252722 African American Communities Working to Achieve Better Health

Monday, October 31, 2011: 2:30 PM

Darlene Coles, MBA, RN , Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, African American Health Program, Silver Spring, MD
     
The African American Health Program (AAHP) was created and funded in 1999 by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The mission of AAHP is to eliminate health disparities and improve the number and quality of years of life for African Americans and people of African descent in Montgomery County. The program focuses on six major areas which include infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, oral health, cardiovascular disease and specific cancers. Included in the services are outreach, health education, support groups and nurse case management services. While the program's offerings are available to all interested residents, the focus audience is the African American/Black residents of the county. The program is staffed by Registered Nurses, Health Educators and Community Outreach Workers. AAHP's Start More Infants Living Equally Healthy (SMILE) Program was developed in 2003 to address the disparity of infant mortality in the African-American population of Montgomery County. Infant mortality is an important indicator of social, political, health care delivery, and medical outcomes in a geographic region for all of its residents, and, as such, continues to be an important focus for AAHP since it remains the most disparate area of health in the County

Learning Objectives:
• Describe the demographic profile of African Americans in Montgomery County, Maryland, including identifying health disparities and health challenges in the African American community • Describe the history of the African American Health Program • Describe a successful model to eliminate health disparities in the African American community (e.g. infant mortality)

Keywords: African American, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Darlene Coles is the Director of the African American Health Program, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, in Maryland.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

See more of: Diverse Communities Working to Achieve Better Health
See more of: APHA-Equal Health Opportunity Committee