Dr. Rhonda Mattox, medical director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, will be the keynote speaker at the Emotional Wellness Summit.
The event is open to the public and will be held Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the Arkansas River Education Service Cooperative, 912 W. Sixth Ave. Beginning at 9 a.m., the event will conclude by discussing priorities for Jefferson County by 3 p.m.
Mattox is physician, community advocate and a native Arkansan. She is a board-certified physician in psychiatry and neurology as well as the recipient of numerous honors and awards.
A panel addressing directions for the next steps includes Sheriff Gerald Robinson, Alderman Steven Mays, administrator/trainer Derrick Newby and the Rev. Jesse Turner, executive director of Interested Citizens for Voter Registration.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and and Tri County Rural Health Network are sponsoring the free summit to develop strategies for improving emotional health in Jefferson County through community discussions throughout the day.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Mattox and UAMS faculty members Keneshia Bryant, Ph.D., and Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., will provide data and information around which to center discussion on next steps. Bryant is a specialist in depression research.
“We have finished two years of research funded by the Patient-Centered Research Institute in Jefferson County and now are taking the next step: planning action to improve the community,” Haynes of UAMS said. “We plan to use the summit as the foundation on which to build community initiatives and collaborations as well as grant applications.”
The community advisory board for the summit include Robinson, Mays, Newby, Turner, the Rev. George Barnes, Pamela Barnes Earnest, Carolyn Ferguson, Shawn Lewis, Carol Mendenhall, Wanda Neal, Temika Rogers, the Rev. Johnny Smith, Melva Trask and Angela Turner.