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Blog: National Partnership for Action
Health
A June Agenda: Improving the Health of Men, Fathers and Families
Posted on 6/18/2012 by Jermane Bond, PhD
The month of June holds a special place in my heart. Not only my Wedding Anniversary, the first day of summer and "Juneteenth" (June 19th), which commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement, but most importantly, June is Men's Health Month. The idea of Men's Health Month is to enhance the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among boys, men and fathers. This month gives health care providers, policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular health guidance and early treatment for disease and injury. June 11th -17th celebrates Men's Health Week (MHW) followed up with Father's Day. MHW offers a great opportunity to remind men, expectant fathers and fathers to focus on their wellbeing and to develop life-long health routines. One suggested pathway to promote the health and longevity of males is to develop a preconception care framework into a life course health and wellness model. Employing the major concepts (health promotion, risk assessment and clinical and psychosocial intervention) of preconception care for men outlined by the CDC Select Panel on Preconception Care will help to ensure that all men develop a reproductive life plan, while promoting health and decreasing risk behaviors. Having a reproductive life plan will ensure that all pregnancies are planned and at the same time help to prepare men for fatherhood. As we celebrate fathers in June, there are also important educational opportunities that can be built into the month to help improve not just men's health but also family and children health. We might consider June as an opportune time to raise awareness for the important role that men and expectant fathers play in improving pregnancy outcomes. Recent efforts around father involvement have ignited increasing public and academic interest. In 2009, President Obama started a National Conversation on Responsible Fatherhood and Strong Communities and created the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is helping in coordinating the Federal Government's fatherhood policy and has launched a national Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative to encourage responsible fatherhood and strengthen our nation's families. Many of these recent efforts lend support to the importance of fathers in families. However, much still needs to be done to raise public awareness for paternal involvement in pregnancy and family health. In 2009, The Commission on Paternal Involvement in Pregnancy Outcomes (CPIPO) was assembled with funding from the Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. CPIPO is a trans-disciplinary working group of scholars and public health professionals with a goal of raising awareness for paternal involvement in pregnancy and family health by reframing debates, informing research, policies and clinical to focus more on the involvement of the expectant father in pregnancy outcomes. In a Congressional Hill Briefing in May 2010, CPIPO released 40 best and promising recommendations for improving research, policy, and practice on paternal involvement in pregnancy outcomes. Consequently, these recommendations have set the agenda for health care organizations, researchers, and practitioners to increase knowledge and awareness for paternal involvement in pregnancy and child health by addressing barriers directly and calling for solutions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy outcomes. Since then, several federal agencies have formed inter-agency working-groups and convened forums to address the role men and expectant fathers play in pregnancy and family health. One example is an upcoming National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Health Disparities Seminar Series entitled: "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pregnancy Outcomes: Exploring the Role of Paternal Involvement" on July 16, 2012. The purpose of this workshop is to address prospective father's role in pregnancy outcomes and identify gaps and barriers to research on this subject. The workshop will take a trans-disciplinary approach in discussing how paternal involvement can impact positive pregnancy outcomes. We are likely to see many of these types of forums as we increase public awareness regarding the role men and fathers play in family health. Finally, men's Health Month can be can be particularly critical for expectant fathers as a great window of opportunity to address their own health and at the same time positively influence their pregnant partner or spouse by encouraging healthy behaviors and reducing stress. As we celebrate men and fathers this month across the country with screenings, health fairs, media appearances, and other health education and outreach activities, let us remember that men and fathers can also have a positive impact on family health. Posted in: Health | Comments | Add a Comment | Comment Policy | Permalink The Challenges of Asthma in Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities
Posted on 6/1/2012 by Mike Tringale
National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month in the U.S., is a key time of year in the lives of 25 million Americans living with asthma. But families dealing with the burden of this chronic disease are affected all year long, especially families in minority communities. A landmark report by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) called, Ethnic Disparities in the Burden and Treatment of Asthma [PDF | 551KB] , documented disparities among blacks and Puerto Ricans with asthma, including potential hereditary, environmental, and socioeconomic factors as well as efforts underway to lessen these disparities. Among these groups, and especially among children, asthma prevalence, hospitalizations, and deaths are higher when compared to whites, but use of long-term medications to control asthma are lower. Access to quality care is hampered by socioeconomic disparities, shortages of primary care physicians in minority communities, language and literacy barriers, and beliefs about the role and usefulness of medications. Other important factors include high levels of exposure to outdoor pollution and to indoor residential allergens and irritants in substandard housing. Limiting exposure to allergens and irritants, and increasing use of long-term control medicines in combination with good educational programs in asthma management can go a long way toward reducing some of these disparities, helping families achieve better health and a better quality of life. Since1953, The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with asthma and allergic diseases through education, advocacy and research. Visit www.aafa.org for free information - in English and Spanish - about preventing, diagnosing and managing asthma all year long. Posted in: Health | Comments | Add a Comment | Comment Policy | Permalink Addressing Viral Hepatitis Among Minority Communities
Posted on 5/31/2012 by J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE
Cross-posted from AIDS.gov blog. Since 1991, routine vaccinations of infants has reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection rates in children by more than 95 percent. And the incidence of acute hepatitis C (HCV) has declined 90 percent since 1992, in large part due to the screening of the blood supply. This progress illustrates the impact that public health policies and practices can have in only a few decades. And these successes should be celebrated. During May’s national observance of Hepatitis Awareness Month, we are reminded that several racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States are disproportionately affected by viral hepatitis1.
The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is working to address these disparities as a partner in the cross-agency implementation of the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. In fact, OMH is a participating agency in more than a dozen of the specific actions detailed in the Action Plan. These efforts include working with Federal partners to reach specific at-risk populations with culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate evidence-based interventions to strengthen community-based programs providing testing and linkages to care, particularly those serving foreign-born populations, as well as by publishing periodic reports on viral-hepatitis-associated health disparities and integrating hepatitis A and B vaccination as a standard of care in Federal prevention and clinical programs that serve priority populations. Among the steps OMH is taking is our partnership with the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) and the Hepatitis B Foundation to launch the Hep B United national campaign. The campaign aims to end hepatitis B by supporting community-based groups in their efforts to increase hepatitis B awareness, screening, vaccination, and access to care for all Americans, and AAPIs in particular. Just this week, the Hepatitis B Initiative of Washington, DC , a campaign partner, co-hosted an education session during the National Association of Professional Asian American Women conference to encourage screening and testing for viral hepatitis. OMH encourages everyone to take the online viral hepatitis risk assessment recently launched by the CDC. In less than five minutes, this online tool will assess an individual’s risk for viral hepatitis in response to a series of questions — and will generate a summary of recommendations for testing and vaccination that people can print and take to their doctor to discuss. Our goal is that this risk assessment tool will raise awareness about this silent epidemic among members of the public, as well as the health care community. We are hoping that all of our partners will help us share information about this exciting new tool and encourage people to use it. During Hepatitis Awareness Month and beyond, we invite all of you to join us, in and across your communities, as we continue our fight against viral hepatitis. 1"Achieving health equity to eliminate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in HBV-and HCV-associated liver disease." The Journal of Family Practice. April 2010, Vol. 59, No. 04 Suppl: S37-S42. Accessed online at http://www.jfponline.com/pages.asp?AID=8516 May 29, 2012. 2Upadhyaya N,et. al. "Chronic hepatitis B: perceptions in Asian American communities and diagnosis and management practices among primary care physicians." Postgrad Med. 2010 Sep; 122(5):165-75. Accessed via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20861600 on May 29, 2012. Posted in: Health Minority Populations Vaccines | Comments | Add a Comment | Comment Policy | Permalink Closing the Gap on Asthma
Posted on 5/31/2012 by J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE
Asthma affects nearly 26 million Americans, including 7 million children. While advancements in treatment and interventions have improved health outcomes for many suffering from this respiratory disease, that progress has not yet reached everyone. Poor and minority children bear the greatest burden of the disease, suffering from asthma at higher rates, experiencing greater exposure to environmental triggers, and receiving less access to quality care. Today, the Obama Administration launches a new approach to closing that gap: the Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Asthma Disparities. The result of a collaborative interagency effort led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Action Plan presents a framework for coordinating federal resources to get the right asthma care with the right support to the children who need it most. Asthma currently affects 16 percent of non-Hispanic black children, 10.7 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children, and 7.9 percent of Hispanic children (16.5 percent among Puerto Rican children), compared to 8.2 percent of non-Hispanic white children and 6.8 percent of Asian children. Minority children with asthma are also less likely to receive regular care and recommended treatment, and more likely to be hospitalized for their condition. For example, non-Hispanic black children are twice as likely to be hospitalized and four times more likely to die due to asthma than non-Hispanic white children. In many instances, the burden of disease among minority children is worsened by social and environmental factors relating to where children live, learn, and play – such as environmental exposures to tobacco smoke, air pollution, mold, or other allergens and pollutants and lack of family resources for asthma management at home. While we do not yet have interventions that prevent the onset of asthma, we know that there are evidence-based measures that can reduce asthma mortality and improve the quality of life for those living with the disease. The Action Plan seeks to reduce barriers to comprehensive care, improve intervention strategies, and strengthen partnerships among federal programs to better reach communities with racial and ethnic asthma disparities. In doing so, the Action Plan builds on major federal initiatives to reduce health disparities, promote health equity and expand access to health care - most notably, the Affordable Care Act and the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. The Affordable Care Act represents one of the most significant efforts in our nation's history to increase access to affordable, high-quality care - ensuring, for example, that children cannot be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions such as asthma; and investing in community health centers, which provide care to vulnerable and underserved communities. In turn, the HHS Disparities Action Plan provides a coordinated roadmap to realizing a nation free of disparities in health and health care. Today, as agencies across the government join together in launching a comprehensive effort to address racial and ethnic disparities in asthma, we can celebrate another step forward in fulfilling our vision of a nation where everyone has a chance to live a healthy life. Learn more about the Asthma Disparities Action Plan at http://www.epa.gov/asthma/childrenstaskforce. Posted in: Health Minority Populations Health Disparities Health Conditions | Comments | Add a Comment | Comment Policy | Permalink Women in Skid Row are On the Move to better health
Posted on 5/30/2012 by Brianna Freiheit
Homeless and very low-income women residing in Los Angeles' Skid Row experience vast gaps in access to healthcare and have an excess of health issues. Health is something neglected by this population as they focus on the daily struggle of getting basic needs met, such as food, shelter, and safety. These chronic health problems are key factors in individuals remaining homeless. In a recent needs assessment of women in Skid Row, 54% of women rated their health as poor or fair, with many experiencing long-term medical health issues including diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and aging related issues. The County of Los Angeles estimates that the Skid Row area has the 3rd highest rate of poor mental health among women. Individuals who are homeless have a life expectancy that is 25-30 years shorter than the general population. The Downtown Women's Center (DWC), the only resource in Los Angeles exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of homeless and low-income women in Skid Row since 1978, believes that access to quality and consistent healthcare is critical for homeless women to re-gain their personal stability. In 2010, DWC collaborated with JWCH Institute, Skid Row Housing Trust, and Lamp Community to launch a comprehensive program to address co-occurring health and mental health problems among homeless and low-income individuals in downtown Los Angeles. Funded by the Office of Minority Health, DWC's role was to specifically focus on the unique needs of homeless women. DWC created On the Move, a program that provides linkage to benefits and a medical home, nutrition counseling, physical fitness options that include yoga, walking groups, and movement workshops, individualized plans to address such serious health concerns as diabetes and obesity, and mental health treatment. The program was designed to be an engaging activity based program that delivers crucial health information. A membership card was created so that On the Move "members" receive special incentives based on their participation. In addition to being a motivational tool, membership allows data to be collected and tracked regularly. The women are making huge strides to better their health. They are adopting healthy practices even as they struggle to meet their basic needs. Approximately 600 women have participated in the program in various ways since its conception and 200 women have received benefits linkage allowing them to access a central health home rather than utilizing emergency services. Posted in: Health | Comments | Add a Comment | Comment Policy | Permalink Top 5 recent blog topics are shown on this page. Please use search feature for other blog topics.
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About the BlogThe Federal NPA Team writes about their thoughts on pressing issues, news and events concerning NPA. Follow and participate in this candid discussion.
Recent Blog PostsCategoriesOlder Posts
→ May is American Stroke Month and Women’s Health Week
Make Stroke a Priority and Talk about it with the Women in Your Life → Eliminating Disparities in Lupus → Targeting Asthma’s Toll on Minority Communities → Calling All Women: If Not Now…Then When? → Providing comprehensive and culturally-sensitive health care to Indian people in Tulsa |