Health Equity News

Dignity Health Global Education is partnering with CommonSpirit to create a scholarship program to tackle a lack of diversity in health care.

The Institute for Diversity and Health Equity released its fourth toolkit of the IFDHE Health Equity Resource Series, Community Partnerships: Strategies to Advance Health Equity.

A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine is confirming the role Medicare plays in decreasing disparities in health care access and coverage in the U.S.

By integrating behavioral health into physical care and tapping into community partnerships, hospitals and health systems can develop culturally competent clinical solutions to better serve historically underrepresented individuals, writes Manish Sapra, M.D., executive director of the behavioral health service line at New York-based Northwell Health.

The AHA, in conjunction with UnidosUS and the National Urban League, has created a video touting opportunities to participate in its Trustee Match Program.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology last week released version 2 of the United States Core Data for Interoperability, which gives health IT stakeholders a clearer direction toward the standardized and electronic exchange of data focused on social determinants of health, sexual orientation and gender identity.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, events sparked by the murder of George Floyd increased the constant exposure to stress in communities of color, a detriment to one’s physical and mental health, writes Kimberlydawn Wisdom, M.D., senior vice president of community health and equity and chief wellness and diversity officer at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, and chairperson of AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity Leadership Council.

The total number of cancer screening tests women received through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program declined by 87% for breast cancer and 84% for cervical cancer during April 2020 in comparison to the past 5-year averages for that month, the CDC reported recently. 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health awarded local governments $250 million in grants to work with community-based organizations to increase health literacy about COVID-19 vaccination, mitigation and services among underserved and racial and ethnic minority populations.

Responding to a June 20 op-ed published in the Washington Post, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said the alarmist headline misrepresented the facts.

As the AHA reflects on Juneteenth, the June 19 federal holiday recognizing the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans, it also considers how we must strive for equity in health care and beyond, writes Joy Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies.

On this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Leon Caldwell, AHA’s senior director of health equity strategies and innovation, talks with Keith Ellison, program director of the Urban League of Philadelphia Entrepreneurship Center, about how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the pivotal role local businesses play in advancing equitable health outcomes, as well as the challenges and opportunities they face during the road to recovery.

Only 11% of pregnant women in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Safety Datalink, which includes vaccine safety monitoring data from nine integrated health systems, were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by May 8, compared with 25% of non-pregnant women, the CDC reported.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded 14 organizations grants to hire people to support COVID-19 vaccination and outreach in vulnerable and medically underserved communities.

The Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network has created an advisory team to help identify and prioritize opportunities to advance health equity through alternative payment models and inform its priorities and initiatives.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that rates of breastfeeding initiation have increased during the past decade but racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding persist.

Atrium Health, Charlotte, N.C., will receive the 2021 AHA Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award for its outstanding efforts to advance diversity, inclusion and health equity, the AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity announced.

The National Academy of Medicine released a report on priorities for the nursing profession over the next decade to meet the needs of the U.S. population and achieve health equity, which range from strengthening nursing education and promoting diversity and equity in nursing education and the workforce to protecting nurses’ health and well-being. 

The COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Black Americans, Native American tribes and tribal populations, Latino Americans and other communities of color is generating a renewed focus on advancing health equity.

The National Institutes of Health awarded $29 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to support and expand its Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities, which conducts community-engaged research and outreach to strengthen COVID-19 vaccine confidence and access, testing and treatment in communities of color.