UF's Health Disparities Research and Intervention Program will hold its second annual Walk to Eliminate Health Disparities on Saturday.
The event will start at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center at 8 a.m. Registration is required. The walk is not a fundraiser, so there is no entry fee.
"Our main goal is really just to bring awareness - starting with the Gainesville community - about health disparities," said Anna Kate Orlando, a behavioral medicine research assistant with the program.
Health disparities are chronic illnesses affecting racial and ethnic minorities that are medically under-served, Orlando said.
The walk will spotlight seven disparities: hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, HIV/AIDS, mental illness and cancer.
Many health disparities are preventable, but the affected demographic does not have quality health care, she said. The UF research program wants to call attention to these problems.
"Because disparities affect minorities, they're not always exactly out there as much as maybe other illnesses or diseases might be," Orlando said.
Last year, about 250 people participated in the walk, according to Deloris Rentz, community research coordinator with Carolyn M. Tucker's behavioral medicine and health psychology research teams.
Rentz said she expects even more people to turn out for the walk this year.
Starting from the north side of the O'Connell Center, participants will travel a three-mile route around campus. Participants can choose their own pace.
"They can most certainly run," Orlando said.
The program did not want to call it a 5K because it might discourage participants, especially those with health disparities, from coming.
"A walk is something everybody can do," she said.
Participants will receive water, free food and prizes. They will have a chance to honor friends or family members who have been affected by health disparities.
All students, faculty, staff, Shands personnel and local residents are invited to participate.
"We're looking forward to seeing the Gainesville community out there," Orlando said.
Economics sophomore Ruchi Shukla, 18, plans to walk to spread awareness.
"I think the general population, myself included, forgets to put their lives in perspective with the rest of the world," Shukla said.
She said it is hard to imagine not being able to prevent infections because of a lack of accessible health care.
Having done medical work in India and Peru, Shukla hopes that the walk will educate the community about health care situations in underprivileged areas.
"When the public begins to recognize that there is an issue, there will be a greater number of people taking initiative to make a difference," Shukla said.
To preregister for the walk, call the Health Disparities and Research Intervention Program at 352-273-9565.
