UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Preview This Series!

A groundbreaking new documentary series is exploring how the social conditions in which Americans are born, live and work profoundly affect our health and longevity, even more than medical care, behaviors and genes.

From March 12th through April 3rd the Washtenaw County Public Health Department, in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Office of Public Health Practice, and Ann Arbor District Library, will be hosting sneak previews of the new four-hour PBS documentary: UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (Please see the national press release for more detailed information on the series.)

Unnatural Causes examines our nation’s alarming socio-economic and racial disparities in health—and searches for their root causes. Evidence of health inequities are abundant in Washtenaw County, including disparities in infant mortality, mental health and oral health, for example. The Washtenaw County Public Health Department is one of 100 local health departments nationwide that is arranging screenings and discussions around this documentary to promote community awareness and engagement around the important issues it raises.

The first sneak preview showing, the first hour of four, is an invitation only event at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theatre on March 12th, and will include a moderated panel of local experts in discussion after the program.

All three of the following sneak previews - Hours Two, Three, and Four - will take place on the following three consecutive Thursday evenings, March 20th, March 27th, and April 3rd at the downtown Ann Arbor District Library from 6:30-8:30 p.m. These events are free and open to interested members of the general public, and post screening discussions will allow attendees to share their thoughts and ideas. These discussions will be facilitated by professional health educators from the Washtenaw County Public Health Department.

UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? was produced by California Newsreel in association with Vital Pictures, Inc. and is presented by the National Minority Consortia of public television. For more information about Unnatural Causes, visit http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/.