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Report: Substance abuse among elders lower locally than state rate

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For a decade now, the Family Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania has been holding its National Family Week Conference, dedicated to educating people on family health. This Friday, that tradition continued.</p><p>Held at the Best Western Plus Genetti Hotel &amp; Conference Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre, the conference annually changes its theme to focus on different things that could impact the health of the family unit. This year&#8217;s theme, according to Amber Loomis, chief advancement officer of the association, was the social determinants of health.</p><p>Loomis said that it&#8217;s often the socioeconomic background of an individual &#8212; whether or not their family could afford food, proper housing and other necessities &#8212; has a major impact on that individual&#8217;s health as they grow.</p><p>Throughout Friday&#8217;s conference, numerous workshops, sessions and speakers focused on a wide range of topics under the umbrella of social determinants of health, including housing and food insecurity, childhood trauma, substance abuse and the isolation of seniors.</p><p>More than 260 individuals took part in the conference. While Loomis said that a majority of those in attendance were in someway involved in working with community health &#8212; social workers, medical professionals and attorneys dominated the attendee list &#8212; she emphasized the conference was open to anyone.</p><p>&#8220;Everyone&#8217;s welcome,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That&#8217;s part of why we keep the cost so low.&#8221;</p><p>A ticket to the conference was only $30, or $15 if you were a student. Loomis said this is a sharp discount compared to many other similar conferences, which makes this one such a unique opportunity, since it can be used for continuing education credits for medical and other professionals.</p><p>The low price, Loomis explained, is thanks in a large part to major sponsorships from groups like Trion, the United Way and the Times Leader Media Group.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of good people come on board to make this happen,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s our way of giving back.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">For the first time, a panel discussion was held at the annual National Family Week Conference in Wilkes-Barre. Speakers Lisa Berardelli, Janet M. Brier, Leighton Y. Huey and Maria Kolcharno spoke Friday about social programs that are working to help combat social health issues. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_20191122_145316.jpg</photo0><caption0>For the first time, a panel discussion was held at the annual National Family Week Conference in Wilkes-Barre. Speakers Lisa Berardelli, Janet M. Brier, Leighton Y. Huey and Maria Kolcharno spoke Friday about social programs that are working to help combat social health issues. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Family Services Association holds 10th National Family Week Conference</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>