About Us
CEMHD (Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities), is a collaborative effort focusing on minority health disparities in the smaller cities and towns of New York. We work toward eliminating health disparities by developing capacity in faculty at the University at Albany and partnering with community groups to identify their health concerns and the sources of disparities, and then plan, implement and test strategies to alleviate them. CEMHD is a partnership among community groups, hospitals, state and county health departments, the State of New York and the University at Albany.
CEMHD's focus on minorities and under-served populations in the smaller cities and towns of Upstate New York is premised upon the notion that health disparities found in these areas differ from those in the larger cities, and that the appropriate solutions will also differ. Since most of the research on minority health disparities, and the programs that have resulted from it, has focused on populations in large cities, relatively little is known about the distinct causes of poorer health among minorities in smaller cities. Therefore, another reason for our geographical emphasis is to fill in a gap in the research and to initiate and test the appropriate solutions.
Our Mission
The mission of the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities (CEMHD) is to contribute to the elimination of minority health disparities in the smaller cities and towns of New York.
We do this by using faculty research expertise in partnerships with communities, health care providers, and state and county departments of health. Together we work to identify community health concerns and sources of disparities, plan strategies to alleviate them, and test their effectiveness. Health care providers and other organizations can then adopt these strategies.
Goals and Objectives
- Identifying community needs, focusing on barriers to utilization of prevention programs and health care;
- Conducting specific projects in partnerships with affected communities on the causes and solutions to health disparities;
- Increasing our knowledge of health disparities; and
- Increasing the quantity and quality of researchers working on health disparities.
Efforts to achieve these goals involve our core components, Research Training, Research, and Community Outreach and Engagement, in the following activities:
- Investigation of policies and programs that reduce health disparities;
- Training of young researchers for health disparities work;
- Improvement of lines of communication with minority communities; and
- Strengthening the cultural competence of health providers.
Community-Based Participatory Research Principle
NIH-Funded Core Research Projects 2009-2016
- Project 1: Promoting reproductive healthcare seeking among African American women in a small town setting. Researchers: Annis Golden; Matthew Matsaganis. Department of Communication.
- Project 2: Environmental contaminants and reproductive health of Akwesasne Mohawk women. Researchers: Lawrence M. Schell, Department of Anthropology; Mia Gallo, CEMHD; David O. Carpenter, Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology.
- Project 3: Decomposing racial/ethnic disparities in health. Researchers: Kajal Lahiri and Pinka Chatterji, Department of Economics
UAlbany-funded Research Development Awards
- Exploring Cyber and Community Approaches for Glycemic Control Among Indo-Guyanese with Diabetes in Schenectady: a Feasibility Study. Akiko Hosler, SPH.
- New Technology and Social Media for Health Improvement: A Discussion with Mothers from Vulnerable Populations in the Greater Albany area. Jennifer Manganello and Janine Jurkowski, SPH.
- Community Collaborations for Farmworker Health. Paul Jenkins, SPH & Basset Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY.
- Enablers and Barriers to Obtaining and Maintaining Health Care for Youth who have Transitioned from the Foster Care System: A Pilot Study. Toni Naccarato, SSW.
- Exploring Disease Acceptance among Black Women with Diabetes and Lupus. Lani Jones, SSW.
Participating Communities
- Amsterdam Resource Center for Independent Living
- Black Child Development Institute, Albany Chapter
- Capital Area School Development Association, Albany
- Capital District African-American Coalition on AIDS
- Centro Civico of Amsterdam, Inc.
- The College of Saint Rose
- Community Hospice
- Empire State College
- Fulton Montgomery Community College
- HealthNow New York, Inc.
- Healthy Capital District Initiative
- Hudson Valley Community College
- Macedonia Baptist Church
- Montgomery County Community Services
- New York State Department of Health\
- Occupational and Environmental Health Center of Eastern NY
- Sigma Pi Phi/Beta Psi Boule
- St. Regis Mohawk Health Services
- Trinity Alliance/SNUG
- Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood
- Whitney M. Young Junior Health Services
- WMHT Educational Telecommunications
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- Presidential Doctoral Fellowship