Webinar 5: Health Promotion in Community Based Organizations: Understanding the Needs and Capacity
3:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time
Presenters: Jasmina Sisirak, PhD, MPH (jsisirak@uic.edu) and Beth Marks, PhD, RN (bmarks1@uic.edu)
Abstract: Focusing only on motivating individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to change their behaviors oftentimes results in many people returning to unhealthy behaviors because their environment does not recognize the influence and importance of organizational attitudes, policy, and “corporate cultures” on individual behavior change. We evaluated organizational health promotion programs and services, resources, organizational culture and employee’s perception of knowledge, skills and attitudes in over 70 community based organizations (CBOs) in seven states. We will share the results of our findings and recommendations for improving health promotion capacity within CBOs.
Presenter bios:
Jasmina Sisirak, PhD, MPH is an Associate Director of Training and Dissemination at the RRTCDD and the Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Jasmina received her PhD in Public Health with emphasis in Epidemiology and Community Health. Her research interests consist of nutrition, health literacy, health promotion and curriculum development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers. Jasmina is also Associate Director of the HealthMatters Program.
Beth Marks, RN, PhD, FAAN is a Research Associate Professor at the Department of Disability and Human Development, UIC and the Associate Director for Research in the RRTCDD. Her research interests include the empowerment and advancement of persons with disabilities through health promotion, health advocacy, and primary health care. She has published numerous articles and books related to health promotion, health advocacy, and primary health care for people with disabilities. Dr. Marks is also the Director of the HealthMatters Program.