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Item 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2005) UNSPECIFIEDKey Themes and Highlights From the National Healthcare Disparities Report Twenty years ago, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health. That report documented many disparities in health and led to interventions to improve the health and health care of minorities. This year, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is pleased to release the third National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR). This annual report provides a comprehensive national overview of disparities in health care among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the general U.S. population and within priority populations and tracks the success of activities to reduce disparities. It is a companion report to the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR), a comprehensive overview of quality of health care in America. A major advantage of an annual report series is its ability to track changes over time. This year, data are presented that begin tracking trends across a broad array of measures of health care quality and access for many racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. In addition, the 2005 report begins to examine the issue of whether the Nation is making progress toward eliminating health care disparities. The NHDR tracks disparities in both quality of health care and access to health care. Measures of health care quality mirror those in the NHQR and encompass four dimensions of quality—effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness. Measures of health care access are unique to this report and encompass two dimensions of access—facilitators and barriers to care and health care utilization.Item 2007 Health Disparities Report to the Michigan Legislature(2007) UNSPECIFIEDHealth disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, burden of disease and other adverse health conditions or outcomes that exist among specific population groups in the United States. In Michigan, as in the United States, racial and ethnic minority populations carry a disproportionately heavy burden due to health disparities. This burden is manifested in increased risk for disease, delayed diagnosis, inaccessible and inadequate care, poor health outcomes and untimely death, much of which are preventable.Item $4.8 Million Awarded to Pitt’s Center for Minority Health to Fund Health Disparities Research(2007) UNSPECIFIEDPITTSBURGH, November 8, 2007 The Center for Minority Health (CMH) in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at the University of Pittsburgh has been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant to establish a Research Center of Excellence in Minority Health Disparities by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new multi-year grant positions CMH as a national center of excellence in translating evidence-based research into community based interventions designed to prevent disease and promote health in Pittsburgh's African-American community.Item A Partnership for Health: Minorities & Biomedical Research(2003) UNSPECIFIEDThe National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has long recognized that minority populations bear a disproportionate burden of sickness and disease in the United States. Differences in racial and ethnic backgrounds can affect susceptibility to infectious and immunologic diseases, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), asthma, sexually transmitted infections, and kidney disease. Moreover, minority populations often do not fully benefit from research advances that have helped improve the health of other Americans. For more than 50 years, NIAID has progressed in understanding, treating, and preventing infectious and immunologic diseases known to occur disparately in minority populations. As outlined in its Strategic Plan for Addressing Health Disparities, NIAID continues to prioritize basic, clinical, and epidemiological research in addressing the health disparities in minority populations. Specifically, NIAID supports efforts to increase the participation of minority scientists in its research, increase the participation of the minority community in clinical research, and design targeted outreach activities for minority communities that communicate research developments and health risk.Item A Perscription for Health: A Directory of CDC Services(2006) UNSPECIFIEDSince its founding in 1946 to combat malaria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has remained at the forefront of public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. Today, CDC is globally recognized for its scientific research and investigations and for its action-oriented approach to public health, applying its findings to improve people’s daily lives and to respond to health emergencies. A significant part of CDC’s mission is to provide Americans with the information they need every day to live long, healthy, and happy lives. To that end, the agency has developed the following products and services to help people improve their own health by preventing disease and injury and promoting healthy lifestyles. You can also find this directory online at www.cdc.gov/about/stateofcdc. If you cannot find information on a particular topic in this directory, please contact 1.800.CDC.INFO or visit www.cdc.gov.Item A Research Documentation On Men's Sexual Health Disclosed(Vedic Life sciences Pvt, Ltd., 2010) UNSPECIFIEDWhen VigRX Plus was surveyed by Vedic Life-Sciences in proved to be the best pill treatment for sexual health. Here is what the study reveals.Item Action on the Social Determinants of Health: learning from previous experiences(WHO Document Production Services, 2010) UNSPECIFIEDToday an unprecedented opportunity exists to improve health in some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities by tackling the root causes of disease and health inequalities. The most powerful of these causes are the social conditions in which people live and work, referred to as the social determinants of health (SDH). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shape the current global development agenda. The MDGs recognize the interdependence of health and social conditions and present an opportunity to promote health policies that tackle the social roots of unfair and avoidable human suffering. The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) is poised for leadership in this process. To reach its objectives, however, the CSDH must learn from the history of previous attempts to spur action on SDH. This paper pursues three questions: (1) Why didn’t previous efforts to promote health policies on social determinants succeed? (2) Why do we think the CSDH can do better? (3) What can the Commission learn from previous experiences – negative and positive – that can increase its chances for success?Item Advancing the Nation’s Health: A Guide to Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015(2006) UNSPECIFIEDThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, is recognized as a lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. Research is the foundation of CDC’s success and enables CDC to develop, improve and disseminate evidence-based interventions, programs, and decision support to improve health (Figure I-1). The primary focus of CDC’s research is to fill gaps in knowledge necessary to accomplish the agency’s Health Protection Goals (Chapter II), but it must also be CDC’s core public health mission and be responsive to new opportunities, threats, and future health needs. A recent analysis indicates that the evidence base to support much of public health practice has not kept pace with the growing requirements, and much more research is needed to demonstrate the best methods that support effective public health practices.Item Adventure Cycling's Innovative Underground Railroad Bicycle Route is Ready to Ride(2007) UNSPECIFIEDAfter three years of research and planning, Adventure Cycling Association, North America's largest bicycling organization, and the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health are pleased to unveil the newly completed 2,058 mile Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR). A breakthrough in both historically-infused adventure travel and active-living outreach to the African-American community, the UGRR promises to introduce people of all cultural backgrounds to the adventure and health benefits of cycling and bicycle travel.Item All Americans at risk of receiving poor quality health care(2006) UNSPECIFIEDA landmark Foundation-initiated study by the RAND Corporation found that Americans receive only half of recommended medical care.1 This study added to the mounting evidence of quality deficiencies in the U.S. health care system, which was brought to the forefront in a 2001 Institute of Medicine report documenting the chasm between the care Americans have now and the care Americans should have.2 A new study from this RAND research project asks the next logical question: How are patient characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity and income associated with the quality of health care received? This question has been widely studied, but largely as it relates to whether an encounter with a provider occurs. Whether necessary preventive measures, treatments or procedures are provided at similar rates to individuals with different social and demographic characteristics is less understood.Item America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being 2007(US Government Printing Office, 2007) UNSPECIFIEDThe Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics’ primary mission is to enhance and improve consistency in data collection and reporting on children and families. After a decade of publishing its report, the Forum presents this newly restructured 10th anniversary edition of America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007 which provides the Nation with a summary of national indicators of child well-being and monitors changes in these indicators. In addition to providing data in an easy-to-use, non-technical format, the purpose of the report is to stimulate discussions among policymakers and the public, exchanges between data providers and policy communities, and improvements in Federal data on children and families.Item America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities 2008 Edition(2008) UNSPECIFIEDHealth is a result of our personal behaviors, our individual genetic predisposition to disease, the environment and the community in which we live, the clinical care we receive and the policies and practices of our health care and prevention systems. Each of us, individually, as a community, and as a society, strives to optimize these health determinants, so that all of us can have a long, diseasefree and robust life regardless of race, gender or socio-economic status. This report looks at the four groups of health determinants that can be affected:Item AMOUNT OF NICOTINE IN CIGARETTES INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE 1998(Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2002) UNSPECIFIEDPRESS RELEASE: AMOUNT OF NICOTINE IN CIGARETTES INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE 1998 The amount of nicotine a smoker gets from smoking a cigarette has increased steadily over the past seven years, according to a new report released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). The study found that, regardless of brand, the amount of nicotine that is actually delivered to the smoker’s lungs has increased significantly. The data was collected from reports submitted to DPH from 1998 to 2004 by all tobacco companies that sell cigarettes in the state, as required by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 307B and Department of Public Health Regulations CMR 660.000. Massachusetts is one of only three states in the country to require tobacco companies to submit this information annually.Item An Integrative Framework for Assessing the Value of Community-Based Prevention(National Academy of Sciences, 2012) UNSPECIFIEDItem Barber Shops Help To Eliminate Health Disparities(2011) UNSPECIFIEDA mix of haircuts with blood pressure screenings are becoming a healthy combination. Andrea Fujii explains how this combination is also helping to end racial divides.Item Behind the numbers* Healthcare cost trends for 2008(2007) UNSPECIFIEDHealthcare cost trends in the private sector tend to be cyclical, and the health industry is currently in a period of decelerating growth. For 2008, this is expected to mean a return to single-digit increases in benefit expenses for employers and employees. For private payers, the medical trend is expected to be lower in 2008 compared with 2007. Based on discussions with private insurers, medical costs are expected to rise by 9.9% for preferred provider organizations (PPOs), 9.9% for health maintenance organizations (HMOs)/point of service plans (POSs)/exclusive provider organizations (EPOs), and 7.4% for consumer-directed health plans. This compares with estimates of 11.9%, 11.8% and 10.7%, respectively, in the prior year. Insurance companies use medical cost trends to estimate what the same plan would cost in the next year.Item Best Practices in Capacity Building and Disease Management and Prevention to Address Minority Health Disparities(Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, 2007) UNSPECIFIEDEliminating minority health disparities continues to be a goal for state health policymakers, planners, educators, and legislators. They are challenged to identify effective strategies and programs. To this end, we have developed this document to offer examples of promising practices in capacity building and disease management. These practices demonstrate that state and local efforts can be effective in reducing health disparities. This report presents examples of community-based activities, operational procedures or capacity building approaches in addressing minority health disparities. The sections of each entry are program description, innovation (a unique distinction of the program), results/progress (an assessment/evaluation), and sources of further information The phenomenon of health disparity is socioeconomically complex, and often requires intervention at many points to be effective. Therefore, some limitations in selecting ‘Best Practices” must be noted. Overall, it is difficult to qualify any program or practice as "best." Perhaps, “promising” practices is a term that will better serve us. Assessments of efforts to address minority health disparities are constrained by the fact that little validating research is available to prove one approach more effective than another. Consequently, the scope of the literature review and web scan was narrow. Nevertheless, we attempted to select practices that have offered some form of evaluation or an account of results or progress. We hope these examples in this document will be of use to a broad audience of stakeholders interested in improving the availability and quality of approaches addressing minority health disparities. They demonstrate the practical ways in which public and private entities are working together to improve the health of all citizens. A resource list of contacts, resources, and reference documents appears at the end of this report.Item Black Men on Campus: Their Struggles, Successes and Voices(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2014) UNSPECIFIEDItem BREAST CANCER MORTALITY REPORT: CLOSING THE GAPS IN EIGHT COMMUNITIES(2007) UNSPECIFIEDResearchers retained by Susan G. Komen for the Cure analyzed eight locations in the United States with high rates of breast cancer mortality – six counties, one city neighborhood, and the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. The goals of this analysis were to: ❖ Understand the circumstances unique to each location that might contribute to the disparity in mortality statistics, as seen through the eyes of front-line care providers and community health care workers; ❖ Identify common issues, including screening and treatment barriers, that might be factors associated with high breast cancer mortality rates in these locations; and ❖ Propose policy options and possible funding strategies for reducing breast cancer mortality rates in these locations and similarly affected areas throughout the United States.