Nemours Health and Prevention Services (NHPS) complements its treatment services, research, and training programs by working with families and communities to help children grow up healthy, both physically and emotionally. NHPS is holding its first conference, “Planting the Seeds for Better Health,” December 8 – 9, 2005, in Wilmington, Del. The conference will focus on best practices for developing child health promotion and disease prevention programs to help children of all cultures grow up healthy.
“A key goal is to be a national resource center on child health promotion and disease prevention,” notes Debbie I. Chang, senior vice president of NHPS, “Our initial focus is in Delaware where we are developing healthy eating and physical activity programs to combat child overweight.”
J. Michael McGinnis, M.D., former assistant U.S. Surgeon General and principal architect of the Healthy People initiative, a national blueprint for disease prevention, will serve as the keynote speaker at the December event. A special guest speaker is author and essayist Anne Fadiman. Ms. Fadiman, now on the Yale University faculty, won a National Book Critics’ Circle Award for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, an incisive analysis of the gulf between the Hmong (Laotian) and American medical systems.
Who Should Attend?
The conference is designed for government/elected officials and professionals at the regional, state, and national levels in:
- Public health
- Maternal and child health
- Mental health
- Social work
- Child advocacy
- Child health policy
- Education
Space is limited! To attend the conference, register online at www.nemours.org/nhpsconf, or download the registration form and fax to 302.444.9197. If you have questions regarding the conference, contact Emily Ciancio, eciancio@nemours.org, or 888.494.5252.
Nemours, a non-profit organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., is dedicated to children’s health and health care. In June, Nemours sponsored a conference in collaboration with the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) to examine state- and community-based approaches addressing disparities in childhood overweight. A report from the conference is available online at www.nemours.org.
