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Central Islip
, NY
– The Suffolk County Department of Health Services’ Office of Minority Health will co-host a documentary film entitled TheDeadliest Disease in America followed by a workshop series on health-care disparities.
The Deadliest Disease in America
is produced by URU, The Right to Be, Inc., a nonprofit, community-based organization that focuses its work on the critical need to reduce disparities and achieve greater health equity in the United States.
The 55-minute film by producer/ director Crystal Emery will be followed by two participatory workshops: “
What Racism Looks Like in Health-Care Delivery and Why You Should Report It” and “Empowering Community Organizations Working with Legislators for Change.”
Also co-hosting the event are the Arthur Risbrook Medical Society, Inc., ERASE Racism, Latino Health Initiative of Suffolk County, Literacy Suffolk, Inc., Nassau-Suffolk Law Services,
National Association of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Social Workers, Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition, and the Witness Project ® of LI.
Community members, policymakers, activists, medical professionals, and others interested in developing a strategy for change in the American health-care system will recognize the capacity within these interactive forums to empower and teach both clinicians and community members.
“We created the Office of Minority Health in 2005 in order to focus on the staggering level of health disparities among minority populations,” said County Executive Steve Levy.
Health Services Commissioner Dr. Humayun Chaudhry adds, “If we are to change the delivery of health care in our country, we must begin at the local level and use all of the forms of communication available to us.”
The documentary follows four individuals, including the filmmaker, whose personal stories add to the national debate on our country’s health-care crisis. Emery shares her own experience as an African-American encountering racism while navigating the health-care system. Emery, whose arms and legs are paralyzed as a result of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, hopes that sharing these stories will stimulate conversations that move individuals to action. Dr. Forrester Lee, Associate Dean of the YaleMedicalSchool says, “With an astonishing capacity to see, understand and represent truth, Crystal Emery confronts racism in our health-care system. In producing The DeadliestDisease in America, she gives voice to events and stories that for too long have been ignored and devalued.”
The film also focuses on three organizations, from New England to Texas, whose innovative strategies help mitigate the crisis. “The ultimate goal of this film is to illuminate disparate treatment based on racial, economic and ethnic differences in order to help achieve a health-care system that serves all Americans equally,” explains Crystal Emery. Filmmaker Bill Duke calls the film, “...daring and insightful . . . it challenges all of us to demand equal treatment of everyone in the American health care system.”
“Structural racism in health care can make the difference between life and death for people of color,” said Elaine Gross, President of ERASE Racism. “The May 13th film forum will provide a much needed opportunity for a frank discussion about this very important topic.”
Dr. Bert M. Petersen, Jr., Founder and Managing Partner, Global Cancer Control, LLC; Dr. Marion Evans, Director of Health and Social Services for the City of Bridgeport;
Dr. JaniceWalker, RN, MPH President/CEO The EBEN Group, LLC; and Thomas Lovia Brown, Founder/Principal Consultant, The Diversity Leadership Forum, will facilitate the event.
The evening will end with a Q&A session. For more information about The Deadliest Disease in America and to view a trailer of the film, visit URU’s website at www.urutherighttobe.org.
To RSVP for the event, please send an email to healthincluded@aol.com or call the Office
of Minority Health of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-853-5078.
What: Documentary Film: The Deadliest Disease in America
Workshop Series to follow
Where:
Touro
Law
College
, main auditorium
225 Eastview Dr.
,
Central Islip
,
NY
.
When: Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 5:30 p.m.
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