For Immediate Release
October 10, 2023
For more information, contact:
Cara Sloan-Ramos
~Different Paths, One Kansas ~
WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) has partnered with the Kansas Prevention Collaborative (KPC) to host the sixth annual Kansas Prevention Conference October 12-13, 2023, with a pre-conference session October 11. This year’s conference, “Different Paths, One Kansas,” welcomes two nationally recognized keynote speakers and breakout session speakers from across Kansas.
The KPC Conference will provide attendees with educational opportunities to increase awareness of emerging trends in prevention, build skills and knowledge to prevent suicide, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug misuse, and advocate for best practices. Participants in the conference will also learn ways to connect and network with their community.
“Year after year, our partners at KPC bring together experts with extensive knowledge to share best practices for prevention with stakeholders and advocates across the state who take the lead in achieving our goal of making prevention a principal part of the overall public health conversation in Kansas,” KDADS Secretary Laura Howard said. “All of us are aware of the life-threatening impact opioids are having on families and communities in our state so this conference comes at a time when focusing on harm reduction tools is critical to shift attitudes about prevention efforts and focus on keeping people alive.”
The conference will kick off October 12 with a keynote address by speaker Dr. Monty Burks, Director of Faith-Based Initiatives for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Dr. Burks will share a keynote titled, “Building Blocks – Faith, Prevention, Recovery.”
Dr. Fred Rottnek, Professor and Director of Community Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the Program Director of the Saint Louis University Addiction Medicine Fellowship, will close the conference on October 13 with a keynote presentation, “The Intersection of Substance Use and Trauma on the Path to One Kansas.”
KDADS’ Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Commission and the KPC are excited to provide this learning opportunity to communities across Kansas. To learn more about the conference, view the schedule, and read more about the keynote speakers, visit kansaspreventioncollaborative.org/conference.
KPC is a group of six partner organizations funded by KDADS working to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. This conference is part of KPC’s strategy to ensure that Kansans get the tools they need to prevent underage drinking, substance misuse, problem gambling, and suicide. Partner organizations are KDADS, Kansas Suicide Prevention HQ, Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute, DCCCA, Learning Tree Institute at Greenbush, and Life Span Institute University of Kansas.
These six partner organizations along with 10 conference sponsors make this year’s event possible: Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Care Source, Health Blue, CKF Addiction Treatment, United HealthCare, Holland Pathways, Valley Hope Addiction Treatment and Recovery, Kansas Attorney General’s Office, Community Behavioral Health, and Six Feet Over.
About the Kansas Prevention Collaborative:
The Kansas Prevention Collaborative was created in 2015 to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. A partnership of several different state, educational, and provider agencies, the KPC’s goal is to expand prevention efforts to be more inclusive of mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and problem gambling education and awareness, as well as to increase the availability of resources to adequately fund local-level prevention and promotion strategic plans. For interviews, media inquiries, or more information, please contact the Kansas Prevention Collaborative at [email protected].