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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Subject: search.filters.subject.cultural competency

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 11
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    Cuts to Community Health Centers Harm Communities of Color the Most
    (2011) Ajinkya, Julie; Bryant, Gabby
    Community health centers were a crucial source of health care for more than 20 million people nationwide in 2010, but the centers disproportionately served members from underserved groups such as communities of color and low-income populations.
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    Emergency medical practice: advancing cultural competence and reducing health care disparities.
    (2009) Padela, Aasim I; Punekar, Imran R A
    In an increasingly diverse patient population, language differences, socioeconomic circumstances, religious values, and cultural practices may present barriers to the delivery of quality care. These obstacles contribute to the health care disparities observed in all areas of medical care. Increasing cultural competence has been cited as part of the solution to reduce disparities. The emergency department (ED) is an environment where cultural sensitivity is particularly needed, as it is often a primary source of health care for the underserved and ethnic and racial minorities and a place where high patient volume and acuity place the provider under demanding time pressures, yet the emergency medicine (EM) literature on health care disparities and cultural competence is limited. The authors present three clinical scenarios highlighting challenges in providing equitable emergency care to minority populations. Using these cases as illustrations, three processes are proposed that may improve the quality of care delivered to minority populations: 1) increase cultural awareness and reduce provider biases, enabling providers to interact more effectively with different patient populations; 2) accommodate patient preferences and needs in medical settings through practice adjustments and cultural modifications; and 3) increase provider diversity to raise levels of tolerance, awareness, and understanding for other cultures and create more racially and/or ethnically concordant patient-physician relationships.
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    Health Care Access Among Latinos: Implications for Social and Health Care Reforms
    (2010) Perez-Escamilla, R.
    According to the Institute of Medicine, health care access is defined as “the degree to which people are able to obtain appropriate care from the health care system in a timely manner.” Two key components of health care access are medical insurance and having access to a usual source of health care. Recent national data show that 34% of Latino individuals do not have health insurance and 27% do not have access to a usual source of health care. This article identifies barriers and solutions for improving health care access among Latino individuals.
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    Compendium of Cultural Competence Initiatives in Health Care
    (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003) UNSPECIFIED
    activities that seek to reduce cultural and communication barriers to health care. These activities are often described as cultural competency and/or cross-cultural education. The Institute of Medicine report (2002)1, Unequal Treatment, recommended that the health care system pursue several of these techniques as part of a multi-level strategy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in medical care. This compendium is a first attempt at describing these activities in a single document. It was prepared in response to the many requests from the media and others to define cultural competency and identify efforts underway in this emerging field. In a recent article, Brach and Fraser (2000)2 clustered the techniques frequently discussed in the literature on cultural competency into nine categories: 1) interpreter services; 2) recruitment and retention policies for minority staff; 3) training; 4) coordinating with traditional healers; 5) use of community health workers; 6) culturally competent health promotion; 7) including family and/or community members in care-giving; 8) immersion into another culture; and 9) administrative or organizational accommodations.
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    Oklahoma Task Force to Eliminate Health Disparities
    (2006) UNSPECIFIED
    In 2003 Senate Bill 680 created the Oklahoma Task Force to Eliminate Health Disparities. Initially, twelve members representing the Oklahoma Legislature and diverse members of Oklahoma’s population made up the Task Force. The Governor, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the State Commissioner of Health each made three appointments. In 2004 an amendment to Senate Bill 680 added three new members to represent mental health concerns. The Task Force was charged to assist the State Department of Health investigate issues related to health disparities and health access (e.g., availability of health care providers, cultural competency, and behaviors that lead to poor health) among multicultural, underserved and regional populations; develop short-term and long-term strategies to eliminate health disparities, focusing on cardiovascular disease, infant mortality, diabetes, cancer and other leading causes of death; publish a report on the findings and recommendations for implementing targeted programs to move Oklahoma closer to a state of health through the reduction and eventual elimination of health disparities.
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    Our Lives Were Healthier Before: Focus Groups With African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino, and Hmong People With Diabetes
    (2006) Devlin, Heather; Roberts, Martha; Okaya, Amy; Xiong, Yer Moua
    Focus groups were conducted to explore health-related beliefs and experiences of African American, Hispanic/ Latino, American Indian, and Hmong people with diabetes and engage community members in improving diabetes care and education for these populations. Eighty participants attended 12 focus groups, 3 per population. Major themes were loss of health attributed to modern American lifestyles, lack of confidence in the medical system, and the importance of spirituality. Participants recommended improvements in the areas of health care, diabetes education, social support, and community action. Their recommendations emphasize the importance of respectful, knowledgeable health care providers; culturally responsive diabetes education for people with diabetes and their families; and broad-based community action. These recommendations align with current public health priorities and medical knowledge. It is proposed that healthy traditions from diverse populations can be leveraged to improve the health of all people with diabetes.
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    Perceived Versus Actual Risk for Hypertension and Diabetes in the African American Community
    (2006) Graham, Garth N.; Leath, Brenda; Payne, Kermit; Guendelman, Maya; Reynolds, Gladys; Kim, Soo; James, Barbara; Ware, Donald; Hunter, Mildred; Burwell, Audrey; Buggs, Georgia
    Hypertension and diabetes mellitus are leading health concerns in the United States. Despite a disproportionate burden of both conditions among African Americans, it is estimated that 44% of diabetes cases and one quarter of hypertension cases within this population are undiagnosed. Lack of awareness of the risk of these conditions may hinder preventive efforts and the adoption of positive lifestyle changes. Based on the findings from a pilot study to develop and standardize uniform screening forms for hypertension and diabetes, this article reports on the perceived risk versus actual risk of developing these conditions among primarily African American participants using a community-based screening tool. Each form assessed both perceived and actual risk of diabetes and hypertension, respectively. A total of 265 hypertension and 225 diabetes screening forms were randomly selected from eight sites across the country. The risk perception of the overall study sample was similar to its actual risk for developing either condition. However, a significant proportion of individuals who scored at high risk for diabetes or hypertension were unaware of their risk for these conditions. These results suggest the need for developing culturally relevant interventions, public health education, and policies that address the risk misperceptions among this group.
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    Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Influences, Actors, and Policy Opportunities
    (Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, 2007) Meyers, Kate
    Much has been written on the existence of racial and ethnic differences in health status and health care access and quality in the United States. Researchers, think tanks, government entities, and advocacy organizations have worked to summarize many of the root causes, environmental and behavioral influences, and health system factors that play a role. Yet sustained and significant change has been elusive. Efforts to reduce disparities will continue to fall short unless the complex interplay of influences are understood and addressed, and synergies among actors who can impact those influences are realized. The Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy has produced this review and synthesis of the literature to spur thinking and discussion among those who inform, influence, and make public and private policy impacting health. Areas of analysis include the landscape of influences on health disparities, which policy actors are best positioned to intervene, and where those actors may have the most impact. Given the complex nature of disparities, to date most action has focused on individual sectors of health or social policy, such as coverage for the uninsured, linguistically appropriate care, or neighborhood improvements to support healthy eating and active living.
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    BCHS 2524- Overview of Minority Health and Health Disparities in the US
    (2006) Thomas, Stephen B; Gilbert, Keon L
    Understanding health disparities involves a critical analysis of historical, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental conditions that have produced an inequitable health status for racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. While we also recognize that disparities exist along socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation and other factors, this class will focus on disparities in racial and ethnic minority communities. Issues of gender, SES and other factors will be examined as they intersect race and ethnicity, and further influence disparities in health. Minority health and health disparities have gained considerable attention from the recent publication of Healthy People 2010 Report, which lists as its two goals: 1) improve the quality of life for all citizens, and 2) eliminate health disparities. The purpose of this class is to introduce basic issues that underlie health disparities. We will gain a better understanding of the relationships of social and environmental phenomena and the health of minority communities. This course will include current literature and foster discussions that will examine health disparities, explore social and environmental determinants of those disparities, critically review measurement issues, and determine public health’s response to these disparities. Students should seek to critically reflect on their personal and professional roles in eliminating health disparities. By the end of the course, students will be able to:
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    Patient–Physician Relationships and Racial Disparities in the Quality of Health Care
    (2003) Saha, Somnath; Arbelaez, Jose J; Cooper, Lisa A
    Objectives. This study explored whether racial differences in patient–physician relationships contribute to disparities in the quality of health care. Methods. We analyzed data from The Commonwealth Fund’s 2001 Health Care Quality Survey to determine whether racial differences in patients’ satisfaction with health care and use of basic health services were explained by differences in quality of patient–physician interactions, physicians’ cultural sensitivity, or patient–physician racial concordance. Results. Both satisfaction with and use of health services were lower for Hispanics and Asians than for Blacks and Whites. Racial differences in the quality of patient–physician interactions helped explain the observed disparities in satisfaction, but not in the use of health services. Conclusions. Barriers in the patient–physician relationship contribute to racial disparities in the experience of health care.