Last week, the University of Kentucky Healthcare system in conjunction with the UK College of Medicine held its second annual Appalachian Research Day to present the findings of a diverse range of research on medicine areas affecting the Appalachian Region at the UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH).
Research presentations this year included: healthy lifestyles, depression, lung cancer screening, drug use and health-related risk behaviors. All of the health topics just mentioned are ones that adversely affect residents of the Appalachian region. “Our women seem to have the highest rates of depression in Appalachia. However, they have the lowest access to care,” said Fran Feltner, the center’s director. The event also serves as a forum to promote the advancements the UK Healthcare system has made in certain areas of treatment such as cancer. The University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center used the event to highlight “the center’s major accomplishments in patient care, recruitment, research and outreach from the past year.”
Events such as this promote knowledge-sharing amongst the region’s researchers, to better enable discussion and progress on the poignant topics of the region’s major health concerns.