April is Minority Health Month 

CEMHD Researchers Partner with the Department of Health 
on Effort to Reduce Health Disparities 

The the NYS Department of Health has a number of initiatives underway that are designed to reduce minority health disparities.  One of them involves a partnership between two Center-affiliated researchers from the School of Public Health: David Strogatz, Director of the Research Core, and CEMHD Associate and Research Development Award recipient, Jennifer Manganello. 

The two professors are working with the Department of Health on the New York State Media and Technology Use Survey, which is focused on rural and Hispanic/Latino residents throughout the state. The goal of the survey is to understand the patterns of technology use to receive health information, and to gauge attitudes about the credibility of those sources of health information. The data will be used to improve key health messaging in program planning and health information dissemination, including website design.  

Other initiatives the Department of Health is undertaking to reduce health disparities include the following:

• Expanding the scope of the Office of Minority Health and renaming it the Office of Health Disparities Prevention. The office will now serve as a statewide resource for effecting the elimination of health disparities and work collaboratively with government systems, public and private partners, communities and individuals.
• Creating a special Medicaid Redesign Team Work Group to review health disparity data and make recommendations to address specific concerns. The Health Disparities Work Group's final report and recommendations were released in October 2011, and many of the initiatives are moving forward.
• Developing the 2013-2017 Prevention agenda, a blueprint to improve the health of all New Yorkers.
• Addressing childhood obesity through evidenced-based strategies.
• Creating a broad-based marketing campaign to inform underserved communities about New York's Health Benefit Exchanges.

  

The University at Albany has been named to the President's Honor Roll for Community Service. The University chose CEMHD as one of three projects to highlight in its application, and, in turn the Center then highlighted three of own projects.  CEMHD extends its congratulations to the faculty, staff and students involved in the three projects below: 

• Young Moms on a Mission is a project of the Outreach Core that provides health information to single mothers and their partners.

• The Women's Health Project in Hudson is a Research Core project that informs low-income women about reproductive health care and helps them access it. 

• Exploring Cyber and Community Approaches for Glycemic Control Among Indo-Guyanese with Diabetes in Schenectady: a Feasibility Study is an outreach and  assessment component of a larger School of Public Health study on diabetes in the Indo-Guyanese  community. This pilot project was given a CEMHD Research Development Award last spring.

Click on the headline to see the University's press release.

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Congratulations to Dr. Janine Jurkowski

 

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