Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity Presents “Voices of African-American Health”

August 27, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has once again partnered with the Winston-Salem Delta Fine Arts Inc. to produce a photojournalism exhibit titled “Voices of African-American Health.” The exhibit will open at Rowan Regional Medical Center on Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m. and will be on display through Aug. 30. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Twenty-four African Americans from the Forsyth County area were each provided with four disposable cameras and a hard-bound journal and asked to document their experiences with illness and the health care system for one month. Participants suffered from chronic disease themselves, served as caretaker for another person with an illness, or both. A range of health conditions were represented, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, mental illness and infant mortality.

“This project plays a critical role in raising awareness of minority health and health inequalities,” said Jaimie Hunter, M.P.H., research associate with the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity (formerly the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health). “Moreover, the project enabled participants to tell their stories in their own words rather than having researchers, who don’t know the community as well, tell it for them.”

Hunter will speak at the exhibit opening about the importance of this project and the impact it has on the community. The project was funded by the Society for Arts in Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson Inc.

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Media Relations Contacts: Megan Lunn, mlunn@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-5437; Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu

Media Relations

Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587