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Demographic Changes, A View from California: Implications for Framing Health Disparities - Workshop Summary

Released:
June 28, 2010
Type:
Workshop Summary
Topic:
Select Populations and Health Disparities
Activity:
Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities
Board:
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice

Note: Workshop Summaries contain the opinion of the presenters, but do NOT reflect the conclusions of the IOM. Learn more about the differences between Workshop Summaries and Consensus Reports.

People in different socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups often experience unequal access to health care, worse health outcomes, and higher rates of disease. These differences, also called health disparities, sometimes relate to personal choice but also occur as a result of variations in income, language proficiency, health insurance status, culture, neighborhood features, and many other factors. However, the public, media, and policymakers often see these gaps as a result of individual choice alone. Therefore, public health officials can face difficulties in drawing attention to health disparities or gaining funding for programs to reduce health disparities. Public health officials are searching for ways to encourage people to see reducing health disparities as a matter of social, rather than personal, responsibility.

The IOM held a workshop on July 28, 2008, to examine strategies for discussing health disparities in ways that engage the public and motivate change. Speakers focused on health disparities in California, which continues to see dramatic demographic shifts. The meeting featured presentations by representatives of East Palo Alto, Fresno, and South Central Los Angeles on their successes and challenges in reducing health disparities in their communities.

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Displaying: 3 of 4 Reports

  • State and Local Policy Initiatives To Reduce Health Disparities - Workshop Summary While state and local policy efforts to reduce health disparities often go unnoticed, some regions have seen real progress in this area. In order to see comparable progress at the national level, it is helpful to identify what has worked at other levels of government. On May 11, 2009, the IOM held a public workshop to discuss the role of state and local policy initiatives to reduce health disparities. The workshop brought together stakeholders to learn more about what works in reducing health disparities and ways to focus on localized efforts when working to reduce health disparities.
    Released: September 13, 2011
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    Released: September 2, 2009
  • Toward Health Equity and Patient-Centeredness: Integrating Health Literacy, Disparities Reduction, and Quality Improvement. Workshop Summary During a time of economic uncertainty, the national discussion of health reform understandably focuses on insurance coverage and cost. To receive the greatest value for health care, it is important to focus on issues of quality and disparity, and the ability of individuals to make appropriate decisions based on basic health knowledge and services, or health literacy. Three IOM bodies (the Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality Improvement and Implementation, the Roundtable on Health Disparities, and the Roundtable on Health Literacy) jointly convened a workshop to discuss these concerns.
    Released: February 23, 2009

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