Community Liver Alliance: Addressing Disparities in Liver Diseases Conference
The Community Liver Alliance is collaborating with national colleagues to host our first Addressing Disparities in Liver Diseases Conference. This virtual Conference will be held on April 18, 2023 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST.
Health disparities in the United States became more apparent during the pandemic. The conference empowers us to address health disparities, including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. These health disparity populations constitute a large proportion of patients with liver disease and evidence suggests that these populations are disproportionately affected by several common hepatic disorders, which include viral hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, access to liver transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Our engagement through this virtual program will reach diverse and high-risk communities, build bridges to healthcare, access to services and resources. Our aim is to affect health and racial equity among the most vulnerable individuals.
Our speakers represent people with lived experience and diverse experts from the state and across the nation. In order to optimize our understanding of health disparities, we must be mindful that there are many determinants of health beyond access to and provision of health care. Studies suggest that the provision of health care accounts for only a small proportion of an individual’s overall health state. Genetics, the external and social environment, socioeconomic status, education and literacy, cultural norms, and personal behavior all contribute powerfully to an individual’s health. Partnership between people with lived experience, clinicians, public health workers, payers, policymakers, and community-based organizations is imperative to achieve a thorough understanding of where, when, what, how and why disparities exist and to develop and implement strategies to reduce health disparities, thus affecting health equity.
The interactive sessions will provide context, dialogue and the opportunity to form breakout groups to identify strategies to address these disparities and affect positive change. Topics include, Liver Transplantation, Liver Cancer, Fatty Liver/NASH, Viral Hepatitis/Substance Use Disorder.