The Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights issued a statement addressing Civil Rights in Response to the
H1N1 Influenza. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/h1n1_response.php

California’s Emergency Preparedness Efforts for Culturally Diverse Communities: Status, Challenges and Directions for the Future
http://tinyurl.com/pdznan
prepared by the Center for Health Equality at the Drexel University School of Public Health, with joint support from The California Endowment and the HHS Office of Minority Health. [from Diversity Preparedness http://www.diversitypreparedness.org]

Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Forgoing Needed Health Care
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2009/May/Women-at-Risk.aspx
This study, by Commonwealth Fund researchers Sheila Rustgi, Michelle Doty, Ph.D., and Sara Collins, Ph.D., reveals that seven of 10 working-age women have no health insurance coverage or inadequate coverage, medical bill or debt problems, or problems getting needed health care because of cost.[posted on The Commonwealth Fund]

New Study Finds Fewer Families Can Afford Health Insurance
http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/faminspr.htm
The majority of uninsured American families who are not covered by group health insurance through an employer cannot afford to buy health insurance, according to a new study by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). [AHRQ updates email]

Key Role of Sole Community Pharmacists in Their Local Healthcare Delivery Systems
http://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/research_programs/rural_program/pubs/finding_brief/FB88.pdf
A new publication is available from the North Carolina Rural Health Research & Policy Analysis Center that examines the role in their community of independent pharmacists whose store is located at least 10 miles from the next closest retail pharmacy.

2nd International Day for Sharing Life Stories
http://newroutes.org
May 16. This year’s theme is Journey for Justice - Migration and Refugees. Here at New Routes we believe in the power of first-voice stories to make connections among all of us who live in the United States–immigrants and non-immigrants, alike. View digital stories, listen to radionovelas, read about the lives of our New Routes leaders

http://www.pgsi.com/Products/Resources/Webinars/Webinar7.aspx
Thursday, May 14, 2009
1:00 pm EST/10:00 am PST
Providing language access to health care is more than just a good idea – it is required.  This webinar, sponsored by Polyglot Systems, will explore policy and accreditation standards related to language access. You will hear what is required under current law, how enforcement of Title VI and the ADA is likely to change under the Obama administration, what Joint Commission surveyors look for regarding language services, and how the new CLAS standards being developed could impact your organization.

Preventive Interventions to Support Latina Teens
http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=42528
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools is sponsoring a webinar May 21, 2009, to help shed light on the rising trend of suicides among Latina teens. The webinar, led by Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., director of the Center for Latino Family Research at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, will examine the high rate of suicide attempts by adolescent Latinas in the United States and preventive interventions. This webinar is sponsored by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  [posted on RWJF Content Alerts]

Hesperian (http://hesperian.org/ And in Spanish http://espanol.hesperian.org/) is a non-profit publisher of books and newsletters for community-based health care. Simply written and heavily illustrated, Hesperian books are designed so that people with little formal education can understand, apply and share health information. Publications include “Helping Health Workers Learn: A book of methods, aids, and ideas for instructors at the village level” Available in Spanish: “Aprendiendo a promover la salud” and “When There is No Doctor: A village health care handbook” Available in Spanish: “Donde no hay doctor”

15th Annual Summer Public Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health
“Breaking the Cycle: Investigating the Intersection of Educational Inequities and Health Disparities”
Tuesday, June 9, 1:30-4:00pm EDT
This interactive session will be broadcast with a live audience in the Tate-Turner-Kuralt auditorium at the UNC School of Social Work and can be viewed over the Internet (webcast) and (tentatively) c-band satellite. Questions will be taken from studio and broadcast participants by email and toll-free telephone.
For more information: http://www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2009/
To register a viewing site: http://www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2009/broadcast/
To register for the Internet broadcast: http://www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2009/broadcast/

The DiversityRx project http://diversityrx.org/ announces a new initiative for people working in the field of culturally and linguistically competence health care to network, collaborate, offer support, and learn from each other using Web 2.0 and virtual learning tools. The goal is to bridge distance and institutional isolation, to unearth the practice innovations and challenges faced by those on the front lines, and to share those experiences for mutual support.

To start with, you can apply to participate in the first Community of Practice, which is a small group (12-20 participants) of professional colleagues who ‘meet’ monthly on a specific topic through teleconference or online learning platforms to discuss common practice challenges and share information about strategies and resources. The theme for the first Community of Practice is “Managing the implementation and acceptance of cultural competence training for health care organization staff.”  Details and a link to the application are online at http://www.diversityrxconference.org/Your-Voice/Communities-of-Practice/140/
Applications are due on Friday, May 22, 2009.

The Center for Sustainable Health Outreach (CSHO) will hold its 10th annual Unity conference July 27-29, 2009 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Unity 2009 is a national conference designed for and about community health workers. The theme for this year’s conference is “Community Health Workers - Celebrating Our Past and Charting the Future.”  http://www.usm.edu/csho/unity.html

Secretary Sebelius Highlights Two New Reports on Health Care Quality, Says Improving Quality is Key Component of Health Reform
http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/qrdr08pr.htm
At a speech before the United Nurses of America’s 12th National Nurses Congress, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discussed two new HHS reports on the quality of health care in America and challenged hospitals to work to reduce health care associated infections. Published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the annual 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report and 2008  National Healthcare Disparities Report indicate that patient safety measures have worsened and that a substantial number of Americans do not receive recommended care.  Read reports at http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr08.htm

The National Center for Education Statistics released a new report, Basic Reading Skills and the Literacy of America’s Least Literate Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).  http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009481

http://www.rwjf.org/qualityequality/product.jsp?id=39591
Clear communication is a cornerstone of patient safety and quality health care. Quality translated health materials can serve as valuable communications tools for both patients and providers, and can help to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality care. The More Than Words Toolkit Series, a new resource developed by Hablamos Juntos with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, clarifies the translation process and provides a roadmap to help health care organizations improve the quality of their translated materials in order to get better results. [RWJF Content Alerts]

Philip Blumenshine, Arthur Reingold,Susan Egerter Robin Mockenhaupt, Paula Braveman, and James Marks
Emergenig Infectious Diseases Journal Volume 14, Number 5–May 2008
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/5/709.htm

Abstract
We explored how different socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups in the United States might fare in an influenza pandemic on the basis of social factors that shape exposure, vulnerability to influenza virus, and timeliness and adequacy of treatment. We discuss policies that might differentially affect social groups’ risk for illness or death. Our purpose is not to establish the precise magnitude of disparities likely to occur; rather, it is to call attention to avoidable disparities that can be expected in the absence of systematic attention to differential social risks in pandemic preparedness plans. Policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels should consider potential sources of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities during a pandemic and formulate specific plans to minimize these disparities.