Health Disparities Center

Last updated

Health Disparities Centers are institutions in the United States that cover a broad range of needs and focus areas to decrease currently disproportionate illness and disease rates that lead to health disparities. They also promote the engagement, empowerment and recruitment of underrepresented populations in health professions. Many programs devote significant resources to developing cultural competency training to promote the delivery of culturally sensitive healthcare by faculty and staff, as well as current and future healthcare providers. These services are usually tailored to meeting specific goals or missions of the individual components common in most of the operating Health Disparities Centers.

Contents

History

The Minority Health and Health Disparities Act of 2000, Public Law 106-525 led the way for an innovative program established by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCHMD). This program, originally entitled the Project EXPORT, now bears the title of the NCMHD Centers of Excellence (COE) Program. The mission of this program is to develop centers of research, training, partnership and community outreach in the field and study of health disparities. Through grant support from the NCHMD, these centers contribute to scientific advancements and community programs with the aim of eliminating health disparities. Successful centers are currently operating in 31 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Many of these centers are made in partnerships with research-intensive universities, medical colleges and institutions, historically black colleges and universities, universities that serve Hispanic populations, tribal colleges and liberal arts schools. As of 2007, the NCMHD COE program had supported the development of 37 centers. [1]

Health disparities continue to be major issue in the United States,

Target populations

It is a common misconception that Health Disparities Centers are tailored primarily for minorities, but in actuality their mission extends to a wide range of groups. These include age, gender, ethnicity, geographical location, language barriers, or any other differences related to socioeconomic status or environmental factors. However, the largest disparities are most prominent in minority groups.

According to the Healthy People 2010 Objectives list of ten largest Racial and Ethnic disparities: [2]

Organizational components

Research component

The focus and importance of addressing growing national health disparities represents a relatively new shift in health research. Both the NCMHD Research Endowment Program and the Community-Based Participatory Research Program are initiatives to promote awareness and research incentives for those interested in studying specific health disparities and the effectiveness of current outreach programs. Major research concentrations currently being studied include, but are not limited to, conditions such as HIV/AIDS, obesity, diabetes, specific types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and child health promotion. [3] [4] A few examples of specific research studies that have been conducted through a partnership of Health Disparities Centers are as follows:

Education and mentoring component

As disproportionate burdens of certain diseases and health conditions among specific populations are a growing concern, so is the need for widespread education and training for both the public and health professionals alike to be able to cope with, and prevent the occurrence of growing disparities in their communities. Health Disparities Centers across the nation are active in implementing educational resources that range from undergraduate and graduate coursework, postdoctoral training opportunities, conference or seminar series, and diversity and cultural competency training programs. Additionally, these centers are devoted to the recruitment and retention of research scientists and healthcare practitioners from racial/ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities and socio-economically disadvantaged individuals. Many institutions support faulty mentoring of underrepresented students who are interested in completing community-based participatory research on health disparities.[ citation needed ]

Community outreach component

The community outreach component of Health Disparities Centers provides the essential link between advancements in research and implementing significant findings directly into the communities being studied. Emphasis has also been placed on giving target populations affected by health disparities access to health information in a community setting where they feel comfortable to have sensitive health queries addressed. A major goal of Health Disparities Centers is to give the public the knowledge and encouragement necessary to empower them to promote a healthy lifestyle in their homes and communities and be proponents for their own healthcare. Health Disparities Centers also may partner with grassroots and community-based organizations that can serve mediums to disburse educational materials and provide valuable information about the needs of the community to the centers. Examples of successful community outreach programs established by national Health Disparities Centers are provided below.

Administration component

The administration component of numerous Health Disparities Centers is responsible for the oversight and management of all center initiatives and programs and ensures the fiscal responsibility of the institution. It is also common for the governing body of a health disparities center to manage grants and collaborative partnerships between the center and various university, hospital or community entities. [12] [13]

Social justice implications

Health Disparities Centers promote the concept of social justice which is a key facet of sustainability. The process of eliminating health disparities involves breaking language barriers, improving access to health-care, stamping out violence, and alleviating poor health conditions associated with a life of poverty. An example:

Environmental justice implications

Environment factors contribute to health disparities. Environmental justice refers to the burden that certain groups experience due to the physical environment that encompasses there day-to-day lives. People in different geographical locations may experience health disparities due to pollutants in the food or air, stress factors caused by their physical environment, and availability of different resources. [15] Many health disparity centers have programs to promote a cleaner environment and healthy lifestyles, preventing disparities caused by the environmental. A few examples:

List of notable centers supported by the National Institutes of Health

(Affiliated Institutions in parentheses)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis W. Sullivan</span> American politician (born 1933)

Louis Wade Sullivan is an active health policy leader, minority health advocate, author, physician, and educator. He served as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services during President George H. W. Bush's Administration and was Founding Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequities, and face worse health outcomes than those who are able to access certain resources. It is not equity to simply provide every individual with the same resources; that would be equality. In order to achieve health equity, resources must be allocated based on an individual need-based principle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Koh</span> American physician

Howard Kyongju Koh is the former United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009.

The Jade Ribbon Campaign (JRC) also known as JoinJade, was launched by the Asian Liver Center (ALC) at Stanford University in May 2001 during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to help spread awareness internationally about hepatitis B (HBV) and liver cancer in Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an equitable approach to research in which researchers, organizations, and community members collaborate on all aspects of a research project. CBPR empowers all stakeholders to offer their expertise and partake in the decision-making process. CBPR projects aim to increase the body of knowledge and the public's awareness of a given phenomenon and apply that knowledge to create social and political interventions that will benefit the community. CBPR projects range in their approaches to community engagement. Some practitioners are less inclusive of community members in the decision-making processes, whereas others empower community members to direct of the goals of the project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Department of Public Health</span>

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state. It is headquartered in Boston and headed by Commissioner Monica Bharel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Harlem Environmental Action</span> Nonprofit organization

WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a nonprofit environmental justice organization based in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. The organization was founded in March 1988 to mobilize community opposition to the city's operation of the North River Sewage Treatment Plant, and the siting of the sixth bus depot in Northern Manhattan.

The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (HCHDS), a research center within the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, strives to eradicate disparities in health and health care among racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups, and geopolitical categories such as urban, rural, and suburban populations.

Lisa A. Cooper is an American internal medicine and public health physician who is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Equity in Health and Healthcare at Johns Hopkins University, jointly appointed in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and in the departments of Health, Behavior and Society, Health Policy and Management; Epidemiology; and International Health in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the James F. Fries Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, and Director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. Cooper is also a Gilman Scholar and a core faculty member in the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. She is internationally recognized for her research on the impact of race, ethnicity and gender on the patient-physician relationship and subsequent health disparities. She is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In 2007, she received a MacArthur Fellowship ”genius” grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Structural inequality occurs when the fabric of organizations, institutions, governments or social networks contains an embedded cultural, linguistic, economic, religious/belief, physical or identity based bias which provides advantages for some members and marginalizes or produces disadvantages for other members. This can involve, personal agency, freedom of expression, property rights, freedom of association, religious freedom,social status, or unequal access to health care, housing, education, physical, cultural, social, religious or political belief, financial resources or other social opportunities. Structural inequality is believed to be an embedded part of all known cultural groups. The global history of slavery, serfdom, indentured servitude and other forms of coerced cultural or government mandated labour or economic exploitation that marginalizes individuals and the subsequent suppression of human rights are key factors defining structural inequality. In particular the history of oppression of the Jewish people, as victims of historic and ongoing antisemitism that dates back to their slavery under the Pharaohs offer an example of the historic nature and wide variance of structural inequality.

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is an American federal agency created in 1986. It is one of the most significant outcomes of the 1985 Secretary's Task Force Report on Black and Minority Health, also known as the "Heckler Report". The Heckler report "was a landmark effort in analyzing and synthesizing the present state of knowledge [in 1985] of the major factors that contribute to the health status of Blacks, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans." The Office the Heckler Report established is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities. OMH was reauthorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Asian Americans have historically been perceived as a "model minority," experiencing few health problems relative to other minority groups. Research within the past 20 years, however, has shown that Asian Americans are at high risk for hepatitis B, liver cancer, tuberculosis, and lung cancer, among other conditions. Asian American health disparities have only gained focus in the past 10 years, with policy initiatives geared towards promoting healthcare access to Asian Americans rising to prominence even later. Asian Americans are defined as Americans of Asian ancestry and constitute nearly 5% of American's population as of 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet, the Asian American population can hardly be described as homogenous. The term applies to members of over 25 groups that have been classified as a single group because of similar appearances, cultural values, and common ethnic backgrounds. The Asian Americans commonly studied have been limited primarily to individuals of Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mien, or Vietnamese descent.

The Institute of Gerontology (IOG) at Wayne State University conducts research on the behavioral and social aspects of aging. Located in Detroit, Michigan, the Institute has a strong focus on urban issues, especially disability, mobility and transportation, financial challenges, and disparities in health between ethnic groups. Faculty at the Institute are jointly appointed with a home department in a complementary discipline, such as economics, physical therapy or nursing. The Institute also maintains a Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging laboratory currently profiling brain changes in normal aging through traditional testing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of participants brain structure and function.

Societal racism is a type of racism based on a set of institutional, historical, cultural and interpersonal practices within a society that places one or more social or ethnic groups in a better position to succeed and disadvantages other groups so that disparities develop between the groups. Societal racism has also been called structural racism, because, according to Carl E. James, society is structured in a way that excludes substantial numbers of people from minority backgrounds from taking part in social institutions. Societal racism is sometimes referred to as systemic racism as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural competence in healthcare</span> Health care services that are sensitive and responsive to the needs of diverse cultures

Cultural competence in healthcare refers to the ability for healthcare professionals to demonstrate cultural competence toward patients with diverse values, beliefs, and feelings. This process includes consideration of the individual social, cultural, and psychological needs of patients for effective cross-cultural communication with their health care providers. The goal of cultural competence in health care is to reduce health disparities and to provide optimal care to patients regardless of their race, gender, ethnic background, native languages spoken, and religious or cultural beliefs. Cultural competency training is important in health care fields where human interaction is common, including medicine, nursing, allied health, mental health, social work, pharmacy, oral health, and public health fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna María Nápoles</span> American behavioral epidemiologist and science administrator

Anna María Nápoles is an American behavioral epidemiologist and science administrator. She is the Scientific Director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She was a professor and epidemiologist at University of California, San Francisco.

Melissa Andrea Simon is an American clinical obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist whose research, teaching, clinical care and advocacy focus on health equity across the lifespan. Simon is founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and founder of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Simon holds the positions of the George H. Gardner, MD professor of clinical gynecology., the vice-chair of clinical research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, professor of preventive medicine and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Kisha Braithwaite Holden is a scientist known for her research on mental health of African-Americans and members of other minority groups. She is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and community health & preventive medicine and interim director of Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) at Morehouse School of Medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Webb Hooper</span> American behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist

Monica S. Webb Hooper is an American behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist serving as deputy director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She was a professor at Case Western Reserve University and associate director for cancer disparities research and director of the Office of Cancer Disparities Research in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Monica Baskin is an American psychologist who is a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research considers health disparities in the Deep South. She serves as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.

References

  1. ↑ "NCMHD Centers of Excellence Program". NCMHD. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  2. ↑ Keppel, K. G. (2007-04-09). "Ten Largest Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the United States based on Healthy People 2010 Objectives". American Journal of Epidemiology. 166 (1): 97–103. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwm044 . ISSN   0002-9262. PMID   17463050.
  3. ↑ "NCMHD Community Based Participatory Research Initiative". NCMHD. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  4. ↑ "Health disparities research". CRCHD Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  5. ↑ "Our Research Initiatives". Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  6. ↑ "Research Core". The EXPORT Center; a Clemson University and Voorhees College Partnership. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  7. ↑ "Ongoing Research". CRCHD Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  8. ↑ "Research". Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos. Archived from the original on 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  9. ↑ "Outreach Core". The EXPORT Center; a Clemson University and Voorhees College Partnership. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  10. ↑ "Program Sponsors Veggie Cook-off". Gainesville.com. 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  11. ↑ "From Exploration to Intervention". Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  12. ↑ "Administrative Core". The EXPORT Center; a Clemson University and Voorhees College Partnership. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  13. ↑ "Administrative Core". Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities Among Latinos. Archived from the original on 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  14. ↑ "The First International Conference on Culture, Ethnicity, and Brain Injury Rehabilitation". VCU: Center on Health Disparities.
  15. ↑ Gee, GC; Payne-Sturges, DC (2004). "Environmental Health Disparities: a Framework Integrating Psychosocial and Environmental Concepts". Environ. Health Perspect. 112 (17): 1645–53. doi:10.1289/ehp.7074. PMC   1253653 . PMID   15579407.
  16. ↑ "Community Networks Program". National Cancer Institute: Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. 2009-11-13.
  17. ↑ "Nutrition Workshop in the Community". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.