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

Abstract #108197

Genevieve M. Werner, BA, Project EXPORT Center for Excellence in Rural Health, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave, Rockford, IL 60117, 815-395-5912, wernerg@uic.edu, Karen Peters, DrPH, Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, 1601 Parkview, Rockford, IL 61107, and Eric Henley, MD, MPH, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave, Rockford, IL 61107.

Health disparities persist in the U.S. due, in part, to differences in access to healthcare, treatment, and overall health status among specific populations. Racial/ethnic minorities as well as poorly educated and resource-lacking rural and urban populations are among those most affected. To reduce health disparities, one must identify the multiple social, biological, and environmental factors that contribute to such disparity.

In 2001, the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford received funding through the NIH—National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities to establish Project EXPORT: Center for Excellence in Rural Health. As part of its health disparities education efforts, the Center has created an online ‘problem-space' devoted to health disparity inquiry, research, and curricula development. This problem-space is available to academic, professional, and lay audiences. It provides tools for exploring factors that contribute to health disparities and strategies for reducing them. The problem space approach allows users to ask questions about health disparity issues and then use articles, databases, maps, curricula, and other tools within the website to answer them. Findings can be shared with future website users to help establish an interdisciplinary discussion of health disparity issues and potential solutions.

During the session, we will demonstrate the framework of the site, share evaluation results from students using the website, and invite audience comments on ways to improve this much needed tool. Efforts to address health disparity can be enhanced through greater utilization of population-based information such as that contained in the EXPORT problem-space tool.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify health disparities in both urban and rural areas.
• Understand the merits of using a problem-space to investigate health disparities.
• Contribute to the development of a free, online Health Disparities problem space.
• Collaborate with colleagues in the development of Health Disparities curricula and research.
• Develop Health Disparity curricula using innovative, problem-based learning tools.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Problem Based Learning

Related Web page: not yet available, but will have URL soon!

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.

Recorded presentation