Conference outlines health concerns in Valley

By Chhun Sun
The Collegian

John Capitman stood at the podium with a look of excitement on his face.

The executive director of the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State, which was established with funding by the California Endowment, was about to talk to a group of people interested in the progress of health research in the Central Valley.

Capitman said he didn’t know if people would want to convene and discuss health research ideas.
“Wow, how amazing it is to be here now,” he said.

The health institute was created to facilitate regional research, leadership training and graduate education programs to address emerging health policy issues in the Central Valley.

On Thursday morning the institute held a health policy action-research conference at the University Business Center’s Alice Peters Auditorium

About 150 students, professors and medical professionals attended to hear speakers in the health field and learn about what kind of progress the Valley has made.

“Basically, the conference is based around finding a solution to improve the health and health care in the Central Valley,” communication director Brandie Campbell said.

Some of the participants talked about the following:

•Increasing access to affective, culturally appropriate care for adolescents struggling with asthma and other consequences of poor air quality.

•Ways to address the growing epidemic of physical inactivity and obesity in young people
•Options to improve the financing and quality of hospitals.

•A family-oriented approach to managing diabetes in rural Latino residents.

•Ways to improve care for women with suspected breast cancer.

The conference, “Nurturing Responsive Health Policy in Central California: Proposals for Action Research,” also introduced the publication “Healthy People 2010: A 2005 Profile of Health Status in the San Joaquin Valley.”

The publication compiles public information and statistics of health issues in the Central Valley and compares it to the state and nation.

“We wanted to know, ‘Did we make progress?’ and ‘Did we move forward?’” Capitman said.

The conference compared physical activity, obesity, substance abuse, responsible sexual behavior, mental health, injury and violence, environmental quality, immunization and access to care.

Captiman highlighted some of the issues like immunization and said the Central Valley is behind when it comes to providing enough for both young and old people.

For more information on the conference and the institute, go to the Web site www.csufresno.edu/ccchhs/HPS.

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