This page features news, articles and discussions related to health disparities.

• 2008 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
  The US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics released the 2008 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics to covers data on legal permanent residents, nonimmigrant admissions, refugees and asylees, naturalization and immigration enforcement.

• 2009 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS: Summary of Findings on the Domestic Epidemic
  A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that Americans’ sense of urgency about HIV/AIDS as a national health problem has fallen dramatically and their concern about HIV as a personal risk has also declined, even among some groups at higher risk.

• AADE Position Statement - Cultural Sensitivity and Diabetes Education: Recommendations for Diabetes Educators
  
  
• A Data Collection Toolkit for Health Insurance Plans and Health Care Organizations to Address Disparities in Health
  
  
• A Guide for Advancing Family-Centered and Culturally and Linguistically Competent Care
  
  
• A Guide to Integrating Community Health Workers into Health Disparities Collaboratives
  
  
• A Multicultural Action Plan to Achieve Health Parity
  
  
• A Profile of American Indians and Alaska Natives and Their Health Coverage
  
  This brief examines the health coverage, access to care and health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives across the country.
  
  
• A Report Card on Comprehensive Equity: Racial Gaps in the Nation's Youth Outcome
  It estimates the black-white achievement gaps in each of these aspects of education and youth development, and illustrates the types of data gathering which should be undertaken for ongoing measurement of these gaps. The "achievement gap" usually refers to the difference between black and white students' basic skills test scores. But education and youth development consists of more than basic skills -- it also includes critical thinking, social skills and a work ethic, citizenship and community responsibility, physical health, emotional health, appreciation of the arts and literature, and preparation for skilled work. Greater equity in outcomes requires narrowing the achievement gap in each of these areas.
  
  
• Addressing Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities
  This report is in the form of testimony to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee, on strategies for addressing health care disparities in the context of health reform legislation to be considered by Congress. 
  
  
• African Immigrants in the United States
  The article by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is a spotlight article that features a wealth of statistics on African immigrants living in the United States.  The article examines the population’s size, geographic distribution, socioeconomic characteristics and admission categories. 
  
  
• Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes
  Through grants to five organizations, the Merck Company Foundation is supporting comprehensive, multi-faceted, community-based programs to address the key factors that improve health outcomes for people living with diabetes. Collectively known as The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, these programs focus on reducing disparities in three core areas: patient education and improved self-management, clinician education in communicating with diverse patient groups, and system-level changes in practices and policy.
  
  
• American’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals & Their Communities
  
  
• America's Uninsured Crisis: Consequences for Health and Health Care
  The report, looking at issues of uninsurance since a landmark series of reports released between 2000 and 2004, finds that the evidence on the consequences of not having health insurance is stronger than ever. People without health insurance do not get the care they need—and while the evidence is not definitive, there are clear warning signs that having large numbers of uninsured people in a community affects the care that insured people receive. Insured adults in communities with high levels of uninsurance are less likely to be satisfied with the quality of their care and choice of providers.
  
  
• Amigos en Salud®/Friends in Health™
  The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) supports Pfizer Health Solutions Inc’s (PHS) efforts to reduce health disparities through a community health program, Amigos en Salud®/Friends in Health™, which is now available as an online toolkit for Community Health Centers around the country. The free materials illustrate how to implement a low-cost, community-based program to reduce health disparities among Hispanic and African American people with diabetes.
  
  
• And the Journey Continues: Achieving Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Systems Serving Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and their Families
  The newly published report by the National Center for Cultural Competence offers insights and lessons learned and provides success stories from State Title V Children with Special Health Care Needs programs.
  
  
• An estimated quarter of uninsured U.S. residents are eligible but not enrolled in public health insurance programs
  
  
• Arizona Health Guide: Resources for the Uninsured
  The Guide is a resource for Arizona residents who are uninsured or underinsured that helps to connect them to affordable health care resources throughout the state in both English and Spanish.
  
  
• Arizona Primary Care Program - Serving the NOTCH GROUP Briefing Summary
  
  
• Arizona Public Health Association's legislative priorities of 2006
  
  
• Arizona Special Needs Population Toolkits
  The Toolkit, compiled by the Arizona Department of Economic Security, includes best practices to assist you in your local jurisdiction’s vulnerable population planning needs.
  
  
• Better Communication, Better Care: Provider Tools to Care for Diverse Populations
  This tool kit includes four parts, interaction with a diverse patient base, communication across language barriers, understanding patients from various cultural backgrounds and references and resources. 
  
  
• Breast Cancer Mortality Report: Closing the Gaps in Eight Communities
  The report reveals shocking racial disparities in breast cancer mortality rates, tremendous barriers that prevent low-income women from receiving care, and disturbing gaps in the implementation of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act that enable states to refuse treatment for women based on where they are screened.
  
  
• California’s Emergency Preparedness Efforts for Culturally Diverse Communities: Status, Challenges and Directions for the Future

  The report is the first-of-its-kind report to conduct a systematic statewide assessment of emergency preparedness programs and initiatives for racially and ethnically diverse communities.  While this report focuses on the state of California, it provides a methodological framework that allows for similar assessments to be conducted at national, state and local levels.

• Caring Across Communities: Addressing Mental Health Needs of Diverse Children and Youth
  The report provides a summary of the mental health needs of immigrant and refugee children. The report also outlines important issues to consider when determining the quality of assessment measures and conducting comprehensive assessments
  
  
• CDC: Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities
  
  
• CDC Fact Sheet on Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
  Key statistics are provided for African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives. Information is provided for one or more of these groups on such health issues as access to healthcare, asthma, cancer, diabetes, adult immunizations, hepatitis, infant mortality, injuries, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), smoking and tuberculosis.
  
  
• CDC's National Center for Health Statistics Published Health, United States, 2006
  The report includes 147 detailed trend tables organized around four subject areas: health status and determinants, health-care use, health-care resources, and health-care expenditures. Many of the trend tables provide information on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in health.
  
  
• Census 2000 Foreign-Born Population Map Series by Selected Countries of Birth
  Census 2000 Foreign-Born Population Map Series by Selected Countries of Birth, the state level maps show percent distributions and some detailed socio-economic characteristics from Census 2000 for the foreign-born population in the United States and Puerto Rico for selected countries of birth. Comparative maps for the native and total foreign-born populations are also provided. The socioeconomic characteristics include poverty rate, public assistance income, labor force participation rate, language ability and year of entry for noncitizens.
  
  
• Childhood, Youth Cancer Survival Factors Vary by Race, Follow-Up Care
  
  
• Children’s Health: Community Approaches to Addressing Health Disparities: Workshop Summary
  
  It discusses the association between early-life socioeconomic conditions and adult health-related behaviors, morbidity and mortality and opportunities to influence health early in the life course.
  
  
• Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Policies in 50 States: An Era of Change
  The report chronicles achievements and remaining challenges in preventing tobacco use in 50 states
  
  
• Closing the Gap - Solutions to Race-Based Health Disparities
  
  
• Closing the Mental Health Gap: Eliminating Disparities in Treatment for Latinos
  
  
• CMS Language Access Policy
  The report issued by the Government Accountability Office, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommends that CMS Should Develop an Agency-wide Policy for Translating Medicare Documents into Languages Other Than English.
  
  
• Collection and Use of Race and Ethnicity Data for Quality Improvement: 2006 AHIP-RWJF Survey of Health Insurance Plans
  
  
• Commonwealth Fund Report Suggests Medical Residents Lack Sufficient Cross-Cultural Training
  
  
• The Commonwealth Fund's Top 10 Health Policy Stories of 2006
  
  
• Communication Consensus Report: Improving Communication - Improving Care
  This report describes the importance of communication to health care and how organizations can take steps to ensure effective, patient-centered communication.
  
  
• The Community Health Promotion Handbook: Action Guides to Improve Community Health
  
  
• The Community Health Worker's Sourcebook - A Training Manual for Preventing Heart Disease and Stroke
  
  
• Creating Equity Report: A Guide for Hospitals
  
  
• Cultural Barriers to Care: Inverting the Problem
  In working with diverse populations, health practitioners often view patients’ culture as a barrier to care. Inverting this problem by viewing the barriers as arising from the culture of biomedicine, the article provides greater direction for practice. Integral to the delivery of culturally appropriate diabetes care are practitioner competencies in specific areas of cultural knowledge, as well as specific skills in intercultural communication, tripartite cultural assessment, selecting among levels of intensity of cultural interventions (neutral, sensitive, innovative or transformative), adapting patient education and developing community partnerships.
  
  
• Culture Card: American Indian and Alaska Native: A Guide to Build Cultural Awareness
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has created this culture card.  Up to 50 copies of it can be ordered for free from its website.
  
  
• The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities
  
  The report provides information and offers a broad range of recommendations for reforms that will address some of the most significant obstacles to health, health care, disease prevention and health promotion for people with disabilities. http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2009/HealthCare/HealthCare.html
  
  
• Database to Assist Physicians and Others in Providing Improved Language Access and Cultural Competent Health Care
  Medical Leadership Council on Cultural Proficiency has unveiled a database designed to assist physicians and others in providing improved language access and culturally competent health care. With more than 350 initial entries, the searchable, internet-based, free-to-the-public database includes contact information for interpreters, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, public health departments and others that provide health information and services in languages other than English. Users, including physicians, nurses, social service workers, patients and the general public, can search for listings by county, by language, or by type of service. Services and materials address various topics, including diabetes and nutrition, in languages ranging from Arabic to Vietnamese. The database can be accessed at: http://medicalleadership.org/resource_interpreter.aspx
  
  
• Demographic Profiles of U.S. Hispanics by Country of Origin

  The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, released demographic profiles of the five largest Hispanic populations in the United States by country of origin: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, and Dominican. These profiles also describe the employment and income characteristics of each group. The characteristics of each group are contrasted with the characteristics of all Hispanics and the U.S. population overall. The profiles are based on the Center’s tabulations of the Census Bureau’s 2007 American Community Survey (ACS)

• Demographics and Health Care Access and Utilization of Limited-English-Proficient and English-Proficient Hispanics
  The report is based on data from the 2004 Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC). Key findings include educational and health insurance disparities, as well as disparities in usual source of care and health care utilization.
  
  
• Diabetes Afflicting More in US Asian Population
  
  
• Disparities in Health and Health Care among Medicare Beneficiaries
  
  
• Diverse Patient Population Pose Challenges for U.S. Hospitals
  
  
• Eliminating Health Disparities, Achieving Equity
  
  
• Engendering Change: Transforming Gender Roles in Asian & Pacific Islander Communities
  
  
• Ensuring that Health Care Reform Will Meet the Health Care Needs of Minority Communities and Eliminate Health Disparities
  
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Minority Health submitted their report to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with suggestions ensuring that health care reform meets health care needs of minority communities and eliminates health disparities.
  
  
• Eradicating Low Health Literacy: The First Public Health Movement of the 21st Century: Overview White Paper
  Explores how health literacy is defined, the scope of the problem, methods of identification, the extent of its consequence, the range of solutions and possible responses that the nation could take as it attempts to address the first public health crisis of the 21st century. Discusses the warning signs of low health literacy, Health literacy tests Taking Culture and Context into consideration, Guidelines to ensuring cultural sensitivity, Effective Health Communication, health Care Provider Tools, Pfizer’s Commitment to Health Literacy, Principles for clear health communication, and Future Directions.
  
  
• Examining Performance Measures through the Lens of Health Care Disparities
  It highlights public and private initiatives under way at the national, regional and local levels to measure performance and more effectively target interventions that reduce disparities.
  
  
• Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care - Results from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Quality Improvement Collaborative
  Ten hospitals with diverse patients participated in Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care, a recently completed program to improve the quality of cardiac care while reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
  
  
• Experts said that the Medicare program should do more to combat racial and ethnic disparties in healthcare, it was just not clear how to go about it.
  
  
• Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities
  http://www.meharry.org/Fl/index.html is a website sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and Meharry Medical College that highlights health disparities in underserved communities. It is organized into five major areas: Access to Health, Mental Health, Minority Health, Women's Health, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Within each major area, there are several topic pages, including cancer, depression, obstetrical care, and barriers to care for immigrants.
  
  
• Final Report of the APA Task Force on Gender Identify and Gender Variance
  
  
• From Policy to Action: Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the Ground Level
  
  
• Geneticizing Disease - Implications for Racial Health Disparities
  It is a report by Jamie Brooks and Meredith King of the Center for American Progress to detail racial and ethnic health disparities and how the emergence of race-based medicine can be dangerous.
  
  
• Guidance on the Classification of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders
  
  
• Healing the Invisible Wounds of Exposure to Violence: A Guide for Families

  It is a report that explains children’s behavior after experiencing violence and describes ways to help such children, such as encouraging them to express what they’re thinking and feeling.  Furthermore, the report includes sections on children’s behavior at various ages.  This guide is also available in Spanish.

• Health Care Language Services Implementation Guide
  
  
• Health Care Resources for Arizona’s Low Income and Uninsured Families
  This popular manual provides easy-to-use information on Health Care Programs available to uninsured and low income Arizonans.
  
  
• Health Care & World Religions Booklet
  This resource online is about how health care personnel might better serve Hmong, Lao Buddhists, Latina/o Christians, Somali Muslims and South Asian Hindus.
  
  
• Health Centers: America’s Primary Care Safety Net
  The report describes the history of safety net health center programs; safety net health centers’ role in providing a medical home; the model of care used, and how connections are sustained between primary care associations, offices, and other partners.
  
  
• Health Characteristics of the American Indian and Alaska Native Adult Population: United States, 1999-2003
  
  
• Health Characteristics of the Asian Adult Population: United States, 2004-2006
  
  
• Health Disparities: A Case for Closing the Gap
  
  Despite consistent increases in spending, disparities among demographic groups persist. Low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities experience disproportionately higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options and reduced access to care. With unemployment on the rise, the disparities already apparent among these groups will continue to increase.  The report demonstrates the need for reform.
  
  
• Health Disparities: A Rural-Urban Chartbook
  Despite consistent increases in spending, disparities among demographic groups persist. Low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities experience disproportionately higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options and reduced access to care. With unemployment on the rise, the disparities already apparent among these groups will continue to increase.  The report demonstrates the need for reform.
  
  
• The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results from The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy
  The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) assessed the English literacy of adults in the United States, and included items designed to measure their health literacy. The health literacy scale and tasks were guided by the definition of health literacy used by the Institute of Medicine and Healthy People 2010. The report provides information on demographic characteristics and health literacy as well as overall health, health insurance coverage, and sources of health information.
  
  
• The Health Research and Educational Trust Disparities Toolkit
  The Toolkit is a Web-based tool that provides hospitals, health systems, clinics, and health plans information and resources for systematically collecting race, ethnicity, and primary language data from patients.
  
  
• Health Risks and Disparities Experienced by Black Youth
  It provides an introduction to health disparities, including health risk behaviors among black youth, highlights factors that contribute to health disparities and offers strategies to address health and educational disparities for state and local education and health agencies.
  
  
• Health Risks and Disparities Experienced by Hispanic Youth
  It provides an introduction to health disparities, including health risk behaviors among Hispanic youth, highlights factors that contribute to health disparities, and offers strategies to address health and educational disparities.
  
  
• Health Workforce Shortage Study Report
  The report addresses the primary health care workforce shortage in Minnesota and recommendations that would address the State's health workforce challenges particularly in rural communities.
  
  
• HepB.tv Offers Hepatitis B Programming for Asian Americans
  HepB.tv is the first online television network for hepatitis B. It offers original and syndicated video and audio programming to educate Asian Americans about hepatitis B, and also provides resources to raise public awareness of the need for testing, vaccination, and treatment.
  Be sure to recommend this cutting-edge resource to patients who might be interested in its content. To visit HepB.tv, go to: http://www.hepb.tv 
  
  
• Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge
  
  
• Hispanic Immigrants Seek Health Care from Their Own
  
  
• HIV/AIDS en la Frontera: U.S.-Mexico Border Epidemiologic Profile
  This profile examines epidemiologic research conducted in a number of key locations along the U.S.-México border. Volume I of the Epidemiologic Profile is comprised of three chapters. These chapters highlight: 1) the foundations of this collaborative effort; 2) the characteristics of the general U.S.-Mexico border population; and 3) the scope of the HIV/AIDS epidemic along the border.
  
  
• Hospitals, Languages, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation
  It is a three year cross-sectional qualitative study to explore how 60 hospitals across the country provide health care to culturally and linguistically diverse patient populations.
  
  
• How Many Uninsured? A Resource Guide for Community Estimates
  
  
• IMIA Guide on Medical Translation
  
  
• The Importance of Culture in Evaluation
  The report provides insight into the complex dynamics between evaluators, funders and stakeholders of different cultures.  It helps evaluators think through questions to ask about the practices of any cultural group or any new situation, so that the competencies are utilized across many cultures and in many settings.
  
  
• Improving Access to Language Services in Health Care: A Look at National and State Efforts
  The issue brief examines national efforts to address language barriers for patients with limited English proficiency and profiles efforts in California, Minnesota and New York. It identifies challenges to delivering language services in the health care setting and highlights successes and implications for future policy as well as activities related to providing language services
  
  
• Improving the Health Care Response to Abuse in Native Communities
  
  
• Improving Meningococcal Vaccination Rates in Adolescents and Reducing Racial, Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities
  It is a brief report to discuss disparities in meningitis awareness among certain racial and ethnic groups, identifies barriers to immunization and outlines strategies to increase vaccination rates among adolescents of all races. The report makes several recommendations for health care providers to improve outreach efforts to at-risk populations, including the implementation on educational programs, offering educational material in different languages, providing alternative clinic sites and informing eligible families of no-cost vaccine programs.
  
  
• Improving Outcomes: Blueprint for a National AIDS Plan for the United States
  The report finds that the U.S. has not made sufficient progress against HIV/AIDS, especially among blacks. It makes several recommendations for the fight against the disease, including the need to focus prevention and treatment efforts among blacks. The report also says that there is a need to implement new approaches, focus federal funding on concrete results, and increase the use of evidence-based, cost-effective strategies that have been shown to be successful.
  
  
• Improving Quality and Achieving Equity: A Guide for Hospital Leaders
  
  
• Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 Report
  
  
• Information Sharing Could Help Institutions Identify and Address Challenges That Some Asian American and Pacific Islander Students Face
  
  
• Integrating Immigrant Families in Emergency Response, Relief and Rebuilding Efforts
  It is a new publication by Annie E. Casey Foundation that helps service providers incorporate new refugee and immigrant populations into local emergency response efforts. The report mainly focuses on how to address language barriers in emergency preparedness for Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities. The report also includes lists of sources for LEP preparedness, which service providers will find helpful.
  
  
• Intimate Partner Violence in Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Challenges, Promising Practices and Recommendations
  The report examines the issue from a variety of standpoints, and offers recommendations and summaries for future work and funding efforts.
  
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation Launches Free News Report on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
  
  
• Key Considerations for Opening Doors – Developing Community Health Worker Education Programs
  A guide for developing community health worker educational programs
  
  
• Key Facts: Race Ethnicity and Medical Care
  The report, by Kaiser Family Foundation in June 2003 provides a broad range of information on race/ethnicity, health, health insurance coverage, preventive and primary care, and specialty care related to heart disease, cancer, asthma and HIV/AIDS.
  
  
• Key Health and Health Care Indicators by Race/Ethnicity and State
  It shows variations across states and racial and ethnic groups for six key health and health care indicators including rates of infant mortality and diabetes-related mortality and AIDS cases
  
  
• Key Health Disparities-Focused Legislation Introduced in the 110th Congress
  Key Health Disparities-Focused Legislation Introduced in the 110th Congress highlights more than a dozen of these legislative initiatives, such as the Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act and the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2007. While a number of other bills introduced this year may impact health disparities and/or affect minority health, this compendium covers legislation written specifically to address racial and ethnic health disparities.
  
  
• Language Use and English Speaking Ability 2000 Census Brief
  
  
• Left Behind: America’s Uninsured Children
  
  
• LGBTQ Cultures:  What Health Care Professionals Need to Know About Sexual and Gender Diversity

  This online-only book is to serve as an introduction to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) health issues and offer health care professionals tools for creating safer and more inclusive environments for the people they serve, and a more humane workplace for their LGBTQ coworkers. It provides a broad overview of the issues that are shared among those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or queer.

• The Medical Manual for Religio-Cultural Competence: Caring for Religiously Diverse Populations

  The Manual includes communication tips and guides, information on ten of the world’s largest religions and how they intersect with health care and real tools to help providers manage their patients’ religious needs. 

• Medline Plus: Asian-American Health
  It lists resources available from different sponsors providing health-related information pertaining to Asian & Pacific Islander population, and includes links to statistics, demographics, research, and organizations.
  
  
• Meeting the Challenges of an Aging Society:  The Experience of State Health Departments

  This report describes the needs, priorities and activities of state health departments related to older adult health, and summarizes the results of a survey of state health departments. Additionally, it includes summaries of in-depth interviews with four state health departments providing specific information on successful strategies, productive partnerships, challenges and barriers to implementing older adult health policies and programs.

• Mobilizing Resources for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Challenges and Opportunities
  It identifies obstacles to increasing LGBT funding among human rights funders and explores the implications of those obstacles.
  
  
• Multicultural Health Care: A Quality Improvement Guide
  The Guide is intended for health care organization such as managed care plans, large group practices, hospitals, public health agencies, disease management organizations, community health centers and other institutions that provide and/or arrange for care of diverse patients.
  
  
• Muslim Americans: A National Portrait – An in-depth analysis of America’s most diverse religious community
  A study by Gallup and Coexist Foundation offers a comprehensive snapshot of the Muslim American community and is the first-ever nationally representative study of a randomly selected sample of Muslim Americans. 
  
  
• The National Health Plan Collaborative Toolkit
  
  
• 2007 National Health Care Disparities Report
  Toolkit resources include: Health plan case studies; sample tools, forms and policies related to implementation; videos of experts talking about the importance of reducing disparities and firsthand experiences in developing and implementing interventions; and
  a compilation of resources in this field.
  
  
• National Healthcare Disparities Report 2008
  The report indicated some improvements in closing the gaps between ethnic groups but found little progress in addressing the most glaring differences. For instance, black Americans continue to be nearly 10 times more likely than whites to contract AIDS, little changed since 2005. They are twice as likely to have a leg amputated because of diabetes and pregnant black women are twice as likely not to receive prenatal care in the first trimester.
  
  
• The National HIV Prevention Inventory: The State of HIV Prevention Across the U.S.
  This report, authored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, provides the first comprehensive inventory of how HIV prevention is delivered across the country, based on a survey of the 65 health departments receiving direct federal HIV prevention funding, including every state and territory, plus six cities.  The report shows that the nation’s overall funding for HIV prevention programs has been relatively flat in recent years while an estimated 56,000 people continue to become infected each year in the U.S.  The report also documents some of the challenges health departments are facing in delivering HIV prevention services.
  
  
• National Newspaper Coverage of Minority Health Disparities
  
  
• New Report Reveals African Americans May Lack Key Nutrients for Optimal Health
  
  
• New 50-State Profiles on Family Economic Security
  
  
• NQF Proposes Cultural Competency Standards for Health Care Providers
  
  
• Obesity and American Indians/Alaska Natives
  The report addresses the prevalence of obesity among American Indians/Alaska Natives, its contributing factors, the consequences of obesity, and published research studies on obesity intervention.
  
  
• One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations
  
  
• Origins and Strategies for Addressing Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Pharmaceutical Therapy: The Health-Care System, the Provider, and the Patient
  The report reveals disparities in treatment of minority patients with cardiovascular illness, asthma, psychiatric illness, pain and other conditions and finds disparities in access to medications through insurance programs, in the prescribing of medications and in adherence to medication regimens. The report offers recommendations for health-care planners and advocates, clinicians and health-care organizations to improve prescribing and use of medications in a diverse society. The report points out that improving access to and use of medications in diverse groups requires policies that enable affordable, personalized therapy. Ethnic/racial background should, like other factors such as age or gender, be considered in selecting drugs and dosages, in the composition of drug formularies and preferred drug lists, and in determining the scope of drug substitution policies. The report emphasizes that therapy must be tailored to individual needs and stereotyping and overgeneralization in caring for diverse populations should be avoided.
  
  
• The Prescription Drug Safety Net: Access to Pharmaceuticals for the Uninsured
  The background paper provides an overview of organized programs that provide access to prescription drugs for the uninsured. Focuses on manufacturer-sponsored pharmacy assistance programs (PAPs) and the federal 340B drug pricing program.
  
  
• Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America: Recommendations to States
  
  
• Proceedings of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Improving Health Literacy
  
  
• Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health
  This workbook was created to support new and existing partnerships to address the social determinants of health inequities. It highlights lessons learned by communities and provides information and tools to develop, implement and evaluate interventions that address social determinants of health inequities. It was designed for a wide range of users interested in achieving health equity.
  
  
• Providing Language Services in State and Local Health-Related Benefits Offices: Examples From the Field
  
  
• Putting Women’s Health Care Disparities on the Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level
  The report documents the persistence of disparities between women of different racial and ethnic groups in states across the country and on multiple dimensions.  It demonstrates the importance of looking beyond national statistics to the state level to gain a better understanding of where challenges are greatest or different, and to determine how to shape policies that can ultimately eliminate racial and ethnic disparities.
  
  
• Race: The Power of an Illusion
  Thethree-hour series by California Newsreel, questions the very idea of race as biology, suggesting that a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth.
  
  
• Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement
  The report recommends collection of more granular ethnicity and language need according to national standards in addition to OMB race and Hispanic ethnicity categories. The presence of data on race, ethnicity and language does not, in and of itself, guarantee subsequent actions in terms of analysis of quality-of-care data to identify health care needs or actions to reduce or eliminate disparities that are found. The absence of data, however, essentially guarantees that none of those actions will occur.
  
  
• Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Population
  It summarizes the data on county racial and ethnic composition and shows the population change in the non-Hispanic white population and the total minority population in each non-metro county from 2000 to 2007.
  
  
• Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare: A Public Opinion Update
  Key findings from this national telephone survey of 2,000 U.S. adults by Princeton Survey Research Associates, which was conducted for Aetna and the National Conference for Community and Justice, include:
  - Current perceptions of Americans about racism in healthcare;
  - Differences in perceptions between African Americans, Hispanics and White Americans;
  - The extent to which these three groups considered racism a barrier to care; and
  - Their perceptions about differences, if any, in the quality of medical care received by people
     of color and White Americans.
  
  
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Knowledge Path
  
  
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Influenza and Pneumococcal Immunization Rates Among Medicare Beneficiaries
  The report presents data on racial and ethnic immunization disparities that indicate black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries have lower inoculation rates for pneumonia and influenza, despite Medicare’s coverage of such immunizations. The report also examines current Medicare immunization coverage policies and makes recommendations on how governments can address the disparities.
  
  
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook
  The report provides data on demographics and racial/ethnic disparities in health status, mortality, access to health care, insurance coverage, and quality of care and explores underlying dynamics involving location and quality of health care providers for minorities.
  
  
• Racial, Ethnic and Primary Language Data Collection in the Health Care System:An Assessment of Federal Policies and Practices
  
  
• Regional and Racial Variation in Health Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries
  The report presents information on five indicators in smaller areas of health care delivery, providing important insight to support possible change and reform directed at specific health systems. The findings highlight the importance of understanding health and health care within the context of efforts to explore and address the underlying causes of disparities within and across regions.
  
  
• Reported Health and Health-influencing Behaviors Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives
  
  
• Resolution on Transgender, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression Non-Discrimination
  
  
• Resources and Tips for Working with American Indians and Alaska Natives
  It aims to promotes fruits and vegetables among American Indians /Alaska Natives.
  
  
• Rural Definitions: National and State Indicator Tables
  Rural Definitions: National and State Indicator Tables, conducted by USDA Economic Research Service, provides selected socioeconomic indicators (such as population, education, poverty, etc.) for each definition of rural, by State and the U.S., in one Excel file allowing the user to compare a particular indicator across the different definitions of rural.
  
  
• Screening and Assessing Immigrant and Refugee Youth in School-Based Mental Health Programs
  An issue brief that summed up what is known about mental health tools supports culturally competent mental health care.
  
  
• Select Articles – “Disparities in Health: Expanding the Focus” in Health Affairs
  
  
• Senator Byron Dorgon (D-N.D.) Pushes Access to Indian Health Clinics
  
  
• Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Racial Health Disparities: A Resource Guide for Facilitators
  This document, written by the California Department of Health Services, is a frequently asked questions resource guide for facilitators that was developed in response to the complex questions and issues raised when data on racial and ethnic health disparities are presented.  The purpose of this document is to serve as a resource for public health professionals and their community partners in starting discussions and/or answering questions related to the multiple individual and societal factors that influence STDs and HIV rates among different racial/ethnic groups.
  
  
• Speaking Together: National Language Services Network
  
  
• State Health Access Profile: A Chartbook of Health Care Access Indicators for States
  
  
• The State of Latinos 2008: Defining an Agenda for the Future
  The report calls for a presidential commission on Latino issues to increase Latino access to vital educational, health, economic and civic opportunities. It also concludes that a lack of immigration reform widens disparities and limits the future progress of the Latino community and the nation and advocates collaboration among the nation’s Latino organizations under the umbrella of a presidential commission as the most effective way to ensure change. 
  
  
• Suicide Risk and Prevention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth
  The report highlights the higher risk of suicidal behavior among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and provides recommendations to reduce this risk.
  
  
• Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2007
  The report on the U.S. adult population presents statistics from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Available statistics include selected health measures for adults 18 years of age and over, classified by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, education, family income, poverty status, health insurance coverage, marital status, place of residence and region. The topics covered are prevalence of selected chronic conditions, health status, functional limitations, health care access and utilization, health behaviors and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing.
  
  
• Talking with Patients: How Hospitals Use Bilingual Clinicians and Staff to Care for Patients with Language Needs
                                            
  The report presents findings from a survey to learn more about the individuals in a hospital setting who interact with patients who speak a language other than English.  The study focuses on the ways that bilingual clinicians and staff are used, how policies are developed, and how these practices affect the provision of language services. 
  
  
• Toolkit Clarifies the Translation Process
  It draws on the scientific literature, the experience of 10 Hablamos Juntos demonstrations and the initiative’s own research on translation quality. It is designed to assist individuals and organizations in initiating translations of health care text of all types.
  
  
• Trends in Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among Women in Rural and Urban Areas of the United States (Final Report)
  
  
• Trends in Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among Women in Rural and Urban Areas of the United States (Policy Brief)
  
  
• Trends in Child Health, 1997-2006: Assessing Black-White Disparities
  
  
• Trends in Child Health 1997-2006: Assessing Hispanic-White Disparities
  Comparisons are made for the following health indicators: low birthweight, health status (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor or unknown), unmet dental care needs, ADHD/ADD diagnosis, lifetime asthma diagnosis, learning disability diagnosis and activity limitation.
  
  
• Trends in Child Health 1997-2006: Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Unmet Dental Care Needs
  The issue brief by Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies examines disparities in the reporting of unmet dental care needs because of cost over the past 12 months among black, Hispanic and white children younger than age 18. The brief compares the unmet dental care needs among the racial/ethnic groups of children overall and among children of various racial/ethnic groups in families with similar sociodemographic characteristics, such as family type, poverty status and health insurance coverage. Hispanic children are the most likely to have dental care needs that are unmet because of cost, according to the brief. In addition, the brief analyzes several indicators of child health -- including low birthweight, health status, unmet dental care needs, ADHD/ADD diagnosis and asthma diagnosis -- to provide additional details of disparities in child health.
  
  
• Tuberculosis along the United States-Mexico Border
  The white paper, published by the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission indicates the TB cases, prevention and challenges along the United States-Mexico Border, and points that strengthening U.S. involvement in TB prevention and control activities collaboratively with Mexico would benefit both countries significantly.
  
  
• Unequal Health Outcomes in the United States
  The report argues that the United State has the opportunity to do more to address health disparities.
  
  
• Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
  This landmark study, by Institute of Medicine in 2002 found that U.S. racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to receive unequal treatment, and experience a lower quality of health services. They are also less likely to receive kidney and heart transplants, and are more likely to receive certain less desirable procedures, such as lower limb amputations. The report also provides recommendations to attack the problem, which often results in poorer health care for millions. The report also notes general correlations with socioeconomic inequality as well as a history of racial and ethnic discrimination.
  
  
• US Cancer Deaths Decline for Second Straight Year, Though Mortality Rates Still Higher for Blacks Than White
  
  
• U.S. Border States Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance (EWIDS) Project
  The white paper reviews the overall project, with emphasis on program accomplishments along the U.S.-México border. The EWIDS project was initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance the ability of border states and border jurisdictions (including tribes) to rapidly detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks along the international border.
  
  
• Women’s Health USA 2009
  
  The data book selectively highlights emerging issues and trends in women’s health using a variety of data sources.

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