Invited Symposium I: Health Equity and Well-Being From the Start: An Approach to Health Across the Life Course

(2-022) invited symposium I, Grand Ballroom A

Health Equity and Well-Being from the Start: An Approach to Health Across the Life Course, Seacliff D

Organizer: Andra Tharp, PhD,Health Scientist, Research and Evaluation Branch, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and, Control, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Presenters: Marilyn Metzler, RN, MPH, Senior Analyst for Social Determinants of Health Equity, Office of the Director, Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Melissa T. Merrick, PhD, Surveillance Branch, Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Larry Adelman, California Newsreel, Executive Producer, American Birthright

Over the past two decades, a robust and growing literature has provided significant evidence of the relationships between social and economic conditions and health.  These findings are informing the development of new areas of public health research and practice.  They are also being used to establish targets for the health of the US population.  For example, Healthy People 2020 has a new topic area on social determinants of health and includes improving on-time high school completion rates as one of ten leading indicators for the decade.

In this symposium, we will provide an overview of select health equity activities in the US, including emerging work in the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Violence Prevention.  We will then focus on the connection between early childhood and health across the life-course by reviewing findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Child Maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences impact physical and mental health and brain development across the lifespan.  The ACE Study presents compelling data to support the importance of prevention. We will conclude with an overview and video clips from a new multi-media initiative and public engagement campaign to debut in fall 2013 which explores how a strong start for all our children can lead to a healthier, stronger, and more equitable America. Raising America: Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation is being developed by California Newsreel, producer of the highly acclaimed Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

Marilyn Metzler, RN, MPH, is the Senior Analyst for Social Determinants of Health Equity in the Office of the Director, Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.  She has led a range of social determinants of health activities during her 13 years at CDC.  In her current role, she leads health equity projects within DVP; is co-author of Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address the Social Determinants of Health; and, is a member of the CDC Health Equity work group. Metzler is a registered nurse who returned to school in her mid-forties to earn a BA in philosophy from Smith College in Northampton, MA.  She completed her MPH in 2010 at Morehouse School of Medicine, a historical Black College and University, in Atlanta, GA.

Melissa T. Merrick, PhD, is a behavioral scientist with the Surveillance Branch in the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Her major research interests focus on the etiology, course, and prevention of child maltreatment.  In particular, much of her current work examines safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments as they relate to child maltreatment prevention.  Dr. Merrick serves as the Lead Scientist for the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study in DVP and as a Subject Matter Expert for Child Maltreatment.  She is also a coauthor of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) 2010 Summary Report, interested primarily in violence experienced in childhood and adolescence.   

Larry Adelman is co-director, American Birthright and executive producer, California Newsreel (www.newsreel.org) where he is the creator and executive producer of a documentary film series and multi-media initiative now in production called The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of the Nation (www.raisingofamerica.org) which aims to reframe the way Americans think about early child health and development.  Adelman was also the creator and executive producer of the award-winning documentary series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (www.unnaturalcauses.org) and Race-The Power of an Illusion (www.pbs.org/race), both broadcast nationally by PBS.  Among other award-winning documentaries broadcast by PBS he has produced, co-produced and / or directed are The Business of America…, Collision Course and The Road to Brown.