Is Arthritis Turning the United States Into a Sick and Disabled Nation?

National Summit addresses growing public health crisis: disparities in musculoskeletal health and arthritis affecting women and racial/ethnic minorities

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Movement is Life

Sep 15, 2010, 11:17 ET

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ --


WHAT:	MOVEMENT IS LIFE: A National Summit on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health Disparities is a multi-disciplinary and cross-functional dialogue about musculoskeletal health disparities and the onset of osteoarthritis. Stakeholders engaged in the continuum of care for women and the country's largest racial/ethnic minority groups (African-Americans and Hispanics) will discuss topics including the physical and economic burden of arthritic pain and disability and the impact on chronic disease management; the role of cultural and social/psychological factors; the crisis in the minority medical pipeline; patient activism; cultural competency and unconscious bias; the role of public policy and private foundations, among other issues.

WHY:	Arthritis is the single greatest cause of chronic pain and disability among Americans and costs the nation more than $128 billion a year in medical care and lost earnings. More than 27 million Americans suffer from the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA), and almost 40 percent report activity and work limitations. Studies have shown that women, African-Americans and Latinos are disproportionately affected by arthritis and have more severe pain and limitation. Despite these factors, arthritis is not widely discussed.

WHO:	A collaborative meeting presented by:
	American Association of Latino Orthopaedic Surgeons
	American Diabetes Association
	Arthritis Foundation
	Association of Black Cardiologists
	Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, Inc.
	Black Women's Health Imperative
	Center for Urban Families
	Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International
	J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society
	National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses
	National Hispanic Council on Aging
	National Urban League
	Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society
	To Our Children's Future with Health, Inc.
	US Bone and Joint Decade
	W. Montague Cobb NMA Health Institute


WHERE:	Doubletree Hotel Bethesda, 8120 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD (Near NIH Campuses)

WHEN:	September 20-21, 2010

HIGHLIGHTS:
Monday, September 20
8:30 AM	Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
9:15 AM	Brian D. Smedley, Ph.D., Vice President, Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
12:00 PM	Cato Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., Dean at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Tuesday, September 21
1:00 PM	Panel Discussion Featuring:
	Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases:
	Dr. Henry Giles, Director of the Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC
	Jeffrey Lewis, President, Heinz Family Philanthropies