City of Seat Pleasant and School of Public Health to Tackle Health Disparities

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland School of Public Health will host more than 100 seniors and high school students from Seat Pleasant, Md., for a half-day summit to develop strategies to combat diabetes and other chronic diseases in this community.

The third annual Seat Pleasant Health Summit on May 11 is the result of an ongoing partnership between the city and the university's Prevention Research Center to reduce health disparities in this predominantly African-American community. It is chronically underserved by health-care providers and resources, and has disproportionately high rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension, as well as HIV/AIDS.

"The health summit reflects the school's commitment to engaging the community in the effort to solve public health challenges, and demonstrates the important relationship we've developed with our Prince George's County neighbors," says Dean Robert Gold. "We hope that some of the Seat Pleasant high school students will be inspired to pursue education and careers in public health fields by participating in this event."

Seat Pleasant residents will join university faculty, students and staff in a series of mini-workshops on diabetes, nutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, high blood pressure and exercise. For the first time, some of the school's other leading research centers, including the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy and the Center for Healthy Families, as well as the Department of Kinesiology, which will be leading the exercise session, and the University Health Center, which will lead the session on nutrition, are involved in the summit.

Eugene W. Grant, mayor of Seat Pleasant, has called for the annual summits to address some of the most challenging health conditions in the region. He and center Director Bradley Boekeloo, have organized two previous summits held in Seat Pleasant that focused on health advocacy. Last year, after a daylong program involving community, government and university stakeholders, the Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland Health Partnership held a community town-hall meeting attended by residents. This year, the summit will take place for the first time on the University of Maryland campus.

Members of the media are welcomed to cover this event and can park at any metered spot near the School of Public Health (see directions below).

Background on the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center and the Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland Health Partnership:
The UMD Prevention Research Center (PRC) was founded in 2009 and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Prevention Research Centers Program. The UMD-PRC was built upon the pre-existing Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland, College Park Health Partnership established in 1999 to improve the health of Seat Pleasant residents and to enhance learning and research for students and faculty of the University of Maryland. Members of the Health Partnership serve as a community advisory group to the UMD Prevention Research Center, which has a broad mission to reduce health disparities in Maryland along the national capital border and focuses on issues including STD/HIV prevention, obesity prevention, and adolescent health, among others, using community based participatory research methods. 

Learn more:
University of Maryland Prevention Research Center
Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland Health Partnership
City of Seat Pleasant
School of Public Health

Directions to the School of Public Health:
From the main entrance to the University of Maryland campus (from US Rt. 1):
Follow Campus Drive (road from main entrance) to the roundabout with the large "M".
Turn right onto Regents Drive.
At the 2nd stop sign, turn left onto Farm Drive.
Turn right onto Valley Drive and continue to the SPH Building (#255).
Metered parking is available in front of the building (You must pay or enter a validation code at the nearby kiosk.)

Media Contact:
Kelly Blake
Communications Director
School of Public Health
University of Maryland
301-405-9418
kellyb@umd.edu

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