Conference Raises Awareness

The fifth annual Latino Health Equity Conference came to campus on Friday. The goal of the conference was to raise awareness and engage California State University, Long Beach’s academic and larger community in health equity research focused on Latinos.

Guest speakers, such as Hortensia Amaro from University of Southern California and Marilyn Aguirre-Molina from City University of New York, spoke on topics related to this year’s theme – “Growing Healthy Cultures: Manteniendo Tradiciones Saludables,” which translates to “keeping healthy traditions.”

In addition to the guest speakers, approximately 50 students displayed their work to their community through posters. Poster themes covered a range of topics, from mood management for minority women to the impact of discrimination on sleep.

“We need to address Latino health equity because we don’t have equity,” said Britt Rios-Ellis, director of NCLR/CSULB’s Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership. “So if we are really going to strive for justice and equality – and I think those are the tendons of our country – we really need to focus on the Latino population because of the inequities that are currently experienced.”

This marked the final Latino Health Equity Conference because the grant that funds it, Hispanic Health Opportunity Learning Alliance, concludes this year, said Alex Garbanati, graphic artist and media coordinator for the event.

“The grant uses health science graduate mentor fellows to guide undergrad students in similar majors toward academic success and often graduate school,” Garbanati said. “The grant originally called for a conference to support 75 people, but due to demand, it has grown considerably every year. Last year was our biggest success with over 550 attendees.”

For more information on the event, click here.

Written by Ruben Diaz