Learn About HHS’s Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (posted 4/27)

On April 8, 2011 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. This roadmap for reducing health and health care disparities is a comprehensive effort to address differences in health for racial, ethnic, and other underserved communities. The HHS Disparities Action Plan demonstrates the Department's commitment to continuously assess the impact of all policies and programs on racial and ethnic health disparities. It will promote integrated approaches, evidence-based programs and best practices to reduce these disparities. To learn more about the Action Plan visit the National Partnership for Action website.

On April 25, 2011 the Kaiser Family Foundation held a webcast about the strategy and its timeline for implementation as well as its implications for providers. The panelists also discussed how the new strategy relates to other recently released HHS strategies including the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, the National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy, the Healthy People 2020 initiative and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States. Panelists also considered what the strategy’s role as it relates to health reform implementation. Watch the recording of the webcast on the Kaiser Family Foundation website.

PBS’s Independent Lens Premiers Documentary on Two Spirits 6/14

Two Spirits interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with a revealing look at the largely unknown history of a time when the world wasn’t simply divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders. Powerful and moving, Lydia Nibley’s Two Spirits explores the life and death of Fred Martinez and the ancient Native American two-spirit tradition. Two Spirits will premiere on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by America Ferrera, on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 (check local listings.)
 
Fred Martinez told his mother he felt as if he was both a boy and a girl, and she explained that this is a special gift, according to traditional Navajo culture. But the place where two discriminations meet is a dangerous place to live, and Fred became one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at sixteen. Between tradition and controversy, and freedom and fear, lies the truth—the bravest choice you can make is to be yourself.
 
Two Spirits explores issues of national concern including the bullying and violence commonly faced by LGBT people, and the epidemic of LGBT teen suicide, and reveals the range of gender expression that has long been seen as a healthy part of many of the indigenous cultures of North America, and of Navajo culture in particular.
 
The Navajo believe that to maintain harmony, there must be a balanced interrelationship between the feminine and the masculine within the individual, in families, in the culture, and in the natural world. For the first time on film, Two Spirits tells stories from the Navajo tradition of four genders. The first gender is the feminine woman. The second is the masculine man. The third is the male-bodied person who has a feminine essence—nadleehi. The fourth is the female-bodied person who has a masculine essence—dilbaa.
 
In Navajo, nadleehi means “one who is transformed," and as the film traces the ramifications of Fred’s murder, it also shows the transformation being undertaken by Native activists who are working to restore the rich heritage of two-spirit people and to claim their place within their tribal communities.
 
“The film team is working with over sixty organizations nationwide to have six million people see the film and to help expand the national conversation about gender,” says the director of Two Spirits, Lydia Nibley.
 
Lois Vossen the producer and founder of Independent Lens explains, “Two Spirits is an important film that tells a modern story with deep historical roots and does so in a way that is surprising and striking. It’s a film that shows humankind at both our best and worst. It’s gut-wrenching at times, but also hopeful and very engaging.”
 
To learn more about the film, and the issues involved, visit the companion website for Two Spirits at www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits. Get detailed information on the film, watch preview clips, read an interview with the filmmaker, and explore the subject in depth with links and resources. The site also features a Talkback section where viewers can share their ideas and opinions.

Health Care Reform Resources (updated 1/20)

Are you ready for Health Care Reform (Affordable Care Act) and what it will mean for your community? To learn about Health Care Reform and its implications for diverse communities as well as for mental health and substance abuse services, check out these resources. 

 

General Information:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a ten minute video that explains the Affordable Care Act in accessible language. The video titled Health Reform Hits Main Street explains the problems with the current health care system, the changes that are happening now, and the big changes coming in 2014. Watch the video in Spanish.
• The Commonwealth Fund's Health Reform Resource Center allows users to view a timeline of the law's major provisions and search for clear, detailed summaries of specific provisions by year, category, and/or stakeholder group.
• HealthCare.gov is the government's website for the Affordable Care Act. It allows users to search for health insurance plans, compare hospitals, learn about prevention includes information on the new health care legislation and grant opportunities. The website will be available in Spanish in mid to late August.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Reform GPS provides general information on issues related to implementation of the legislation.
• Families USA Health Reform Central provides up-to-date information on what's happening in Health Care Reform, including resources for minority communities (see list below).
• Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Source provides general information and resources on Health Care Reform.  It includes an implementation timeline.

Behavioral Health:

•  The Government Accountability Office released the first of two reports mandated by Congress on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act entitiled Mental Health and Substance Use: Employers’ Insurance Coverage Maintained or Enhanced Since Parity Act, but Effect of Coverage on Enrollees Varied.
• The fact sheet entitled, The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Affordable Care Act: Implications for Coverage of Tobacco Cessation Benefits (MHPAEA), is designed to answer some frequently asked questions about MHPAEA and how it is affected by it's extension in the Affordable Care Act.
• Health Care Reform FAQ's on the impact of Health Care Reform on services and supports for young adults with serious mental health conditions.
• Mental Health America has released the recording of it's July webinar, Parity and Health Care Reform: Important Changes for Behavioral Health.
• National Council for Community Behavioral Health's Health Care Reform Blog provides information specific to substance abuse and behavioral health and health care reform legislation and funding.
• National Council for Community Behavioral Health's quarterly magazine released this July focuses exclusively on national healthcare reform impact mental health and addiction services: "Healthcare Reform - Mental Health and Addiction Services"

Minority Communities & Eliminating Disparities:

•  A new report titled Toward Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Populations: Issues for Policymakers’ Consideration in Integrating a Safety Net into Health Care Reform Implementation discusses the implications and potential outcomes for vulnerable populations.
• Coverage Gains for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Children Under Health Care Reform a factsheet by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum explains how Health Care Reform will provide coverage to countless uninsured and underinsured Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander children.
• A new issue brief entitled Covering Children under the Affordable Care Act: Minding the Gaps discusses the implications for children living in nontraditional families that potentially create barriers to accessing health coverage, these include, but are not limited to - children living with noncustodial guardians/grandparents, citizen children with noncitizen parents, children whose parents live apart, children of veterans, children of incarcerated parents, and homeless & institutionalized children.
• Actualizing Health Care Reform for Urban Indians is a report based on the Urban Indian Health Summit discussions that outlines strategies to ensure the success of reform for urban Indians. The report highlights areas where federal partnership will be essential, such as workforce development and understanding the value of the Federally Qualified Health Center designation. 
• The Center for American Progress produced the report, What Health Care Reform Means for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans to explain how the new health law already affects the LGBT community, and how they and their allies can continue to advocate for broad inclusion as the law is fully implemented between now and 2014.
• Affordable Care Act, What’s in it? Rural Young Adults is a report that examines how the Affordable Care Act benefits young adults and, consequently, the rural places they call home.
• Measuring the Gaps: Collecting Data to Drive Improvements in Health Care Disparities from the Center for American Progress highlights the new provisions within the ACA that require the collection and analysis of data on racial and ethnic health care disparities and the importance of health care provider involvement in collecting data on racial and ethnic health care disparities.
• This short paper titled The ACA and Substance Use Disorders (pdf) from the National Health Law Program outlines the provisions that are likely to improve access to programs and services to prevent and treat substance use disorders.
• This short paper titled The ACA and Language Access (pdf) from the National Health Law Program discusses some of the major provisions addressing language access that were included in the ACA.
• The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation commissioned a guidebook to the Affordable Care Act, Understading Health Reform: A Community Guide for African Americans, to help consumers, providers, researchers, policymakers, and others better understand the new law—the benefits available to them and its potential for strengthening the healthcare system.
• The National Conference of State Legislatures has produced an issue brief that outlines provisions in the Affordable Care Act that address disparities: Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act. Addtionally, they have produced profiles of state Minority Health and Health Equity offices that include the state's plan for addressing health disparities: State Profiles: Minority Health and Health Equity Offices.
• The White House developed a video and a blog, both titled What Health Reform Means for African Americans, to illustrate how heath reform directly benefits African Americans. 
• The White House created a video Health Reform for Latinos, in which the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, discusses how the Affordable Care Act will benefit Latinos, the video is also available in Spanish.
• Families USA has released its final set of state fact sheets titled How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color. These state fact sheets discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act—both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities—help communities of color.
• Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief - Health Reform And Communities Of Color: Implications For Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities.
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies report - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Advancing Health Equity for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations
• Asian & Pacific Island American Health Forum, Health Care Reform Resource Center provides information and resources onhealth care reform legislation relates to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. Translations of their document Health Care Reform FAQs have been added to their website.
• 16th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health: "What Will Health Care Reform Mean for Minority Health Disparities?"
• Families USA Fact Sheets that highlight how the new health reform law will help America's communities of color by expanding coverage, increasing funding for  community health centers, and providing grants for workforce diversity. By population: African Americans  l  American Indians and Native Alaskans  l  Asian Americans  l  Latinos  l  Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders
• Families USA PowerPoint presentation "Health Reform: Laying the Foundation for Equity" that provides an overview of some the provisions in the new law that will help close the gap, including prevention and public health, coverage expansions, and initiatives that specifically address health care disparities. The notes section includes a script that has a more in-depth discussion of each topic.
• Families USA Issue Brief "Moving toward Health Equity: Health Reform Creates a Foundation for Eliminating Disparities" that summarizes provisions that will expand access to care through Medicaid and community health centers and those that will address health disparities by promoting language access, increasing workforce diversity, and reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
• Families USA Issue Brief "Health Reform: Help for American Indians and Alaska Natives" that discusses changes made by the new health reform law, including the overdue reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and explains how these changes will benefit these two groups.
• Premier Healthcare Alliance chart that describes provisions in Health Care Reform related to the elimination of disparities and includes a section on funding levels and the expected dates for implementation of provisions focusing on the elimination of disparities.
• Premier Healthcare Alliance chart that describes each provision in Health Care Reform related to the elimination of disparities and includes a section on funding levels and the expected dates for implementation of these provisions.

 

SAMHSA Outlines New Strategic Initiatives (posted 4/14)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has published its strategic initiatives paper—an overview of SAMHSA's goals, priorities, and action steps for accomplishing its mission of reducing the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. Carefully developed from months of public discussion and input from a wide variety of SAMHSA's stakeholders, the strategic initiatives paper lays out how SAMHSA will focus its resources in meeting the new opportunities and challenges it faces in the near future.

The eight strategic initiatives set forth in the paper address how SAMHSA will maximize its resources in an environment that promises improvements in the Nation's behavioral health care system over the next few years as a result of a variety of forces—most notably the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

"The strategic initiatives paper provides a clear roadmap for SAMHSA's immediate and longer-term priorities for reaching our essential public health mission," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. "These initiatives are data driven, overarching in purpose, and will help SAMHSA work in an unprecedented way across health, justice, social service, education, and other systems to improve health care services to all Americans." To read the full press release visit SAMHSA's website.

 

IOM Releases Report to Help Focus Action Aimed at Achieving Healthy People 2020 Goals (posted 4/6)

Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2020: Letter Report recommends 12 indicators and 24 objectives for guiding the national health agenda. The report, produced by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), is based on a review of current and past health indicator sets with consideration to provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Contents include a brief discussion of Healthy People 2020 and the IOM committee's recommendations concerning topics, indicators, and objectives. Additional topics include the committee process, the framework and the process used to select objectives, and a discussion of the selection of topics and indicators. A detailed discussion of each of the selected objectives is then presented, along with suggestions for measures that could be used in three Healthy People topic areas for which no objectives exist: social determinants of health; health-related quality of life and well-being; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health.

The prepublication is available for download on the National Academies Press website.

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