HUNTSVILLE – As part its golden anniversary, the College of Nursing is hosting a Health Equity Symposium to honor 50 years at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Dr. Karen Frith, dean of the UAH College of Nursing, said Thursday’s free event will work to strengthen collective efforts in promoting health equity in our community.
“The role of the College of Nursing is to champion those kinds of community based initiatives that we know are necessary to improve health and well-being here in the North Alabama area,” she said.
Frith said UAH’s ranking as an R1 research institution allows for additional opportunities within the community. R1 is a “very high research activity” status, meaning schools apply the most resources and scientists to research at their institutions.
“The College of Nursing is at UAH so we bring the resources of this university to the table when we engage with our community members,” she said. “So that when we find the needs of the community through this symposium, then we will form working groups and apply for grants to support initiatives that are ground up from the community so that we provide a way forward for this community. We innovate to bring better health and well-being to our community.
“The other piece that’s important to the College of Nursing is that we have nurse scientists on our faculty. And what that means is these individuals are prepared with a PhD in nursing science, and they have the tools, the education and the experience to direct research programs and write grants.”
The symposium will kick off with a keynote address from Kenny Anderson, followed by Daniel Kasambira, president and CEO United Way of Madison County, on the Community Needs Assessment; and Dr. Jennifer Bail, associate professor at the College of Nursing presenting the path to developing a Health Equity Inventory. Sarita Edwards, president of the E.WE Foundation, will share her personal journey to advocacy.
Frith said the afternoon will feature topic specific working groups.
- Cognitive health across the lifespan
- Healthcare concerns for veterans, first responders, and other careers in service
- Cancer prevention, survivorship, and supportive care
“In the North Alabama region, one of the topics is cognitive health. And so for our community, about one in 35 live births is a child who will later be diagnosed with autism. That’s a very high rate of autism,” said Frith. “That means that a child has a diverse way of thinking and has different needs from other children.”
Frith said while there are wonderful services available in the community, there aren’t enough.
“While we have wonderful services in this community, we don’t have enough to serve all of the needs of children who have autism and their waiting lists to be screened and to have a treatment plan which involves intensive physical speech,” she said.
“And then the other piece about this is that children with autism become adults with autism. And so how do we provide services for this group of individuals who can be very active in our community and just need different kinds of support services?”
The needs of those who work in service is a special concern as well, said Frith.
“This includes our veterans, our first responders and nurses. Each of these occupations require a heart forgiving and serving,” she said. “Each of these occupations have a risk for developing chronic illnesses. And so we hope that will bring the highlight to that and find people in the end.”
The third working group will focus on the need for community based palliative care, an urgent need according to Frith.
“We’re interested in working on cancer prevention, survivorship and supportive care because we know 50%, or half of our population, will develop cancer at some point in their lives,” she said.
“Palliative care is different from Hospice and many people know about Hospice that provides services in the last six months of an individual’s life. But palliative care is a service that’s provided to individuals with chronic illness and many cancer survivors will have chronic conditions from their treatments or may have chronic cancer that they take oral chemotherapy for the rest of their lives.”
The Health Equity Symposium is the perfect way to celebrate the college’s 50th anniversary, said Frith.
“The symposium is to celebrate the past and honor that past while we innovate for the future. The Health Equity Symposium is to innovate for the future,” she said.
As a graduate of the College of Nursing at UAH and a leader in the community, Cepeda Systems CEO Alice Lessmann said she has seen firsthand the beneficial impacts of the school’s partnerships within the community and industry leaders.
“We are blessed to have the College of Nursing at UAH in our community,” she said. “Not only do they prepare the nurses and leaders for tomorrow, they are actively raising the level of health and well-being in our community.”
As a sponsor of the Health Equity Symposium through Cepeda Systems, Lessmann said they are proud to support their important work.
“The College of Nursing is championing these kinds of community-based initiatives that we know are necessary to improve health and well-being here in the North Alabama area,” she said.
Frith agrees, stating their work encompasses the entire community.
“Nurses are at every point along the healthcare continuum from prevention to wellness to all the way to sickness and if and at death as well,” she said. “And we have a role of advocacy all along that pathway.”
“We’re so happy to be a part of this and to lead a HealthEquity symposium that leans into this wonderful community that we live in.”
Frith said the College of Nursing works to understand what the community needs and to prepare students.
“The College of Nursing has a 100% pass rate, which means that parents and students can have confidence when they come to the UAH College of Nursing that they are well prepared,” she said. “To put that in perspective, the national pass rate is 84% and the UAH College of Nursing is 100%. I can say with confidence if you are in the hospital or at an outpatient clinic and you are taken care of by a bachelors-prepared nurse from UAH, you are in good hands.
“I can guarantee it.”
The symposium is free and open to anyone who’s interested in learning more or being a part of the solution, said Frith. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the first floor auditorium in the UAH Nursing Building on Ben Graves Drive. Registration is available here.
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