Downstate's Dr. LeConté Dill receives APHA Women's Caucus Highest Scoring Abstract Award
LeConté Dill, DrPH, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at SUNY Downstate Medical Center's School of Public Health, has received the Women's Caucus Highest Scoring Abstract award of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Dr. Dill's abstract, entitled "'What if I stay?': Experiences of teen dating violence among urban African-American, Caribbean-American, and Latina girls," focuses on the role of gender and gender-based inequities in instances of violence, specifically as they relate to violence experienced by teenage girls in their dating relationships.
As recently noted in the Friday Letter of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), the abstract grew out of Dr. Dill's partnership with the Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI). KAVI is a school-, hospital-, and community-based violence intervention program serving young people in Brooklyn, NY, founded and directed by Robert Gore, MD, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at SUNY Downstate and an attending physician at Kings County Hospital Center, NYC Health+Hospitals.
Dr. Dill has served in many capacities with KAVI's Women's Program over the past three years, and during the last year she and SUNY Downstate Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health students have been engaged in a rigorous qualitative study exploring violence in the lives of urban girls of color. Dr. Dill's research team observed KAVI workshops and conducted interviews with approximately 20 African-American, Caribbean-American, and Latina KAVI participants and alumnae about their experiences of multiple types of violence. This larger study, "Alternate Routes: Examining risk and resilience among girls of color in Brooklyn," is funded by the SUNY Downstate Medical Center's President's Health Disparities Award.
Regarding teen dating violence, KAVI participants expressed self-blame and "feeling stuck" in their relationships and in navigating safety, reports Dr. Dill. After regular interaction with the research team, the use of artwork to explore personal experiences, and referrals to social workers and therapists as part of the KAVI Program, participants began to disclose and cope with complex and multiple traumas and began to engage in safety planning for themselves and their peers. During her presentation at APHA, Dr. Dill will detail how the KAVI participants struggle with and work through these issues.
Dr. Dill recommends that school-based violence prevention programs consider curricula and case management specifically related to teen dating violence in order to be responsive and equitable to the holistic health needs and rights of their participants.
Dr. Gore said, "Dr. Dill has been an exceptional addition to our very important KAVI team. She has been able to blend natural and cultivated creativity as an artist and KAVI facilitator with her scientific expertise as a researcher. Most importantly, she is bringing to light one of the most crucial aspects of healing with those affected by violence, the narrative. We commend Dr. Dill and her team for their life-changing and transformative work."
Provided by SUNY Downstate Medical Center
