Minority Health and Health Equity Archive
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21769
Welcome to the Minority Health and Health Equity Archive (MHHEA), an electronic archive for digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. It is offered as a no-charge resource to the public, academic scholars and health science researchers interested in the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.
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Item The Use of Family Health Histories to Address Health Disparities in an African American Community(2007) Vogel, Kristen J.; Murthy, Vinaya S.; Dudley, Beth; Grubs, Robin E.; Gettig, Elizabeth; Ford, Angela; Thomas, Stephen B.African Americans continue to suffer from health disparities. The Center for Minority Health (CMH) within the University of Pittsburgh has the mission to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. CMH has designed and implemented the Family Health History (FHH) Initiative. The FHH Initiative places geneticcounseling graduate students in the African American community to provide risk assessments and emphasize the importance of family history as it pertains to disease prevention. The FHH Initiative also allows participants to enroll into the Minority Research Recruitment Database (MRRD). This enables CMH to alert individuals to available research participation opportunities. In the first year of this program, 225 African Americans completed their family health histories. More than 60% of individuals enrolled in the MRRD. The authors report their initial successes and challenges of an initiative that incorporates awareness of family history information, proper screening guidelines, behavior modification recommendations, and support for participation in clinical research.Item The Characteristics of Northern Black Churches with Community Health Outreach Programs(1994) Thomas, Stephen B.; Quinn, Sandra Crouse; Biingsley, Andrew; Caldwell, CleopatraOBJECTIVES. The Black church has a long history of addressing unmet health and human service needs, yet few studies have examined characteristics of churches involved in health promotion. METHODS. Data obtained from a survey of 635 Black churches in the northern United States were examined. Univariate and multivariate statistical procedures identified eight characteristics associated with community health outreach programs: congregation size, denomination, church age, economic class of membership, ownership of church, number of paid clergy, presence of other paid staff, and education level of the minister. RESULTS. A logistic regression model identified church size and educational level of the minister as the strongest predictors of church-sponsored community health outreach. The model correctly classified 88% of churches that conduct outreach programs. Overall, the model correctly classified 76% of churches in the sample. CONCLUSIONS. Results may be used by public health professionals and policy makers to enlist Black churches as an integral component for delivery of health promotion and disease prevention services needed to achieve the Year 2000 health objectives for all Americans.Item Take a Health Professional to the People: A community outreach strategy for mobilizing African American barber shops and beauty salons as health promotion sites(2006) Browne, Mario C.; Ford, Angela F.; Thomas, Stephen B.Objectives In September 2002, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day”, a national effort to promote health and wellness in the African American community. The Center for Minority Health (CMH) at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh adopted this model and tailored it to meet local needs by partnering with seven barbershops, two beauty salons, and over one hundred health professionals (HPs) to create what is now known as “Take a Health Professional to the People Day”. The focus of this partnership was to provide screenings and health information to patrons and transform these shops and salons into health promotion sites.Item The National Negro Health Week, 1915 to 1951: A Descriptive Account(2001) Quinn, Sandra Crouse; Thomas, Stephen B.In 1914, Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, viewed the poor health status of black Americans as an obstacle to economic progress and issued a call for "the Negro people... to join in a movement which shall be known as Health Improvement Week" (Patterson, 1939). Health Improvement Week evolved into the National Negro Health Week, observed annually for 35 years. This article provides an overview of the structure and activities of the National Negro Health Week and suggests implications for public health in the black community today.Item Health Disparities: The Importance of Culture and Health Communication(2004) Thomas, Stephen B.; Fine, Michael J.; Ibrahim, Said A.The root causes of health disparities are numerous and relate to individual behaviors, provider knowledge and attitudes, organization of the health care system, and societal and cultural values. Disparities have been well documented,even in systems that provide unencumbered access to health care, such as the VA Healthcare System, suggesting that factors other than access to care (e.g., culture and health communication) are responsible. Efforts to eliminate health disparities must be informed by the influence of culture on the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of not only minority populations but also public health policymakers and the health professionals responsible for the delivery of medical services and public health interventions designed to close the health gap. There is credible evidence suggesting that cultural norms within Western societies contribute to lifestyles and behaviors associated with risk factors for chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes and cardiovascular disease). This is the context in which smoking cessation, increased physical activity, and dietary regulation are prime targets for intervention.Item Understanding the patient's perspective on rapid and routine HIV testing in an inner-city urgent care center(2004) Hutchinson, Angela B.; Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Thomas, Stephen B.The purpose of this study was to explore patient perspectives of rapid and routine HIV-testing in an urgent care center at an urban public hospital. We conducted structured focus groups during a clinical trial comparing routinely offered rapid HIV-testing, routinely offered enzyme immunoassay (EIA) testing, and conventional EIA testing. Participants of the six focus groups were 89% African American, 60% uninsured, and had a low educational status. Four independent coders analyzed the data using iterative content analysis. Rapid testing was preferred to EIA testing because it reduced the need for a return visit and stress of waiting for test results, though there were concerns about accuracy. Participants supported routinely offering testing, but there were concerns about privacy and cost. Fear and stigma were common reasons for refusing testing and not returning for results. Distrust and misconceptions about HIV, particularly regarding the importance of testing, were very common.