152210 Effect of advocacy, gender, and policy on men's health in California

Monday, November 5, 2007: 9:00 AM

Sarah Connor, MPH, CHES , Urology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Westley Sholes , California Prostate Cancer Coalition, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Laura Baybridge , Urology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
The issue of and need for the reduction and elimination of health disparities among race/ethnic groups is widely recognized. Similarly, there has been a growing recognition of the need to address gender inequities in health care resulting in a series of efforts focused on the improvement of health care access for women. Since the 1980s, women have successfully moved the issue of women's health rapidly up the policy agenda on state and national levels. One example of their success was the establishment of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program in 1991 and expansion of the program as it was implemented by states. In 2000, the California State Legislature created a statewide program that provides free prostate cancer treatment to low-income, uninsured or underinsured men (IMPACT – Improving Access, Counseling, and Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer), modeled after the state's Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP). Despite a similar incidence and mortality rates for breast and prostate cancer in California, these programs were developed with significant differences. Even with an ongoing and documented need for the IMPACT Program, it has been threatened with closure on numerous occasions and continues to face significant challenges in its implementation. This presentation will 1) compare these two programs and discuss how advocacy, gender issues, and health and legislative policy have played a role in their development and funding; and 2) make recommendations for changes to health policy to guide an equitable distribution of health care resources to all vulnerable populations.

Learning Objectives:
The objective of this presentation is to present information that will empower advocates, policy makers and interested parties with knowledge on these issues so that they can be more effective in their efforts to resolve this problem. By attending this session, participants will: - Be able to identify three key components of the BCCTP and IMPACT programs. - Improve their understanding of how policy can affect the development of public health programs for special and vulnerable populations.

Keywords: Public Health Policy, Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.