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves.”
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC
Conference highlights
During the day, panel discussions and workshops focused on racial injustice and mental health, the impact of HIV and societal challenges on transgender people and how current and future policies will affect the health of immigrants.
Second-year medical student Yarid Mera presented a poster on his work with the Mini Health Professions Program at UIC. The group aims to educate local fourth- and fifth-grade students about health care and health science professions. Over six sessions this year, they taught the students about organ systems in the body.
“We’ve noticed that students are learning; there’s a statistically significant improvement,” Mera said. “It’s good to see the work that students and faculty are doing here at UIC because it’s important work. We’re trying to get communities engaged.”
Naomi Samuels, a first-year public health graduate student, collaborated with community groups and the City of Chicago to create a co-governance model for inclusive public policy, health and racial equity. From October to December last year, the group held almost 20 meetings with more than 200 Chicagoans from 57 neighborhoods.
“We concluded that we have an evolving definition of co-governance,” Samuels said. “It is constantly evolving as more community members engage and share what they think it is, what it consists of and the values it should hold.”
Second-year medical student Jessica Bahnasy presented her poster about her research on food insecurity in the North Lawndale neighborhood. She said she was honored to have her work accepted at the student-run conference.
“It’s wonderful because it’s one of those things that shows you how much people care in the community and how much we, as students, care,” Bahnasy said.
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC