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November 20, 2009

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New Health Disparities Lectures Online

More of the lectures for the health disparities course that is taught at Case Western Reserve University have been uploaded to the Center's website at www.ReduceDisparity.org. They are located under the EDUCATION tab. These are the included lectures:

- "Evaluation of Health Programs"
- "Introduction to Health Disparities"
- "Genetics and Health Disparities"
- "Measurement of Race, Ethnicity, and Health Status"
- "Insurance First: Why Simplify the Disparities Agenda"
- "The MetroHealth Cancer Center B.R.E.A.S.T. Program"
- "Health Disparities in Asthma"
- "Ethical Aspects of Health Disparities"
- "International Health Disparities: Focus on Uganda"
- "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health Disparities"
- "Legal Interventions"
- "Cultural Competency In Research"
- "Epidemiology of Oral Health Disparities"

There are 2 more still to come, "Health Disparities in ICU Care" and"Cultural Competency in Health Care". Both should be up on the website before Thanksgiving.

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Category: Case; Disparities; Education; Genetics; Health; Health Disparities Course; LGBT; Ohio; Reserve; University; Western; competency; cultural; evaluation; insurance; law; oral; special
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November 14, 2009

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  • Most children actively notice and think about race. A new study has found that children develop an awareness about racial stereotypes early, and that those biases can be damaging.
  • New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans.
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November 12, 2009

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Don't Forget About The Other Determinants of Health

Gail Wilensky, Senior Fellow Project HOPE has written a column for Kaiser Health News concerning what is being missed in the health care reform debate.

While recent discussion has become heated about insurance coverage, the focus on the health needs and disparities that cause poor health have largely been ignored.

Wilensky is former commissioner on the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Her work there was focused on relationships of poverty, education, early childhood education, the treatment of women and individual empowerment to health and life expectancy issues. She points out,

"As we struggle through this first round of health care reform, it is important that we remember that the ultimate goal is to provide for a healthier America. Improving the conditions in which people are born and live, age and die may be at least as important as reforming health care in achieving this goal."

To read more of her column, click here to get the Kaiser Health News link.

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Category: Disparities; Education; Health; care; determinants; of; reform; social
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November 04, 2009

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October 29, 2009

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October 28, 2009

Health Disparities Lectures Posted on Website

During this fall semester at Case Western Reserve University, the Center for Reducing Health Disparities has been videotaping lecturers for the graduate health disparities course that is offered for nursing, medicine, public health, social work, epidemiology and biostatistics students. We are pleased to announce that we are posting those lectures to our website at www.ReduceDisparity.org. Please visit the education tab to see the variety of lectures offered including:
- Introduction to Health Disparities
- Evaluation of Health Programs
- Health Disparities in Asthma
- Model Community-Health Programs (breast cancer, re-entry, dental programs)

There are more lectures to come as well. Please visit our website for more information.

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Category: Breast Cancer; Cultural competency; Dental Care; Disparities; Genetics; Global Health Care Justice; Health Disparities; Health Disparities Class; Health Disparities Course; Hispanic Health; Ohio; Pollution; Public Health; Racial Disparities; Research; air quality; asthma; case western; health care access
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links for 2009-10-28

  • Three studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology's 74th Annual Scientific meeting in San Diego underscore the growing disparities in gastrointestinal disease, particularly colon cancer and Barrett's Esophagus, among certain ethnic and gender populations, including African Americans, Latinos and women. These race- and gender-specific disparities underscore the need for education and vigilance among these populations and perhaps more aggressive screening tactics than the population in general.
  • The study, reported in The Cereal Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score (FACTS) Report, was part funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and was conducted by researchers from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. It is being presented at Obesity 2009, the 27th annual scientific meeting of The Obesity Society, in Washington on 27 October. One of the findings from the researchers was that not one the cereals targeted to children in the US meets the nutrition standard required to advertise to children in the United Kingdom..
  • The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, examined data from national surveys taken from 1988 to 1994 and a second time period, from 1999 to 2004. In both time periods, men had more heart attacks than women. But the rates in men improved from 2.5% in the first time frame to 2.2% in the second time frame while women’s rates increased from 0.7% to 1%.
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October 15, 2009

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October 14, 2009

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October 12, 2009

Children On Medicaid Still Face Difficulty Getting Dental Care

The Associated Press is reporting on the continuing problem of getting children proper dental care. Medicaid does cover dental care, but finding dentists that accept Medicaid is a challenge.


State officials told the GAO that many children can't find dentists who accept Medicaid, and dental providers cite low reimbursement rates and patients skipping appointments as challenges to treating kids in the federal-state health insurance program for the poor.


Part of the problem is that there is no way of knowing how many of the children on Medicaid actually see a dentist. The Government Accountability Office recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "develop a plan for sharing promising practices among states and reviewing dental services in states with low access rates."

Click here to read the article.

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October 10, 2009

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October 06, 2009

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Breast Reconstruction Varies By Race

Researchers (Amy Alderman et al) at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have published a study on the October 5 online version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology where they found that language barriers in non-English speaking Latinas were a factor in whether or not reconstructive breast surgery occurred.

Receipt of breast reconstruction varied significantly by patient race/ethnicity (40.9% of whites, 33.5% of African Americans, 41.2% of highly acculturated Latinas, and only 13.5% of less acculturated Latinas; P < .0001). Nearly 14% of less acculturated Latinas said they did not know how to get breast reconstruction, compared with less than 2% for all other groups (P<.001).

The lower rates in limited English speaking populations did not represent a lack of interest in reconstruction. The researchers suggest that there should be increased efforts to present breast reconstruction options to patients. Stronger efforts should be made particularly to those who speak limited English.

For more information, you can read a description in Medical News Today or the article at the Journal of Oncology webpage.

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October 02, 2009

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October 01, 2009

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September 30, 2009

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September 29, 2009

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September 28, 2009

Dialysis Patients Often Not Told About Transplant Options

Are people told about the full range of options when they begin dialysis? Information detailed in the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review suggests that they are not. Kidney transplants can add years to a patient's life, and is overall, a much cheaper procedure than long-term dialysis care. Some key factors are fear, education of kidney disease and options, organ "availability" and the insurance associated with care.

The Tribune conducted its own four month investigation and found:

More than 32,000 of the 105,653 people who started treatment for kidney failure in 2006 were not informed about the option of kidney transplantation, according to the latest available information reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.


The article also spoke with some dialysis providers who dispute the claim that they don't provide information on transplants to enough of their patients.


Read the story on the Pittsburgh Tribune website.

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