The National Healthcare Disparities Report
represents the first national comprehensive effort
to measure differences in access and use of health
care services by various populations. The
National Healthcare Quality Report is the first
national comprehensive effort to measure the
quality of health care in America.
BellSouth has produced the 15th edition of the
South Carolina African-American History Calendar
and South Carolina African-American History
Online. These special calendars feature one of
the many different cultures that has influenced
the growth and development of the Palmetto State.
The individuals honored this year have excelled
in their respective fields and are role models for
all of our children.
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Research (OBSSR)was established by the U.S.
Congress in recognition of the key role that
behavioral and social factors often play in
illness and health. The OBSSR mission is to
stimulate behavioral and social sciences research
throughout the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
and to integrate these areas of research more
fully into others of the NIH health research
enterprise. OBSSR engages in a variety of
activities in order to achieve its principal
goals. Among these are developing funding
initiatives for research and training.
A wide range of NIH training oportunities is
available for students at the high school,
college, and graduate level. In addition, NIH
provides training for postdoctoral researchers and
junior faculty who are interested in careers in
the biomedical or behavioral sciences. A complete
description of NIH Research Training Programs is
available for individuals who want to pursue a
research career. NIH recognizes that the number
of minority researchers in the biomedical and
behavioral sciences is insufficient, and that this
may contribute adversely to he development of
scientific fields and limit knowledge about the
epidemiology and treatment of diseases in minority
propulations living in the U.S.
Charleston Black Heritage" - The Official Visitors
Guide seeks to attract visitors to Charleston and
the Lowcountry by highlighting the area's unique
African-American cultural heritage. It lists not
only businesses, restaurants, and other
establishments that offer an African-American
flavor for visitors coming to the region - it also
lists the historic sites and attractions that
reveal the African-American experience of the
Lowcountry.
The number of nicotine addicts who will smoke
themselves to death this year is 5,992. South
Carolina's combined annual deaths from auto
accidents, AIDS, breast cancer, fire, liver
disease, infant death, murder, suicide, and all
illegal and legal drugs is 4,216. Collectively,
S.C. annually spends in excess of a billion
dollars attempting to prevent the deaths in the
non-smoking categoires. Unfortunately, today's
state budget does not devote any funds toward
helping save any of this year's smokers or to try
and prevent the early demise of the hundreds of
thousands of nicotine dependent citizens lined-up
behind them to die.
This study was conducted to delineate the context
in which health-related data collection and
reporting by race, ethnicity, and primary language
takes place at the federal level, particularly
within the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. With a grant from The Commonwealth
Fund, the Summit Health Institute for Research and
Education, Inc., in partnership with the National
Health Law Program, Inc., conducted a survey of
the statutes, regulations, policies and procedures
of federal agencies to identify when the
collection and reporing of data on race,
ethnicity, and primary language are required. The
study also assessed current understanding and
implementation of existing laws and regulations as
expressed by 60 respondents associated with the
administration of health care services.
Kaisernetwork.org, the Kiaser Family Foundation's
online news and information service, has added a
new Issue Spotlight on Minority Health and Health
Care Disparities, providing up-to-date news and
information about efforts to reduce racial and
ethnic disparities in health care including a
reference library of key organizations,
publicaions, and other sources of information; key
data on minority health; links to recently
released and relevant reports; current headlins
from the Kaiser Daily Reports and recent health
casts (webcasts) and transcripts of minority
health conferences and events.
EPIC, New Yorks drug assistance program, can
provide valuable lessons to policymakers seeking
ways to provide affordable prescription drug
coverage to the elderly. According to
Strengthening New Yorks EPIC Program. Options
for Improving Drug Coverage for Medicare
Beneficiaries, a new report from The Commonwealth
Fund, EPIC's generous eligibility standards and
benefits have helped the program nearly triple its
enrollment between 1998 and 2002, from 92,000 to
260,000. However, there is room for improvement.
The report recommends a number of ways to improve
the program.
Kaiser Family Foundation's Fact Sheet provides
detailed information about African Americans and
HIV/AIDS. The fact sheet provides a snapshot of
the HIV/AIDS epidemic, key trends and current
cases and information on testing and care.
Kaiser Family Foundation's Key Fact Chartbook
provides comprehensive data on a variety of issues
relating to African Americans and HIV/AIDS.
African Americans now represent more than half of
all new HIV infections in the U.S. and HIV was the
number one cause of death for African Ameicans
between the ages of 25 and 44 in 2000.
This program announcement (PA) solicits novel
research integrating genetics, behavior and aging.
It is framed around two broad categories of
questions: (1) gene-to-behavior questions
concerning the nature and role of genetic
influences on behaviors at older ages, and how
these genetic effects vary with age; and (2)
questions about dynamic processes including
gene-environment interactions, gene-environment
covariation, age-related genetic effects, and how
behaviors interact with and affect genetic
expression. The behaviors should be critical to
quality of life among the aged, either as outcomes
or as mediators of physical or cognitive health
and function.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
acting through the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), and combining the strengths and
resources of all relevant HHS agencies and
programs, announces the availability of fiscal
year (RY) 2003 funds for a cooperative agrement
program to implement the Secretary of HHS
Initiative for Americans entitled Steps to a
Healthier US (hereafter referred to as STEPS.
STEP/s is a bold new initiative. The centerpiece
of this initiative is a five-year cooperative
agreement program to create healthier communities
by improving the lives of Americans through
innovative and effective community-based health
promotion and chronic disease prevention and
control programs.
The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated its annual chartbook on health insurance coverage and a fact sheet describing the uninsured population and the policy challenges involved in providing them access to care.
New data are now available on health insurance and demographic characteristics of all 50 states in the U.S. based on the Census Bureau's most recent Current Population Survey. This includes nearly 50 topics shown in easy-to-use ranked tables and color-coded maps. There is no cost for this resource which provides quick access to over 250 topics covering state-level and U.S. information on health policy, health status, and health care statistics.
Pathways for Medication Safety, a comprehensive set of tools designed to reduce medication errors, is now available free of charge at www.medpathways.info Developed by the American Hospital Association, the Health Research and Educational Trust, and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices with support from
The Commonwealth Fund, the tools are designed to help hospitals take a process-driven, system-based approach to addressing one of the most critical issues in health care today. Pathways for Medication Safety was released this week at the 37th American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting.
The Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) is an independent British cancer research charity, with headquarters and registered office in St Andrews, Scotland, where it has been based since 1984. The AICR s aim is to support fundamental research into the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer. The emphasis is on basic, as opposed to clinical research. The Association is keen to support recently qualified researchers, work in areas that are relatively underfunded or unexplored, pump-priming or preliminary research projects and projects involving international collaboration
For over 50 years, the Cancer Research Foundation has been funding important laboratory and clinical research projects in Chicago medical centers. Our funding has been earmarked for 1) Bernice Goldblatt Fellows, first-year students in the Cancer Biology M.D., Ph.D. graduate program at the University of Chicago Medical Center, 2) beginning scientists, post M.D./Ph.D. scientists who have never received cancer research funding and need the first leg-up in establishing independent research projects and 3) senior scientists whose projects are poised at the threshold of major breakthroughs.
On this site major funding resources are listed. More extensive funding resources can be found on web sites specializing on extensive link sections. Most of the links listed here will lead you directly to the funding pages of web sites.
These pages contain links to Web sites which provide instructions to authors for over 3,500 journals in the health and life sciences. All links are to primary sources, that is to publishers or organizations with editorial responsibilities for the titles.
A first-ever joint report representing the nation s most comprehensive data on cancer statistics was released November 18 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and NIH s National Cancer Institute.
If you have not used the Warehouse before, it is a user-friendly Web-based data archive developed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) with support from the National Institute on Aging. The Warehouse is specifically designed to show trends in health-related behaviors, health status, health care utilization, functional status and disability, and health care expenditures of the older population.
The Institute on Race, Health Care and the Law is dedicated to improving the health status of persons who are discriminated against based on race and/or ethnicity (with specific attention on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino (a) Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Americans).
Author Katherine Swartz of the Harvard School of Public Health shows that premiums charged by the program, which began enrolling people in January 2001, are much lower than what are offered in the individual market.
A new report from The Commonwealth Fund reveals that on a wide range of health care quality measures¾including effective patient-physician communication, overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers, and access to health care and insurance coverage¾minority Americans do not fare as well as whites.
Keep in Mind
Nearly one-half of Hispanic adults (46%) and one-third of African American adults (30%) lacked health insurance for all or part of last year.
(From Diverse Communities, Common Concerns: Assessing Health Care Quality for Minority Americans, The Commonwealth Fund, March 2002)
Retiree health benefits are the largest source of supplemental coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. More than one-third of seniors - almost 14 million people on Medicare - receive health insurance from an employer plan. Such health coverage is critical for seniors seeking to fill gaps in Medicare for such expenses as prescription drugs and cost-sharing requirements.
The authors analyze various approaches to financing health services for low-income parents who lack insurance. They also explore key federal programs offering health care to low-income people and provide state policymakers with options for creating sources of care for uninsured parents.
The report examines how North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Washington have improved delivery of child development services through their Medicaid programs.
A survey of public attitudes toward health care reveals that the United States as the highest share of residents facing access problems, driven in large part by the difficulty many face in paying for care.
According to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, state pharmacy assistance programs for Medicare eneficiaries help only a small proportion of the Medicare population - just 3 percent, or 1.2 million beneficiaries out of 39 million nationwide.
Based on more than 150 published studies and reports about quality of care, the chartbook contains 54 charts and accompanying analysis that document serious gaps in quality on many crucial dimensions of care. Lack of preventive care, medical mistakes, substandard care for chronic conditions, and health care disparities are among the issues examined in this comprehensive study.
The life expectancy of a woman reached a new record in 2000 (79.5 years), although the average life expectancy of a black woman is five years shorter than that of a white woman, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The study, which reports the results of a demonstration project including eight managed care plans, stresses the importance of racial and ethnic data collection as the key to improving quality and eliminating disparities in care. The authors recommend that health plans collect racial and ethnic data preferably from plan members directly, or from existing sources, and that plans be required to collect and report these data in order to be accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) or the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and ABC RadioNetworks are working together to sponsor Closing the Health Gap, a national campaign to bring the best health information to African American communities and help African Americans take charge of their health.
Health Professionals makes it easy to search PubMed for scientific journal articles related to achieving selected Healthy People 2010 objectives. A single click retrieves articles geared to objective 1-8 (under-represented minorities in the health professions).
A practical guide to help states and communities address the national workforce development objectives for the health professions and public health agencies. Includes strategies, examples, and resources to increase under-represented minorities in the health professions (objective 1-8). Particularly handy for health improvement planning groups are brief summaries of workforce issues, strategies, and planning options.
A Healthy People 2010 interface for the U. S. government gateway to reliable consumer health information and other resources. Searchable Healthfinder® topics are organized by Healthy People 2010 focus area.
Searchable database for school health guidelines, recommendations, and other documents approved by the CDC for the prevention and control of disease, injuries, and disabilities. Search by keyword (e. g., minority, disparities) or document date.
A Journey (HRSA) Summarizes the experiences of community programs to provide culturally competent health services to diverse communities. Outlines seven domains of cultural competence (such as policies and procedures, clinical practice, and physical environment, materials, and resources), and provides examples of strategies providers can use.
Searchable database allows users to find state or local models addressing health disparities by state or by heath issues. Users also may enter information on new programs targeting racial and ethnic health disparities.
Lists HRSA and other HHS programs and agencies addressing health disparities. Also includes a list of non-profit organizations and web sites with resources.
Allows users to search an archive of public opinion poll data. States may find it useful to find out what the public thinks about over 28 topics (e. g., race/ ethnicity and health) and other issues related to regional priorities, before planning broad initiatives.
Provides a selection of recent resources and tools for further research including web sites and electronic publications, journal articles, books, reports, and other print publications, databases, and electronic newsletters. It is aimed at policymakers, health professionals, and researchers who are interested in tracking timely information on this issue.
Allows users to search by keyword (e. g., racial health disparities) for information on health topics, including related organizations and publications. MEDLINEplus is the NLM's consumer health information service.
Gateway to HHS health disparities initiatives, plus links to Office of Minority Health publications [See in particular the report, Assessment of State Minority Health Infrastructure and Capacity to Address Issues of Health Disparity]. The OMH Resource Center provides links to regional minority health consultants, state minority health liaisons, a funding guide, state minority health data contacts, and sources of health promotion materials.
Author: Cheryl Blackmore Prince, MPH, PhD. Discusses the meaning of disparities and the factors that have been associated with health disparities, including race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.
Locate information about HHS regional contacts, Healthy People 2010 priorities, and events. Follow the link to the "Healthy People Assistance Page" for links to state Healthy People 2010 web sites and theState Healthy People 2010 Tool Library.
Regular health care, including preventive care, can enhance and extend the lives of those you love. That is why September 24 is Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day. It is your chance to encourage those you love to visit a health professional -- or at least make an appointment to visit one. And look for a community-sponsored health event near you on this day. It is a great way to show you care.
Many policymakers have called for the remodeling of Medicare to more closely resemble private insurance, which is often assumed to work better than public programs do. However, evidence from this 2001 survey demonstrates that Medicare beneficiaries are generally more satisfied with their health care than are persons under age sixty-five who are covered by private insurance. Medicare beneficiaries report fewer problems getting access to care, greater confidence about their access, and fewer instances of financial hardship as a result of medical bills. Making the program more like private insurance runs the risk of undermining a program that is working well from the perspective of beneficiaries.
