5076.1: Wednesday, October 24, 2001: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Oral Session

Race, Ethnicity, and Reducing Disparities: Are We Headed in the Right Direction?

In October of 2001 Public Health Reports will release an issue devoted to racial and ethnic disparities in health. The purpose of this session is to present findings from some of the papers that will appear in this issue and also to stimulate critical thinking and discussion about the initiatives aimed at reducing and eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States. Although the effort to combat these disparities is receiving a substantial amount of attention and a fair amount of resources, most evidence suggests that this effort is failing. Indeed, one of the papers to be presented in this session demonstrates that disparities are not improving but are rather worsening in Chicago. Related research indicates that the growth in disparities may be due to structural issues such as racism and income inequality, both of which show signs of intensifying. What then are we doing in this effort to combat disparities? Are we studying the most appropriate factors? Are we employing those interventions which research indicates may help the most? Does access to health care impact on disparities and if so have we arranged access in an optimal manner? All of these questions and others will be discussed in this session. The disparities initiatives are all dressed up and ready to go. The question is: Are they wearing any clothes?
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement.
Learning Objectives: 1. to better understand race, ethnicity, and health disparities.
Presider(s):Steven Whitman, PhD
8:30 AMYou Can’t Leap a Chasm in Two Jumps: Reflections on the Institute of Medicine Healthcare Quality Report
Gordon D. Schiff, MD, Quentin Young, MD
8:50 AMEvaluation of the Healthy People 2000 Goal of Reducing Disparities: a Chicago Case Study
Abigail Silva, MPH, Steven Whitman, PhD, Helen Margellos, David Ansell
9:10 AMRacial Residential Segregation: A Fundamental Cause of Racial Disparities in Health
David R. Williams, PhD, Chiqiuta Collins
9:30 AMRacial/Ethnic Disparities in the HIV and Substance Abuse Epidemics: Communities Responding to the Need
Hortensia Amaro, PhD, Anita Raj, PhD, Rodolfo R. Vega, Thomas W. Mangione, PhD, Lucille Norville Perez
9:50 AMThe Relationship between Mortality and Socioeconomic Factors in Blacks and Whites in US Metropolitan Areas
Richard S. Cooper, Joan Kennelly, RN, MPH, PhD, Roman Durazo-Arvizu, Perpetua Ruiz, Hyun-Joo Oh, George Kaplan, John Lynch, PhD
Sponsor:Socialist Caucus
CE Credits:CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA