Ivan Walks, MD, to Present at 44th National Immunization Conference
Ivan Walks, MD, President and CEO, Ivan Walks & Associates (IWA) and Carlessia Hussein, RN, PhD, Director, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) have been selected to present at the 44th National Immunization Conference (NIC).
NIC is sponsored by the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and will be held April 19-22, 2010 in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Walks and Dr. Hussein are scheduled to present a discussion on "Culturally Competent H1N1 Vaccine Communications and Outreach in Maryland." Their presentation will be during workshop A2, "Communication Strategies to Vaccinate Minority and Other Special Populations Against H1N1" which is scheduled for Monday, April 19, 2010, starting at 11:00 AM.
Please visit http://cdc.gov/vaccines/events/nic for more information about NIC. For more information on Dr. Walks or IWA, please contact us at info@ivanwalks.com or 301-357-8324, extension 500.
Ivan Walks, MD named Medical Committee Chair, DC Affiliate of NBLCA
Founded in November 1987, The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) is the oldest and largest not-for-profit organization of its kind in the United States. The NBLCA’s mission is to educate, organize, and empower Black leadership, including clergy, elected officials, medical practitioners, business professionals, social policy experts, and the media to meet the challenge of fighting HIV/AIDS in their local communities.
In his role as Chair of the Medical Committee for the NBLCA affiliate in Washington, DC, Dr. Ivan Walks is responsible for working across stakeholder groups to conduct research, and encourage advocacy to ensure effective local participation in all policy and resource allocation decisions relative to HIV and AIDS and their spread in the African American community.
For more information about Dr. Walks and his work with the NBLCA, email info@ivanwalks.com or call 301-357-8324, ext. 500.
Dr. Ivan C.A. Walks selected to serve on MD Swine Flu Advisory Board
On April 30, 2009, Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Dr. Ivan C.A. Walks, Dr. John G. Bartlett, Dr. Frank M. Calia, Dr. Thomas V. Inglesby, Dr. James P. Nataro and Dr. Ina Stephens to a board established to advise him and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) on issues related to the occurrence of the H1N1 (swine) influenza virus in the state.
“The members of this advisory board represent some of the best minds in medicine, infectious disease and pediatrics and have already provided invaluable advice and guidance,” said Governor O’Malley. “While we making every preparation we can as a state, the decisions ahead may broadly impact the lives of all Marylanders, and each member of this advisory board brings the scientific, clinical and academic guidance that will be immensely valuable in this decision-making process. We fully expect to see more cases of swine flu in Maryland, and will continue to provide the public with the latest information possible.”
For more information about Dr. Walks and his work with the Maryland Swine Flu Advisory Board, email info@ivanwalks.com or call 301-357-8324, ext. 500.
“My Family Knows” presented at NCHCMM
Dr. Ivan C.A. Walks, President and CEO, Ivan Walks & Associates (IWA) made an oral presentation entitled, "“MY FAMILY KNOWS:” A Health Marketing and Communications Campaign to Inform and Educate “at Risk” African American and Hispanic American Girls and Their Families about the Threat of HPV Infection" during the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media (NCHCMM) to be held in Atlanta, GA August 11-13, 2009.
“My Family Knows” was conceived as a grassroots collaborative that operated from the premise that a particular health disparity or threat to vulnerable and “at risk” populations, human papillomavirus (HPV) in this case, could not be eliminated without first eliminating the underlying causes(s). Before its rollout, however, the inherent health communication and marketing campaign had to be seen as viable and perceived as genuinely addressing an issue using a community specific approach.
At NCHCMM, Dr. Walks discussed how to ensure that there are concrete campaign goals as well as a clear understanding of the targeted audience(s) and their cultural mores. He also talked about how to develop messaging and content that are relevant to, and resonate within, “hard to reach” communities.
NCHCMM was sponsored by the National Center for Health Marketing, the Office of Enterprise Communication, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Cancer Institute and the National Public Health Information Coalition. It brought together individuals representing academia, public health researchers and practitioners from federal and state government and the private sector, and was a forum for collegial dialogue within and across these disciplines.
For more information about the conference or background on Dr. Walks or the “My Family Knows” health communication and marketing campaign, email info@ivanwalks.com or call 301-357-8324, ext. 500.
IWA Supporting H1N1 Outreach and Health Communications Efforts in Maryland
Ivan Walks & Associates (IWA) is providing health communications and marketing expertise to the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (MHHD) and the Office of Communications under the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH).
Among the assigned tasks, IWA is responsible for reviewing and evaluating H1N1 (Swine Flu) messaging and materials for their cultural competence and relevancy to Maryland’s various populations and communities of care. Other efforts pertain to the delivery of Outreach Skills Training to select Community Health Workers as well as representatives from the local health departments who will be responsible for grassroots dissemination of socially significant and relevant H1N1 information.
For more information, email info@ivanwalks.com or call 301-357-8324, ext. 500.
IWA Awarded Contracts to Support U.S. Military Health
In October 2009, Ivan Walks & Associates (IWA) was awarded contracts from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force respectively to provide medical staffing support to the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) at Keller Army Community Hospital on the campus of the U.S. military academy at West Point, project management staff to the U.S. Air Force Medical Service’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) under the Department’s Modernization Directorate, clinical resources to the Clinical Optimization Military Provider ALHTA Satisfaction Strategy (COMPASS) program under the Chief Medical Technology Officer of the U.S. Air Force’s Modernization Directorate, and systems analysts on an Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) created to standardize IT help desk services and support.
For more information, email info@ivanwalks.com or call 301-357-8324, ext. 500.