March 29, 2024

Olbrich to Speak at HSMP Meeting

Meeting

Kat Olbrich will join the list of speakers at the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership’s annual meeting in September. Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership is supported by MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown.

Ms. Olbrich is the Maryland and Delaware area director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In this position, she educates the public and organizes programs that focus on eliminating the loss of life from suicide, including the Southern Maryland Out of the Darkness Walk. In her presentation, she will discuss the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s initiative to reduce the annual rate of suicide in the US 20 percent by 2025 and its four critical areas of focus.

The meeting will be held Sept. 19 at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland, formerly the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center.

Kat Olbrich

The annual meeting provides an opportunity for participants to network, learn from public health experts, and receive updates on local health improvement efforts. The meeting will include learning sessions from distinguished speakers on various topics related to the four priority health issues facing St. Mary’s County: Access to Care, Behavioral Health, Healthy Eating & Active Living, and Tobacco Use & Exposure to Secondhand Smoke.

Amber Starn, an epidemiologist and director of health promotions for the Charles County Department of Health, will lead a session on Paving the Way to a Healthier Community. She has over 15 years experience working in the public health arena as an epidemiologist, grant writer, health educator, and clinical researcher. The presentation will give an overview of the Charles County Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, outlining program eligibility, the referral process, sources of funding, program outcomes, success stories, challenges, lessons learned, and future expansion.

Lisa Wack has been with The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County for five years and is currently the director of community health improvement. Through this role, she works on addressing health priorities in close collaboration with local businesses and nonprofits, government agencies, public and private schools, and the faith community. Dorothy Fox is the president and CEO of The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County. Her early career days as a certified psychiatric rehab practitioner gave her the opportunity to work with homeless populations, programs for chronic mentally ill adults including the jail diversion program, and she began the first domestic violence safe house in Carroll County.

Ms. Wack and Ms. Fox will describe the impetus behind the Carroll Anti-Stigma Resilience Effort , or CARE, campaign, the diverse local coalition behind it, and the strategies being used to dispel myths, overcome stigma, and provide tools for communicating effectively about behavioral health.

For more information, call 301-475-6777 or email [email protected].

Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership is supported by MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown.

For more information and one-click access to a full list of resources available at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, visit its Leader member page.

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