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News Releases
MU Researchers to Present at White House Aging Conference
Columbia, Mo. (Feb. 18, 2005)--Two health researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia are gearing up for Missouri's 2nd Show-Me Summit on Aging and Health "The Challenge of the Ages," a 2005 White House Conference on Aging that will take place March 14-16 in Branson, Mo. Kristofer Hagglund, director of the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center's (MARRTC) Capacity Building, Dissemination and Health Policy Projects, and John Hewett, principal investigator for MARRTC, are planning to give presentations on two different areas of expertise.
Hagglund, who serves as co-director of MU's Center for Health Policy, will present on "Innovations in Reducing Health Disparities in Missouri." His session will focus on racial and ethnic health care disparities in Missouri. Hagglund also will discuss existing and planned programs that are in place to reduce those disparities in the state. Last month, MU's Center of Health Policy formed a partnership with Washington University in St. Louis to create a health disparities center to confront health care disparities in rural and urban areas.
Hewett will present on "Fact From Fiction: What is the Evidence that this Proposed Treatment Will Work for Me?" This session will teach people how to distinguish between credible and unproven remedies; how to evaluate information; and how to find beneficial self-care ideas. The session will be based on Hewett's research project titled, "Fact from Fiction: Reading Between the Lines of Arthritis News and Advertising," a free, six-week online course that teaches consumers to do just that. Hewett's next course will take place July 11, 2005 through August 5, 2005.
"The online educational program for consumers, part of the MARRTC grant, is extremely innovative," says Jerry C. Parker, director of MARRTC and associate chief of staff for research and development at the Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital. "Persons with arthritis are confronted with advertisements for new products and treatments on a routine basis. The MARRTC sponsored program will offer a framework for improving decision-making."
For information about MARRTC, visit the Web site at http://www.marrtc.org.
The Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B031120) and is the only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions.
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