What's New in the Knowledge Center

The Knowledge Center at the Office of Minority Health Resource Center is the largest dedicated repository of health disparities information in the nation, with a collection of 50,000 documents, articles, reports, books, journals and media related to the health status of racial and ethnic minority populations. The library collection also includes sources of consumer health material in more than 35 languages.

• View the latest Knowledge Center acquisitions list.
• Search the online catalog.

New Health Disparities Newsletter

Health Disparities Pulse is the new quarterly newsletter on minority health and health disparities from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health. In this issue: funding opportunities, exploring the environment in health disparities, web-based software for limited English proficiency patients and more. Download the inaugural issue.

National Partnerships for Action Free Webinar, Dec. 19th, 2013

Building Community Capacity to Use Index Data on Social Determinants to Support the Elimination of Health Disparities

Data is a valuable and necessary tool to help understand and address health disparities that affect many underserved communities in the United States.   Join the Office of Minority Health and the National Partnership for Action on Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 3:30 – 5:00 for a free webinar on practical strategies to quantify social determinants of health, assess community-based efforts to address health disparities, and use data to monitor success.   Click here to register.

Health Equity

• Healthy Schools Campaigns: New report released. Health in Mind: Improving Education Through Wellness, a new report that details immediate solutions to help close the achievement gap and create a healthy future for all children. Read Full Report
• Maryland's Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities: New data report released. Maryland Chartbook of Minority Health and Minority Health Disparities Data: With Sections on Gender-specific Health and Jurisdiction-specific Health. Read Full Report 
• AHRQ/EHC Program: A new report released from the Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science series. Through the Quality Kaleidoscope: Reflections on the Science and Practice of Improving Health Care Quality. Read Full Report
• National Council of La Raza: New report released. Equity in the Digital Age: How Health Information Technology Can Reduce Disparities. Read Full Report 
• AHRQ: New data report released. Minority Health: Recent Findings. Read Full Report

Social Work takes on health disparities

Even though Winston Wong now has a big job as medical director of community benefit at Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health care provider, he still maintains a small family medicine practice.

“I want to always learn and remember what our patients face every day,” said Wong, who is tasked at Kaiser with developing partnerships with communities in advancing population management and evidence-based medicine, with an emphasis on safety net providers and elimination of health disparities.

Wong served as keynote speaker at this year’s All School Day gathering, “Does Wealth Mean Better Health?” The USC School of Social Work event began in 1992 after racial tensions sparked the Los Angeles riots, and each year since, the school has brought people together in an atmosphere of cooperation, respect and inclusion to raise awareness about diversity and matters of human conflict. Click here to continue reading.......

HEALTH DISPARITIES AND HEALTH EQUITY: Concepts and Measurement

There is little consensus about the meaning of the terms “health disparities,” “health inequalities,” or “health equity.” The definitions can have importantpractical consequences, determining the measurements that are monitored by governmentsand international agencies and the activities that will be supported by resourcesearmarked to address health disparities/inequalities or health equity. This paper aims toclarify the concepts of health disparities/inequalities (used interchangeably here) andhealth equity, focusing on the implications of different definitions for measurement andhence for accountability. Health disparities/inequalities do not refer to all differencesin health. A health disparity/inequality is a particular type of difference in health (or inthe most important influences on health that could potentially be shaped by policies);it is a difference in which disadvantaged social groups—such as the poor, racial/ethnicminorities, women, or other groups who have persistently experienced social disadvantageor discrimination—systematically experience worse health or greater healthrisks than more advantaged social groups. (“Social advantage” refers to one’s relativeposition in a social hierarchy determined by wealth, power, and/or prestige.) Healthdisparities/inequalities include differences between the most advantaged group in agiven category—e.g., the wealthiest, the most powerful racial/ethnic group—and allothers, not only between the best- and worst-off groups. Pursuing health equity meanspursuing the elimination of such health disparities/inequalities.

Click here to read more

Health Webinars and Conferences

Webinars
Disaster Preparedness and Response (National Institute of Environmental Sciences)
December 13 | 1 pm EST

Engineering an Exchange: A Look at State Blueprints and Decisions (National Academy for State Health Policy)
December 13 | 3 pm EST

Who's Leading the Leading Health Indicators? Environmental Quality (Healthy People 2020)
December 17 | 12 pm EST

Conferences
CityMatCH 2012 Conference
December 12-14 | San Antonio, TX
Stop by our booth in the exhibit hall!

Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit
December 17-19 | National Harbor, MD
Speakers include Office of Minority Health Acting Director Dr. J. Nadine Gracia

Healthy People 2020's Leading Health Indicators spotlight is on Oral Health

The Leading Health Indicators were selected to communicate high-priority health issues and actions that can be taken to address them. To highlight these issues, Healthy People will be focusing on one LHI topic each month in 2012. In August learn about oral health and how the ability to access oral health care is associated with gender, age, education level, income, race and ethnicity, access to medical insurance, and geographic location. Addressing these determinants is key in reducing health disparities and improving the health of all Americans.

More resources include:

• LHIs
• LHI Webinar Archive

The Health Care Law and You: How does the ACA help Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders?

Sponsored by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, this webinar will feature representatives from the Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the community who will speak about how the Affordable Care Act will increase health care access and reduce health care disparities for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Title: The Health Care Law and You: How does the ACA help Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands)?
Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Speakers will include:

• Jaime Torres, Regional Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Region II
• Juliet Bui, Health Advisor, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
• Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, Health Policy Director, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families
• Rhodora Ursua, Community Partner, Project CHARGE

Please register here to receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

*Note: this webinar is off the record and not intended for press purposes.

Virginia Youth Sharing Public Health Stories

Are Americans Aware of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities?

Are Americans Aware of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities?
Only modestly, it seems. Read the article Awareness of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Has Improved Only Modestly over a Decade .  Also, Awareness of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Study Brief [PDF | 112KB]
2010 General Population [PDF | 257KB]
2009 General Population [PDF | 254KB]

Save the Date: 2012 Summit on the Science of Eliminating Health Disparities

Save the Date: 2012 Summit on the Science of Eliminating Health Disparities
The 2012 Summit will be held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland, from October 31 - November 3, 2012. For more information, please contact 2012summit@mail.nih.gov.

Call for Abstracts
Abstracts are invited for oral, poster, and panel presentations focused on integrating science, practice, and policy to build a healthier global society.

National HIV/AIDS Testing Day is June 27th

To support the 2012 observance of National HIV Testing Day (NHTD), AIDS.gov (on behalf of HHS) will host a webinar/conference call HIV Testing for an AIDS-Free Generation on Tuesday June 26, 2012 from 2-3 pm (EDT).

Several of the U.S. Government’s leading voices on HIV/AIDS will provide updates on the state of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. Speakers include: Dr. Grant Colfax (Director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy) (invited), Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson (Associate Administrator, HIV/AIDS Bureau, HRSA), Dr. Jonathan Mermin (CDC), Mr. Richard Klein (FDA), Mr. David Vos (HUD), Dr. Caroline Ryan (OGAC), Dr. Linda Youngman (SAMHSA), and Dr. Maggie Czarnogorski (VA) .

Register for this event by June 22. Everyone is invited to listen in – federal staff, grantees and stakeholders working with domestic HIV/AIDS programs are encouraged to participate.

Visit this page for more information.

2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit

Registration:

General registration for 2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit is now open. 

Join us on October 31, 2012 through November 3rd, 2012 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, MD to learn more about national and international science,

practice, and policy efforts around health disparities. Register today at http://www.nimhd.nih.gov/summit_site/registration.html.  Registration for concurrent session will open in August 2012.

Abstract Submissions: 11 more days before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, June 15, 2012 abstract submission deadline. for more information, visit http://www.nimhd.nih.gov/summit_site/abstracts.html

Mayor’s Healthy Richmond Campaign

The Official Kickoff for the Healthy Richmond Campaign 

Expo opens at 10 a.m., Kickoff begins at 10:30 a.m.Presented by: Mayor Dwight C. Jones

Join us and our very own Dr. Remley the Commissioner of The Virginia Department of Health at the  Get Healthy-Stay Healthy Health Expo.,  and Chick-fil-a cow walk, part of the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Policy!

The Mayor established a Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Policy as a direct result of his concerns about disparity in health outcomes across the Richmond community. The Commission -- which is made up of health experts including physicians, hospital executives, mental health and clinical providers, and members of the community -- worked together to identify critical health issues facing the City of Richmond. Focus areas to improve Richmond’s health:

The Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Policy identified numerous factors that contribute to disparity and poor health, but they were able to prioritize and agreed on five recommendations to forward to the Mayor that they believed would make the most impact on improving the health and well-being of Richmond residents:

•      Healthy Richmond Campaign - promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors and participating in various initiatives to improve the health of Richmond’s residents,
•      Health and Social Equity - impacting policy by creating an infrastructure that promotes healthy living,
•      Behavioral Health - addressing prevention and intervention for at-risk youth and families,
•      Medical Homes for the Uninsured - eliminating barriers that impact access to health care,
•      Support for Healthcare Providers - encouraging health care providers to practice in underserved areas of  the community.

Cow Walk:  April 28, 2012 starts at 8:30 a.m  Click here and learn more

Expo Information:

Date and Time:                    April 28, 2012, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Location:                              Greater Richmond Convention Center

                                             403 N. Third Street, Exhibit Hall A

         Richmond, VA 23219


(Click Below to Learn More)

Making the Most of NOSORH Resources

NOSORH is pleased to invite you to attend the following webinar –Making the Most of NOSORH Resources – on Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 2:00 EDT.

Pre-registration is required. Please see the attached flyer for registration information.
By the end of the webinar, participants will:

• Learn how you can make the most of your NOSORH membership resources


• Review NOSORH website and Wikispace


• Discuss available resources, including the education exchange program, grant writing, and leadership institute
  
  The webinar will be recorded and posted on the NOSORH website after the call.
  
  Stephanie Hansen
  Education Coordinator
  National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
  steph@nosorh.org
  www.nosorh.org
  

Multicultural Healthcare Web Portal

Data & Resources
Find information about the state of your communities' health and wellbeing. Search below to get the customized results you need. Update web portal available with new data resources. Learn More

Appendicitis racial disparities mostly unexplained

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Poverty and unfavorable health insurance account for only a small portion of the gap in the number of white versus Hispanic or black children who end up with a burst appendix, according to a new study.

Some previous research has explained the fact that black and Hispanic children are more likely to have their appendix rupture by pointing to signs of poor health care access, including being uninsured, having public assistance insurance or having a low socioeconomic status.

But the latest report finds that the main reasons for these disparities "are anybody's guess," said lead author Dr. Edward Livingston, a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas who analyzed more than half a million hospital admissions for appendicitis.

Read more about Appendicitis racial disparities

Health Disparities Research LRP

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH IS HELPING TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF ALL PEOPLE

Program Purpose

The purpose of the Health Disparities Research LRP is to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals to research careers that focus on minority health or other health disparity issues. Funding for this LRP is provided through the NIH's National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), which ensures that at least 50 percent of the awards are made to health professionals who are members of identified health disparity populations.

Learn more at http://www.lrp.nih.gov/about_the_programs/health_disparities.aspx

NPA Toolkit for Cummunity Action

Please visit the NPA webpage for the posting of the "NPA Toolkit for Community Action" at www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa/

The NPA Toolkit for Community Action is designed to support community efforts in the goal of ending health disparities and promoting health equity, the Office of Minority Health has released the new NPA Toolkit for Community Action. Through this toolkit, community members will have the information and resources they need to help engage fellow citizens and local media as they spread the word about health disparities and educate others about the impact disparities have in the lives of individuals and the greater impact on society.