Sharing knowledge with peers, getting to know the community and learning cultural diversity are on the agenda for a group of researchers from Wayne State's Addiction Research Institute during their visit to the Traverse City area Sept. 18-20.

The visit is part of an ongoing faculty development effort for institute personnel.

At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, Lawrence Warbasse, professor of internal medicine, will discuss "Screening for Chemical Dependency in the Primary Care Setting" as part of the American College of Physicians Michigan Chapter Scientific Meeting. The event will be held at Grand Traverse Resort.

The teachers will be doing the learning at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, as Warbasse and several colleagues will meet the Grand Traverse Bay Wellness Lodge staff and then be put through a "ropes" course at Bay Adventure Skills School in Traverse City.

Institute staffers will take part in rope exercises high above ground in order to learn to work as a team to face fears and develop trust. They also will participate in the "trust fall," in which a person must fall backwards off a platform and trust that colleagues will catch him or her.

The "ropes course is used by the Wellness Lodge as part of its prevention program to help tribal members and clients develop self-confidence and trust.

From 9 a.m to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, WSU and Wellness Lodge staff will meet on the Peshawbestown reservation in the Eagles Ridge restaurant for a series of discussions. WSU panelists will include Eric Ayers and John Hopper, assistant professors of internal medicine; and Joann Sobeck, an institute research assistant with a social work background.

Ayers will discuss the influence of substance abuse in the African American community; Hopper will address media influences on substance abuse in minority communities; and Sobeck will present her survey on health perceptions and substance abuse among Grand Traverse Bay Native Americans. Sobeck also will present her work on a long-term care project for Native American elders.

Jim Concannon, director of the Wellness Lodge, along with other Native American counselors, will discuss substance abuse and Native American culture.

For more information call Warbasse at (313) 577-0644 or the Addiction Research Institute at (313) 577-1388.