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Unintentional Injuries, Workers' Health And Major Risks For Heart Disease Are Among The Topics Addressed At APA/CDC Conference In Atlanta

ATLANTA -- Over 150 behavioral and public health research professionals will share their research in an upcoming conference aimed at preventing the proliferation of many contemporary diseases and common injuries and accidents.

The American Psychological Association (APA) in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and 13 other collaborating organizations will sponsor the conference entitled, Public Health in the 21st Century: Behavioral and Social Science Contributions, May 7-9, 1998, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel.

The APA/CDC conference, consisting of more than 70 hours of plenary sessions, symposia and dialog sessions, will focus on what behavioral and social sciences can offer in understanding, preventing and treating many chronic and terminal diseases and public health dangers. Currently, some of the most vexing health problems facing Americans are influenced by individual behaviors and surrounding social and environmental conditions. These major problems include: heart disease, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, violence and injury in the workplace, accidents at home and in the community, environmental pollution, infectious diseases, tobacco use and drug and alcohol abuse.

Some of the major areas of presentations include:

• Risks and Interventions for Cardiovascular Disease - Evidence has been found that those who lack social relations are at an increased risk for developing heart disease. This presentation will examine how social connection, socioeconomic status and race differences in utilization of the health care system can influence heart disease and mortality rates and how social/behavioral strategies can be used to prevent the proliferation of heart disease.

• Perspectives on Unintentional Injuries and Violence Prevention - Why do certain behaviors and environments lead to accidental deaths and injuries? In these symposia, risk factors for car accidents, bicycle-related head injuries and housefire deaths will be examined. Also, the increase in violence in emergency rooms, children's injuries in the home and at play and work-related stresses and injury are examined.

• Perspectives on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and Tuberculosis (TB) Risk Factors and Prevention - Because AIDS is a life-threatening disease and is usually accompanied by other STDs, sexual behavior needs to be taken more seriously, especially with adolescents. This presentation examines the need for public policy makers and community health workers to put more emphasis on examining these diseases in the general population and within the specific populations most affected by them.

• Influences on Chronic and Infectious Diseases - Can premature death and disability from chronic disease be avoided by change in a person's behavior? These presentations will examine how families and parents guide their children's behavior toward breaking unhealthy patterns. Community and social policies that encourage people to start and maintain healthy behaviors will also be discussed. Behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of new and re-emerging infectious diseases will also be examined (HIV/AIDS and sexual behavior; foodborne agents such as E. coli, food preparation and child care; dengue fever and environmental hygiene and hospital acquired pathogens and hand washing) as well as how to handle public responses to infectious diseases of unknown origins, such as the latest chicken flu epidemic in Hong Kong.

• Perspectives in Occupational Health & Safety Intervention - Workers who have a low level of control over their work flow, have many demands placed on them and have virtually no social support are more likely to have higher levels of stress hormones and are at an increased risk for dying from cardiac problems. They also are more prone to having lower back injury, cumulative trauma disorders and to suffer from depression. The researchers will explain some of the hidden occupational stressors, such as work schedule, job design, interpersonal aspects of work, career concerns, management style and an organization's characteristics that might impede workers' health. They will also examine the characteristics of a healthy workplace.

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 155,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 50 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 58 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.

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