Equity town hall: Our neighborhoods, our health

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - This Wednesday evening, October 8, 2008 community members are invited to explore how social environments and neighborhoods, including quality of education, housing and community economic development, have a direct impact on residents' well-being.

Equity town hall: Our neighborhoods, our health
Wednesday, October 8, at 6:30 p.m.
Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
200 University St., Seattle (3^rd Ave. entrance)

“Tackling health inequities requires widening our lens to bring into view the ways in which jobs, education, housing, social inclusion and political power influence individual and community health,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. "We are pursuing comprehensive approaches to address the root causes of inequities with our new Equity and Social Justice Initiative."

The Equity town hall features Dr. David Williams, an internationally recognized authority on the social influences on health. Dr. Williams is the Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of African and African American Studies and an Affiliate of the Sociology Department at Harvard University.

Speakers include King County Executive Ron Sims and a panel with Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer of Public Health - Seattle & King County, Ethelda Burke, Superintendent of the Tukwila School District, and Aaron Katz, School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington.

“Life expectancy plummets by a decade as you travel 10 miles between Mercer Island and Downtown Seattle. In the shadows of Seattle's shimmering skyscrapers and high-rise condos live some of the sickest people in King County,” said Desmond Skubi, Executive Director of the Washington State Public Health Association. “The Washington State Public Health Association is proud to join in sponsoring this town hall event which will explore the social determinants of health and strategies to eliminate the profound disparities in health that exist in America.”

This town hall is presented by the Washington State Public Health Association and King County. For more information on the Washington State Public Health Association, visit www.wspha.org. For more information on the King County Equity and Social Justice Initiative, visit www.kingcounty.gov/equity.

Seating for this town hall is 540 people and on a first-come basis. Town hall co-sponsors include the Seattle Foundation, Swedish Medical Center, Virigina Mason Medical Center, University of Washington’s School of Public Health Extended MPH Degree Program, Bastyr University, Mount Zion Baptist Church, Washington State Medical Association and Washington State Hospital Association.