Archive for the 'Headline' Category

Announcing Plenary Speaker, Joan Wolf for the 2012 Health and Wellness in Society Conference

Published on January 19, 2012 in Conference, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments Tags: flash, headline.

We are pleased to announce Joan Wolf as a plenary speaker for the 2012 Health, Wellness and Society Conference, Chicago, IL, USA 10-11 March.

Joan Wolf received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and is currently Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on the construction of “expert” discourses and how they are transmitted to the public. She is the author of Harnessing the Holocaust: The Politics of Memory in France (Stanford University Press 2004) and most recently Is Breast Best? Taking on the Breastfeeding Experts and the New High Stakes of Motherhood (New York University Press 2011), in which she argues that the questions infant-feeding scientists ask, the strategies they use to answer them, and the ensuing discussion of results among scientists and between scientists and the public are all shaped by a cultural preoccupation with risk, particularly health risks, and an increasingly comprehensive understanding of what mothers can and should provide their children. She also demonstrates how public health campaigns and advocacy groups have relied on flawed infant-feeding research, an ethic of “total motherhood,” and widespread popular misunderstanding of risk to exaggerate health risks associated with using infant formula. Her current research examines how routines in social science research converge with ideas about risk and total motherhood in academic and popular debates about childcare and child development. In 2013, she will be Visiting Fellow at the Center for Parenting Culture Studies in the School of Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research, University of Kent.

To read about all our plenary speakers please visit the following link.

Announcing the winner of the International Award for Excellence

Published on November 22, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Congratulations to Eugenia Weiss, Jose E. Coll and Michael Metal the winners of the International Award for Excellence in the area of health and wellness with their paper The Influence of Military Culture and Veteran Worldviews on Mental Health Treatment: Practice Implications for Combat Veteran Help-seeking and Wellness.

Abstract: The influence of military cultural values consisting of unit cohesion (or the subordination of individual needs over the needs of the collective) the devotion to duty and to the mission, stoicism (emotional restraint) and the importance of adhering to the chain of command become guiding belief systems for military personnel. In fact, military culture has been recognized as a distinct sub-culture of American civilian society. Thus, in order to effectively reach veterans, practitioners need to explore the culturally based constructs of the warrior mentality or worldview. Mental health workers need to consider how military cultural values held by veterans interact with perceptions of trauma and affect their help seeking behaviors in general. Data shows that service personnel tend to under-report their mental health symptoms; are reluctant to seek out mental health services and if they do engage in treatment; they prematurely drop out of services. The reasons for this are complex, from the stigma associated with mental health issues, to the potential for negative work-related repercussions especially for the active duty service personnel (i.e., loss of promotion, medical discharge, or losing security clearance).

However, the authors believe that the reluctance for seeking services has more to do with the veteran’s worldview, than with the other reasons noted. Even though the U.S. military is making a concerted effort to de-stigmatize mental health and is attempting to ensure confidentiality and minimize negative career consequences, the reluctance continues to affect early intervention. The phenomenon described here with regards to treatment participation and compliance parallels the findings from the literature on cultural diversity and seeking therapy. It has been well established, that when working with culturally diverse clients, more than half do not return to therapy for a second session (Sue & Sue, 1999).

The authors have borrowed from Brown and Landum-Brown’s (1995) worldview dimensions to help us understand how worldviews and values (as adapted to military culture and “warrior ethos”) can impact a veteran’s attitude about seeking mental health services. Practical examples will be provided of how this model can be applied to combat veterans as a method of understanding their help seeking behaviors in order to more promote wellness in the veteran client population.

Conference Tour – Museum of Science and Industry Behind the Scenes Tour

Published on September 15, 2011 in Headline, News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Museum of Science and Industry Behind the Scenes Tour – Friday 9 March 2012

Join delegates for the behind the scenes tour of the world famous Science and Industry Museum. Led by an energetic MSI facilitator, you’ll learn fun and little-known facts about the Coal Mine, the Baby Chicks, the 727 and more. You’ll also go behind-the-scenes into Museum offices and work spaces, and enjoy exclusive access to areas not open to the general public. Then you will have as much time as you would like to explore the museum and view exhibits including Science Storms and YOU! The Experience. Please note the behind the scenes tour does include stairs.

For more information on the tour and other conference extras, please visit our website.

Call for Journal Editor

Published on August 30, 2011 in Headline, Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society seeks an editor, or team of editors, for a one-year term. This is an opportunity to make a significant contribution to what we believe will become one of the leading journals in its field, the journal’s associated conference and, more broadly, the knowledge-community which the journal and conference seek to serve.

The roles of the editor are to:

write an introduction for the Journal volume which would be included in the first issue for the year, and possibly on the website, the newsletter and other appropriate places or for the purposes of marketing and promotion.
collate papers addressing a theme of the editor’s choosing into a book, to be launched at the conference at the completion of the editor’s term. The chapters may be drawn from submissions to the journal during this or recent years, and other material as considered appropriate.
actively solicit manuscripts for the Journal from well-known and notable members of the community—these would could be refereed if the author wished, or regarded as ‘invited papers’.
assist the Commissioning Editor with suggestions of supplementary peer reviewers for specific papers (and this will never be burdensome – note that the Commissioning Editor of the Journal finalizes a majority of the peer reviewer requirements based on thematic matching and ‘mutual obligation’ principles in which all author requested to review up to three other papers).
promote the journal throughout their network and other associated networks.
maintain regular communications with the community via periodical blog posts to the community website (which feeds automatically to our email newsletter, Facebook and Twitter).

The editor will be offered a complimentary electronic subscription to the Journal, free copies of the book which they edit, an electronic subscription to the book series as well as complimentary registrations to attend the conferences at the beginning and end of their term.

Qualifications

The Editor of the Journal must possess the following attributes:

They will have successfully obtained higher degree, and have academic teaching and scholarly research experience in an area related to the subject matter of the Journal.
They will have published in this or other comparable scholarly journals.

Applicants are asked to send:

a cover letter outlining their interest and relevant experience, and the ways in which you would propose to enhance the profile of the journal
a curriculum vitae
a special theme outline: a title with paragraph explanation.

Please send applications and supporting documentation to journals@healthandsociety.com

The deadline for applications is 26 September 2011.

Announcing Plenary Speaker Bechara Choucair, M.D., Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health

Published on August 18, 2011 in Conference, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo of Bechara Choucair, M.D., Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health

We are pleased to announce that Bechara Choucair, M.D., Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health will be joining us for the 2012 Health and Wellness Conference in Chicago, IL from 10-11 March.

Appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley on November 25, 2009, Dr. Choucair is re-shaping the department to meet the public health challenges of the 21^st century.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Choucair earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Chemistry (with distinction) and a Medical Diploma from American University of Beirut.

From 1997-2000 he did his Family Practice Residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In 2009 he earned a Master’s Degree in Health Care Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.

From 2001-05, Dr. Choucair served as Medical Director of Crusader Community Health in Rockford, Illinois. From 2005-09, he was Executive Director of Heartland International Health Center. He has served as Vice-chair of Community Medicine, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

Awards he has earned include the Loretta Lacey Maternal and Child Health Advocacy Award, Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition, 2009; Health Professions Training and Education Award, National Association of Community Health Centers, 2008; American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Pfizer Teacher Development Award, 2007; and Forrest Riordan Humanitarian Award, 2005.

For more information regarding our plenary speakers, please visit our website.

International Conference on Health, Wellness and Society: An Interdisciplinary Conference Announced

Published on June 1, 2011 in Conference and Headline. 0 Comments Tags: flash, sticky.

The 2012 conference will be held at the University Center, Chicago, USA from 10-11 March 2012.

Call for Papers

If you intend to present a paper at the conference, your participation begins with submission of a paper proposal. For information on proposals, presentation types, and other options, please see our website. To submit a proposal, please click here. If your proposal is accepted, you will then need to register for the Conference.

Registration

Those who submit paper proposals should register following the acceptance of the proposal. Conference delegates who do not intend to present may register at any time. For registration options, or to register for the 2012 Health and Society Conference, see: http://healthandsociety.com/conference-2012/register/.

Themes

For more information on our themes, please click here.

International Health, Wellness and Society Conference Report

Published on February 17, 2011 in Headline and Newsletter. 1 Comment

By all indications the International Conference on Health, Wellness and Society was very well received and successful in attracting a truly international knowledge community.

If you participated , thank you for your contribution to the International Conference on Health Wellness and Society, 20-22 January, 2011 at the University of California, Berkeley USA. Regardless of how far you traveled, your discipline area or professional focus, your involvement advanced the conference’s commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing. We greatly appreciate the addition of your particular perspective and expertise to the discussion.

We would also like to thank the conference virtual participants who, although unable to attend the conference, join the conference community by submitting their papers and contributing to the refereeing process.

Delegates who attended the conference as well as virtual delegates may upload their presentations and videos to the Common Ground YouTube site. Information about uploading your presentation may be found at: http://healthandsociety.com/conference-2011/online-presentations/ . You can also be a part of our Common Ground YouTube community by joining the conference group and becoming a subscriber at: http://www.youtube.com/user/CGPublishing?feature=chclk#p/p (click on the yellow “subscribe” button near the top left corner of the screen). In addition, you are invited to join our online conversation by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter and RSS feeds at http://healthandsociety.com/conference-2011/. We also have a Facebook community at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-Wellness-and-Society/103687329680957 and a Twitter feed at: http://twitter.com/healthnsociety.

We would like to give our sincere thanks to the outstanding conference plenary speakers , Gary Kreps, Department of Communication, George Mason University, USA, George Lambie, Department of Public Policy, De Montfort University, UK, Linda Neuhauser, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA and Brigadier General Margaret Wilmoth, U.S. Army Reserves.

Our thanks go out as well to Larry Adelman, California Newsreel, for the special screening of the moving documentary, Money Driven Medicine. For those in attendance who requested more information regarding the film please visit:

Dr. Donald Berwick’s pioneering article, “Escape Fire: Lessons for the Future of Health Care,” which reconceptualizes the delivery of hospital care: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/berwick_escapefire_563.pdf

Maggie Mahar’s blog, Health Beat: www.healthbeatblog.org

Background, transcripts and teaching materials for Money-Driven Medicine: www.moneydrivenmedicine.org

Of related interest: Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, the award-winning series that explores the root causes of the nation’s alarming class and racial inequities in health: www.unnaturalcauses.org

Once again, thank you all for attending and presenting. If you are a virtual participant, we owe our thanks to you as well for submitting presentations to our YouTube site as well as for submitting papers to the journal.

We hope that there will be news soon about the location of the 2012 Health Conference. Please keep checking our website for updates at http://www.health-conference.com