As part of the North Carolina Summit on Health Disparities, a diverse audience gathered Sunday for a play and panel discussion in a Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club ballroom.
Issues to be discussed at the two-day summit-which ends today-include cultural barriers, preventative health measures, minority health care and creating partnerships to advance health equity.
The discussion was held following a performance of a play about an African-American family's experiences with heart disease and health care disparities called, Heart to Heart: Ain't Your Life Worth Saving.
The play is intended to inspire healthier lifestyle choices among African-American women.
At the conference Sunday, it also inspired dialogue about existing health care disparities on local, statewide and national levels.
Panel speakers-comprised of University, government and other academic officials-stressed the need for "cultural competency," an increased understanding among care providers of the different cultural backgrounds that their patients may have.
Carmen Hooker Odom, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, noted that the socioeconomic factors governing health care also need to be addressed.
"You can't talk about health disparities if you're not going to talk about poverty," she said. "We still have not made the investment as a nation into the kind of public health funding we need."
Increasing diversity within hospitals was also stressed as a step in the right direction. Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System, noted the School of Medicine's recent efforts to increase diversity at all levels, from students to administrators.
"We have pushed very hard to ensure that our leadership and our employees reflect diversity," he said. "If you put people of diversity in leadership positions, you are more likely to effect change."
Dr. Kevin Thomas, cardiovascular disease fellow at the School of Medicine, complimented the efforts of Dr. Brenda Armstrong, director of admissions for the School of Medicine, to diversify the student body.
Thomas also suggested that students spend time in underserved areas to become more culturally aware.
During a question and answer session following the discussion, audience members raised the need for quick action and increased equity in contemporary health care.
"Our house is on fire now," said Deborah King, an audience member and vice president of sales and marketing for Empatha, Inc. "Black people are dying now. What can we do to get better health care now?"
The resolution of these types of problems may ultimately stem from partnerships at all levels, Dzau said.
"I'm hoping that at the end, it is a public-private partnership that will be able to address this," he said. "We need a healthy dialogue."
Still, Dzau noted that he is well aware of the obstacles that remain, including the need for increased trust among Duke and community members.
"I think we have a long way to go," Dzau said. "The worst thing that can happen is that we talk about this and do nothing about it."
Ranga Krishnan, professor and chair of the department of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, and Theodore Parrish, associate professor for the department of health education at North Carolina Central University were also panel speakers.
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