Community partnerships shape health outcomes long before a patient walks into a clinic. Researchers from Japan will visit the University of Iowa (UI) and, alongside U.S. based health care professionals, will share how their work is improving health and well-being through community-based approaches, from suicide prevention in schools to addiction treatment in primary care and brain health for older adults.
This event is free and open to the public, will take place in person on the UI campus, but will also be available to join virtually via Zoom.
Zoom link to access the event: https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/93364258210
Register for event reminders: https://international.uiowa.edu/world-cafe-event-reminder-sign
The event features three Japan-based researchers alongside Dr. Andrea Weber, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and clinical associate professor of internal medicine in the UI Carver College of Medicine. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A and informal exchange of ideas.
Dr. Kenji Kawano, a professor in the College of Comprehensive Psychology at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, studies suicide prevention, suicide survivor support, and stigma reduction. Their presentation will examine efforts to implement suicide prevention interventions in Japanese schools and the challenges that accompany them.
Dr. Ethan Sahker (PhD counseling psychology ‘19), a UI alumnus and currently a junior associate professor in the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, will speak to improving addiction treatment access and reducing the treatment gap through primary care screening and brief intervention focused on community-based motivational factors. His research focuses on addiction treatment clinical epidemiology, and primary care intervention development to improve treatment access for the underprivileged and underserved.
Joining virtually, Ai Iizuka, a geriatrician researcher at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Geriatrics and Gerontology in Itabashi, Japan, will discuss using the Japanese board game “Go” to promote brain health among older adults in the U.S. Iizuka previously conducted dementia risk reduction research in Iowa City as a visiting scholar in the UI Department of Community and Behavioral Health. Her research focuses on leisure activity and cognitive functioning of older adults, and she has been conducting clinical trials to test interventions to improve cognitive functioning among older adults.
Dr. Andrea Weber, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and clinical associate professor of internal medicine in the UI Carver College of Medicine, will also present.
The event is co-sponsored by International Programs and the College of Public Health.