Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105218

Julia Pekarsky, MPH, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, 1275 K. Street NW, Suite # 800, Washington, DC 20005, 202-715-1629, jpekarsky@astho.org

This session will highlight the work in several state health agencies that have created statewide initiatives aimed at reducing health disparities among minority populations. Reducing health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities is one of the primary objectives of Healthy People 2010. This goal represents a major challenge to the nation's public health system and since it was adopted, many state health agencies have played a key role in developing new efforts to improve policies and programs that address these disparities. These efforts include creating statewide task forces to collaborate with state health agencies and minority health offices, holding community forums and internal assessment projects to help reorganize health department programs and tailor them to community needs, creating new positions to work collaboratively with the minority health office, and offering grants to fund new initiatives for the reduction of health disparities. The states that will be highlighted in this session are examples of the many ways states are working to improve the health of ethnic and racial minorities. Although each example represents a different approach to reducing health disparities, they share similar underlying concepts and themes, such as community involvement and cultural competency. The information presented at this session will be useful for other public health agencies interested in initiating a statewide effort around eliminating health disparities.

Learning Objectives:

• a. Raise awareness of how disparities are affecting minority populations
• b. Highlight best practices and lessons learned from several statewide initiatives
• c. Feature strategies for interstate communication and collaboration

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Health Disparities

Related Web page: www.astho.org/pubs/ISSUEREPORTHEALTHDISPARITIES2004.pdf

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.