By Elle Wood

DOVER — Healthy lifestyles can be hard for people to find.

To help with that mission, the Delaware Division of Public Health hosted its second annual Advancing Healthy Lifestyles Conference, with the theme of “Engaging Communities to Live Healthy Lifestyles” at Delaware State University on Thursday.

The event focused on the AHL initiative, which seeks to reduce obesity and other chronic conditions to achieve long-term health equity for schools, communities and workplaces in Delaware.

“We actually started the Advancing Healthy Lifestyles Coalition, which is not something we had during our first conference,” said Helen Arthur, section chief for health promotion and disease prevention for the division. “Being able to have a steering committee and having a lot of people plan and help this event to be even bigger and better than it was last year has really been phenomenal.”

The highlight of the conference was the keynote speech by four-time 1980s and ’90s Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She competed in heptathlon and long-jump events, earning six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze).

Ms. Joyner-Kersee now works as a philanthropist and advocates for children’s health, asthma services, racial equality, social reform and women’s rights.

“My philanthropy work was always a part of what I was doing, and I didn’t even know it,” she said. “One of the things I was taught in high school is that the gift of time coming back and sharing with you was only the beginning.

“It then blossomed into you can find resources and develop relationships to share my work with the community.”

She also spoke about how her experiences shaped her. For example, during college, her mother passed away unexpectedly, so she used the grief as motivation to be the best she could be.

“I was always to the left, and to the right was the people on the podium,” she explained. “And I said to myself, ‘I have to figure out how to get on that podium.’”

The conference also featured breakout sessions about a variety of topics.

The first panel was titled “Community Engagement: Trust Begins Through Outreach” and included speakers Erin Booker, chief biopsychosocial officer at ChristianaCare, and Debbie Smith, manager of diversity, equity and inclusion at Bayhealth, as well as a video presentation by Rachel Hersh, deputy director of La Red Health Center.

Another panel, titled “Behavioral Health: Improving Emotional Fitness and Well-Being” heard from speakers Jennifer August, owner of The Art Therapy Way; Priscilla Murphy, founder and CEO of Nylex Educational & Counseling Services; and Emily Coggin, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Delaware.

The “Changing Mindsets: Shifting Attitudes for Positive Results” presentation featured Lydia Sarson, executive director of Healthy Food for Healthy Kids; Freda Patterson, an associate professor of behavioral health and nutrition sciences at the University of Delaware; and Michael Sanchez, a physical therapist at Innovative Physical Therapy.

Joining the speakers Thursday was a variety of vendors providing guests with resources to develop healthy lifestyles.

The event concluded with the “Overcomers Panel: Being Your Best Self.” Its speakers were Dr. Vilicia Cade, superintendent of Capital School District; Jessica Smith Moyer, owner of Ice House: Wellness + Community; and Darrell McDonald, a music producer and DJ who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 2.

To learn more about Advancing Healthy Lifestyles, visit ahlcoalition.org.