WASHINGTON -- “Women of Color: Addressing Disparities, Affirming Resilience and Developing Strategies for Success,” held here recently, was the third summit to address health disparities among minority women in the U.S.

Previous summits were held in 1997 and 2004. But unlike the previous summits, this one focused on skills-building. It was full of workshops where women working in the community met experts, so they came away from the summit learning successful models and solutions that worked in other communities.

The workshops provided opportunities for collective thinking and creative problem solving to: Increase awareness about health issues of women of color; explore current prevention strategies, including strength-based approaches that work in various communities; and foster community partnerships to identify and implement the best practices to target prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect women of color.

The action-oriented workshops featured a range of health topics including cancer, HIV/AIDS, breast health, diabetes, violence against women and mental health.

The multi-cultural summit at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill was organized by the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, in collaboration with the Minority Women’s Health Panel of Experts.

“This conference is about strengths, assets and tools,” said Dr. Wanda Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary of health and Director of the Office of Women’s Health. Communities are empowered and can take action to develop agenda for health promotion and prevention, by building on the knowledge gained in previous conferences and highlighting in the skills building workshop all successful models and solutions.

Participants

Public health advocates, community-and faith-based leaders, minority women’s health coalition directors and consumers, shared experiences, highlighted successful programs and provided action-oriented strategies.

“This summit addressed issues based on listening sessions that were held around the country for about a year, coordinated by regional women’s health coordinator,” said Frances Ashe-Goins, Deputy Director of Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health.

“This is what women on the ground said they want to hear about, and from that we developed our abstract process, and we made sure that every speaker coming to the workshop brought a skill that everybody can learn,” she added.

Experts discussed pregnancy and violence, sexualization/exploitation of children, teen dating violence, cultural competency and domestic violence. Heart disease is of particular concern for African Americans and American Indian and Alaskan. For Asian American Pacific Islanders, the culprit is all combined cancers. Many diseases can be managed by lifestyle changes.

Also discussed were auto-immune conditions/diseases of particular concern to women of color, such as Systemic Lupus Erythematasos, Sarcoidosis, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Heart wrenching post-Katrina disaster stories was heard. It focused on emergency preparedness and the unique concerns for minority women when disaster strikes.

Education

Experts talked about “Overcoming Challenges through Education and Communication.” Empowerment needs information and education. Education needs to be turned into action. Information, services, and education has to be made available where minority women live, work, and play in order to close the education gap. The role of women is especially strong in minorities: they are the heart beat and the backbone of families.

Culturally, a woman takes care of everybody else first and takes care of themselves last, leaving them at risk. “Put your oxygen mask on first before you take care of somebody else,” said Frances Ashe-Goins, Deputy Director of Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health, citing an analogy on airplane safety tips.

“Issues that impacted us in 1895 are still impacting us today, said Dr. Nelson L. Adams, President of National Medical Association, on “wellness, and elimination of health disparities.” As much as 50% of wellness/health depends on our choices. “The secret sauce is education,” he added.

Financial barriers, physical barriers, barriers related to information or education remain a prevailing challenge. “Healthy People 2010,” developed by The Department of Health and Human Services challenges individuals, communities, and professionals to take specific steps to ensure good health and long life.