September 2008
In this Issue:
NEW MEDIA:
- The Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation co-sponsored a briefing, Latino Health and National Health Reform, where speakers addressed the rapid growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and its implications for health care reform. To view a webcast of this event, click here.
- The Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a live webcast, Race and Genetics: The Future of Personalized Medicine, where panelists discussed the potential of race-based medicine as a means of improving health care and reducing health disparities. To view this webcast, click here.
- The Healthy City Project has created a web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping interface for looking up health and demographic data in the Los Angeles area. The goal of the Healthy City Project is to use GIS mapping techniques to develop public policies that will help low-income, underserved families gain access to health services. With this interface, social service providers can be instantly connected to services and resources throughout the region, allowing them to better advocate for high-need communities. In addition, community leaders and policy makers can view the health, demographic, and economic status of the region to better address the needs of the community. For more information and to view this interface, click here.
PUBLICATIONS:
- The U.S. Census Bureau released, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007, that documents the number of uninsured people in the U.S. in 2007. Overall, racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be uninsured compared to both the national average and non-Hispanic whites. For example, 32.1 percent, of both Hispanics and American Indians and Alaska Natives, 19.6 percent of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, 19.5 percent of African Americans, and 16.8percent of Asians went without coverage, as compared to the national average of 15.3 percent and 10.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites.
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Pew Hispanic Center co-published a report titled Quarter of Latinos Get No Health Information From Medical Professionals. The study finds that more than one in four Hispanic adults in the United States lack a regular medical provider, and therefore lack access to health care information. The study also found that more than 80 percent of Hispanics in the United States obtain health information from other sources, such as the television and radio. The study also compares how different subgroups within the Hispanic population obtain health information.
- The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies published a guide, Comparing the Candidates: Improving the Health of a Diverse America, discussing the health care plans of Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain and highlighting the implications of their stances on important health care issues for racial and ethnic minorities. The health reform issues include expanding access to affordable health insurance coverage, expanding access to health and medical care, and health care quality improvement. To read a comparison of the candidate’s health plans and their implications for racial and ethnic minorities, click here.
- The National Council of La Raza published, Principles of Immigrant Integration in Health Care Reform, in which several national organizations concerned with immigrant health call for the careful integration of immigrants into health care reform. To read these principles, click here.
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District of Columbia Area Health Education Center (DC AHEC)
The District of Columbia has some of the worst health indices per capita in the nation. For example, a high number of racial and ethnic minorities live in poverty, have a high number of public health needs, and are often uninsured or underinsured. African American residents in the District have disproportionate rates of chronic diseases and obesity due to a variety of factors, including poverty, low education levels, lack of health insurance, and lack of a primary care provider, poor nutrition, and/or lack of physical activity.
The District of Columbia Area Health Education Center (DC AHEC) is a health action, community-driven, and minority-serving nonprofit organization. It serves the District’s most vulnerable populations, including the uninsured, underinsured, those lacking access to health care providers, and/or those enrolled in publicly sponsored managed care programs. Through funding from various contracts and grants, the DC AHEC creates and carries out specific health action programs. In every project it undertakes, the DC AHEC embodies the slogan, “Closing the Gap for a Stronger, Healthier Community.” Its mission is to "positively impact the quality of primary and preventive health care for underserved District residents by improving the delivery of health education, fostering community outreach, and strengthening the future of the health care workforce." To carry out its mission of eliminating health care disparities, DC AHEC is committed to empowering residents through various intervention and prevention efforts. These efforts include teaching residents how to obtain health care and navigate the health care system, empowering residents to advocate for themselves and their families, and creating and advancing community partnerships that can change the quality of preventive and primary care.
In just eight short years, DC AHE has made tremendous strides in helping the District’s underserved. For example, DC AHE is well known for its pioneering efforts in bringing community health workers into community health centers, social service agencies, homeless shelters, bus depots, youth serving organizations, and senior living homes to help alleviate racial and ethnic health disparities. DC AHEC has also increased the number of District residents who receive peer-to-peer training and outreach. Through these efforts, the DC AHE hopes to create a sustainable infrastructure, while continuing to develop innovative programs.
If you have questions or would like more information about DC AHEC, contact Farhia Mussa, at (202) 574-6994, or email dcahec@dcahec.org.
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Keeping Up the Drumbeat on Health Care Reform
With Congress in recess during the month of August, both major parties focused their attention on their national conventions. Families USA was with the Democrats in Denver keeping up the drumbeat on securing health care reform as the top domestic priority of the next Administration and Congress. Along with SEIU, we sponsored Winning Health Care Reform in 2009. Speakers included Senator Hillary Clinton (NY); Governor Kathleen Sebelius (KS); Governor Deval Patrick (MA); Governor Ted Strickland (OH); Governor Edward Rendell (PA); Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (SD); House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (MI); Congresswoman Hilda Solis (CA), and others.
Health care was discussed in many of the floor speeches at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Visit our new blog to read more about what was said. To see how much health care (and other issues) were discussed at both the Democratic and Republican conventions, click here.
- National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations
September 21-24, 2008
Minneapolis Marriot City Center, 30 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Sponsors: Drexel University Center for Health Equality, Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care, USDHHS Office of Minority Health
To register online click here.
- A Right to Care: How Racial Inequities Impact Our Daily Lives
September 23, 2008, 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D Street, NW (7TH & D), Washington, DC 20004
Sponsors: The Board of Trustees of the Consumer Health Foundation, the HSC Foundation, and Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States
For more information and to register click here.
- National Indian Health Board 25th Annual Consumer Conference
September 22 – 25, 2008
Penchago Resort and Casino, Temecula, California
Sponsors: National Indian Health Board, California Endowment
For more information and to register click here.
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities: Keeping Current Seminar Series
October 8, 2008 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Sweet Conference Room, Gray/Bigelow 432, Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor: Disparities Solutions Center
To RSVP: send an e-mail to disparitiessolutions@partners.org?subject=RSVPSeminarSeries3/26/07
- National Summit of Clinicians for Healthcare Justice
October 23-24, 2008, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Hilton Washington Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C.
Sponsors: Migrant Clinicians Network
For more information and to register click here.
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We’d like to hear from you!
If you would like to see your organization or event highlighted in a future edition of our newsletter, please send us a brief description of your organization and its activities, as well as your contact information. We also welcome guest authors for the Activities in the Field section of the newsletter. This section provides members of the minority health field with the opportunity to share their experiences and insights with other advocates. Please send all correspondence to: minorityhealth@familiesusa.org.
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