Cultural Effectiveness and Health Disparities Resources

APHA Health Disparities Database
The American Public Health Association has developed a database which contains projects and interventions provided by members of the public health community. The database allows you to search for projects and interventions to health disparity challenges in your communities.

Commission to End Health Care Disparities
Chaired by the American Medical Association, in conjunction with the National Medical Association, the Commission focuses on Physician leadership, quality, and system approaches to the elimination of health care disparities.

Culturally Effective Pediatric Care
This AAP web page provides general information about culturally effective pediatric care and specific information, such as related Academy Policy Statements and projects supported by the Academy.

Children's Rights Curriculum
The Children's Rights Curriculum can be used to raise awareness of the relationship between public policy and the health rights of children, and encourage a commitment to the development of an advocacy role related to children's rights.

Community-based Resident Projects Tool Kit Chapter 5
The Community-based Resident Projects Toolkit is a guide developed to assist Residents in partnering with communities to improve child health.

Community Pediatrics Curriculum Manual Chapter 2
The Community Pediatrics Curriculum Manual is a resource for training pediatric residents in eight core competency areas of community.

Cross Cultural Health Care Program
The mission of the Cross Cultural Health Care Program is to serve as a bridge between communities and health care institutions to ensure full access to quality health care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.

Culturally Effective Care in the Medical Home
The National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs, housed with the Academy, has developed a web site of resources for engaging in compassionate and culturally effective care for children and families.

Diversity Rx
Diversity Rx is a clearinghouse of information on how to meet the language and cultural needs of minorities, immigrants, refugees and other diverse populations seeking health care.

Healthy People 2010
Healthy People 2010 is a set of health objectives for the Nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. The first goal is to help individuals of all ages increase life expectancy and improve their quality of life. The second goal is to eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population.

National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC)
The mission of the NCCC is to assist health and mental health care systems to design, implement and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems.

Office of Minority Health Resource Center (OMHRC)
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) established the Office of Minority Health Resource Center (OMHRC) to meet the public's need for reliable, accurate, and timely information and technical assistance on issues affecting the health of minority populations. Since that time, OMHRC has grown to become one of the nation's largest sources of minority health information. Some of OMHRC's services include referrals, publications, reference information, and access to its resource person's network -- a database of minority health professionals from across the country.

Plain Language Pediatric Patient Education: Handouts
The handouts in this compendium include pronunciation, guides, simple and purposeful illustrations, lower reading levels, and minimal medical jargan for 25 common pediatric conditions and issues. This web site is designed to assist health care organizations throughout the U.S. in providing high quality, culturally competent services to multi-ethnic populations. The section on “Health Disparities” features a presentation by COCP member, Dr. Denice Cora-Bramble.

Publication and Reports on Culturally Effective Pediatric Care:

Compendium of Cultural Competence Initiatives in Health Care
This compendium was developed by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The initiatives included in the compendium are divided into two categories: Public Sector Initiatives (Federal/state/local) and Private Sector Initiatives (health care institutions or professional organizations, foundations, academic institutions/policy research organizations, and other).

Cultural Competence and Health Care Disparities: Key Perspectives and Trends
By Joseph R. Betancourt, Alexander R. Green, J. Emilio Carillo, and Elyse R. Park. Published by Health Affairs, 24, no 2 (2005): 499-505.

National Survey of Physicians Part I: Doctors on Disparities in Medical Care
Selected findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s forthcoming National Survey of Physicians reveal that most physicians are aware of racial disparities in medical treatment for specific conditions, but they don’t believe it is a widespread problem. Kaiser Family Foundation, March 2002.

National Healthcare Disparities Report
The National Healthcare Disparities Report, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, represents the first national comprehensive effort to measure differences in access and use of health care services by various populations. The report includes a broad set of performance measures that can serve as baseline views of differences in the use of services.

Providing Language Interpretation Services in Health Care Settings: Examples from the Field
Published by The Commonwealth Fund. Mara Youdelman and Jane Perkins, May 2002.

Reducing Health Disparities Through a Focus on Communities
The report presents evidence from research and practice of the key role that neighborhood factors play in determining health outcomes and explores the relationship between the communities in which people live and their health."PolicyLink, November 2002.

Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
Report from the Institute of Medicine, March 2002, supporting the long-held perception that minorities tend to receive lower-quality health care than whites, even when insurance status, income, age and severity of conditions are comparable.