Health Disparities News and Research

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Health disparities (also called healthcare inequality in some countries) refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups.

Better health care for the indigenous population

A report from Melbourne University says that Indigenous Australians are six times more likely than other Australians to be blind and more than a third of this population has never had an eye examination. Now a substantial number of optometrists will be sent to remote Aboriginal communities under a $6.5 million federal program.

16 May 2010

Indigenous Australians at higher risk of diseases: studies

Central Australia ranks first in incidences of pneumonia among children with alarming figures like 78.4 cases per 1,000 children annually. This is much higher than even South Africa, Uruguay, Gambia, Fiji or Pakistan.

16 May 2010

New initiative to reduce health inequities

A major new initiative by the University of Maryland aims to eliminate health disparities in the state and extend the impact of health reform. The university's School of Public Health has recruited a team of nationally recognized faculty-researchers who will create action programs to improve primary care and expand public health outreach, so as to reduce the high rates of chronic disease in Maryland's medically underserved communities.

14 May 2010

UM School of Public Health to provide prevention research expertise on health disparities and workforce shortage

More than a dozen academic institutions and other partners, including the University of Maryland, are banding together to meet Maryland's growing need for health professionals in medically under-served urban and rural communities, and provide a working model for other states committed to expanding and diversifying their health workforce.

11 May 2010

Behavioral economics tested in new health law

The new health law contains "many opportunities to nudge people toward better health choices. … 'In healthcare, for years and years and years there's been an interest in changing provider and consumer behavior,'" says Stanford professor Alan Garber. "What's new is that money is flowing into research on behavioral economics, and the government is getting involved, Garber and others said.

10 May 2010

Socioeconomic status, social context more important than race when analyzing obesity disparities: Study

When analyzing obesity disparities among women, socioeconomic status and social context may be more important than race, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.

7 May 2010

APA president highlights challenges faced in child healthcare

Whether you live in Haiti or in Harlem, the impact of poverty is the same. Children suffer from poor nutrition, environmental degradation, violence and poor development in the U.S. just as they do in less developed nations, and the consequences can be equally profound, according to Dr. Danielle Laraque, MD, president of the Academic Pediatric Association (APA).

7 May 2010

Each year up to 85% of health center patients experience unmet legal needs: Study

Each year, between 50 and 85 percent of health center patients - or between ten and seventeen million people - experience unmet legal needs, many of which negatively impact their health, according to a new study from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

5 May 2010

AARP implores Governor to enact HIE legislation

Legislation that will help modernize medical records, reduce errors, and improve quality of care for all Illinoisans passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly and is on its way to the Governor's desk. AARP, which backed the measure, is urging Gov. Quinn to sign it into law.

5 May 2010

$10M NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles

The UCLA School of Public Health today announced a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund a Center for Population Health and Health Disparities in partnership with the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and several community collaborators.

4 May 2010

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Recent data released from the National Cancer Institute confirms that San Francisco has the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation. The leading cause of liver cancer is hepatitis B.

4 May 2010

Rush Center for Urban Health Equity to focus on disparities in heart and lung disease

Rush University Medical Center has been awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Rush Center for Urban Health Equity. The aim of the Center is to find ways to promote changes to eliminate the disparities in heart and lung disease affecting inner city residents, in particular those who are low-income persons of color.

4 May 2010

NIH awards Hutchinson Center $10.24M for research of breast cancer disparities in Hispanic women

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $10.24 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to lead a five-year study that aims to understand and prevent breast cancer disparities in Hispanic women.

4 May 2010

NIH awards UIC $10M grant to study health disparities among underserved, minority women with breast cancer

A $9.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health has been awarded to the University of Illinois at Chicago to study access to care and health disparities among underserved and minority women with breast cancer in Chicago.

4 May 2010

Uninsured patients less likely to receive critical care services

Among the general U.S. population, people who are uninsured are about half as likely to receive critical care services as those with insurance, according to systematic review of the literature by the American Thoracic Society's Health Disparities Group.

29 Apr 2010

Sinai Medical Group to deploy NextGen EHR and NextGen Practice Management system

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced it has executed an agreement with Sinai Medical Group to deploy NextGen EHR and NextGen Practice Management.

28 Apr 2010

Awareness of cancer health disparities, burden of current economic crisis to be explored at 3-day forum

Awareness of cancer health disparities, the burden of the current economic crisis on these inequities, and interventions and policy initiatives to improve health disparities will be explored during a three-day forum hosted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

28 Apr 2010

Kaiser Permanente approves over 250 grants and donations totaling $7 million

Kaiser Permanente, one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, announced today it approved more than 250 grants and donations nationwide totaling approximately $7 million in the first quarter of 2010. The grants focused on expanding access to nutritious food, providing safe spaces for all ages to increase physical activity, increasing opportunities for continuing education, and eliminating health disparities.

28 Apr 2010

Melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from harmful radiation therapy effects: Research

Tiny, melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from the harmful effects of radiation therapy, according to scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University who successfully tested the strategy in mouse models.

27 Apr 2010

A first step in the long road to health reform

Australia provides good health care to the majority of its citizens most of the time and compares well with like countries. The capacity for illness to destroy families financially, seen in the US and in many less economically advanced countries where governments make small or no contributions to the cost of health care, is much diminished by Medicare, public hospitals and subsidised pharmaceuticals.

27 Apr 2010

Health Disparities News and Research

Further Reading

Better health care for the indigenous population

Indigenous Australians at higher risk of diseases: studies

New initiative to reduce health inequities

UM School of Public Health to provide prevention research expertise on health disparities and workforce shortage

Behavioral economics tested in new health law

Socioeconomic status, social context more important than race when analyzing obesity disparities: Study

APA president highlights challenges faced in child healthcare

Each year up to 85% of health center patients experience unmet legal needs: Study

AARP implores Governor to enact HIE legislation

$10M NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles

National Cancer Institute data: San Francisco has highest rate of liver cancer in the nation

Rush Center for Urban Health Equity to focus on disparities in heart and lung disease

NIH awards Hutchinson Center $10.24M for research of breast cancer disparities in Hispanic women

NIH awards UIC $10M grant to study health disparities among underserved, minority women with breast cancer

Uninsured patients less likely to receive critical care services

Sinai Medical Group to deploy NextGen EHR and NextGen Practice Management system

Awareness of cancer health disparities, burden of current economic crisis to be explored at 3-day forum

Kaiser Permanente approves over 250 grants and donations totaling $7 million

Melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from harmful radiation therapy effects: Research

A first step in the long road to health reform

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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