EVENTS

We Are Called Webinar Series: Handling Prejudiced Patients
May 18, 2022
1–2 p.m. ET
What should you do when a patient refuses care from a clinician because of racial or ethnic prejudice or acts in a bigoted way towards staff? This webinar will address the legal and ethical issues presented, and how to support our staff and associates when they encounter bigoted patients. Registration coming soon.

The April We Are Called webinar shared lessons learned about COVID-19, social disparities of health, and how the pandemic has affected certain communities. The webinars are part of the Catholic health ministry's We Are Called pledge to Confront Racism by Achieving Health Equity Initiative. Learn more and access resources including webinar recordings, videos, articles, ethics tools, and more. If you would like to personally participate in the pledge and stay abreast of information, join us.

American Hospital Association Accelerating Health Equity Conference: Forward on the Journey
May 10–12, 2022, Cleveland, Ohio
The AHA Community Health Improvement (ACHI) network and the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity (IFDHE), both part of the American Hospital Association, are once again joining forces to advance their shared mission of closing health equity gaps by building strategic hospital-community partnerships, and developing and sustaining diversity and inclusion efforts in hospitals and health systems. The Accelerating Health Equity Conference is an opportunity to learn from each other, celebrate achievements and fuel the momentum to drive change — turning words into action. Register here.

Association of American Medical Colleges Center for Health Justice: Maternal Health Incubator
May 24 and May 25, 2022 11 a.m. ET
The AAMC Center for Health is hosting the Maternal Health Incubator, a two-day virtual meeting to generate a common understanding of the data needed to effectively address maternal health inequities. The meeting will identify and share evidence-based, innovative strategies to decrease racial and ethnic maternal health gaps and will lead to a collaborative, multisector action plan aimed at eliminating existing inequities through local, state, and federal policies, as well as hyper-local collaborations. Learn more and register here.

Diversity & Health Disparities Networking Zoom Call
June 23, 2022
1–2 p.m. ET
Join CHA's networking call for CHA members working to address the issues of diversity, health disparities and health equity. If you have a program to highlight or a discussion topic to suggest for the agenda, please contact Kathy Curran, CHA Senior Director, Public Policy. Watch recording of the Feb. 25 call here. Passcode: KE4.HCLW

Salud! America: Let's Address Health Equity Together
Webinar Series
June 9, Aug. 10, and Oct. 4
Salud America! is hosting a webinar series titled "Let's Address Health Equity Together." This series of webinars will help health care professionals and the public understand and take action for equity for all, especially the Latino population. Learn more here.

REPORTS AND RESOURCES

CMS Health Equity Strategy
On April 20, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its action plan to provide high-quality, affordable health care for all people, regardless of their background, and to prioritize health equity across the Department of Health and Human Services. Key actions include:

• Closing gaps in health care access, quality, and outcomes for underserved populations
• Promoting culturally and linguistically appropriate services to ensure understandable and respectful care and services that are responsive to preferred languages, health literacy, and other diverse communication needs
• Building on outreach efforts to enroll eligible people across Medicare, Medicaid/CHIP and the Marketplace
• Evaluating policies to determine how CMS can support safety net providers caring for underserved communities, and ensure care is accessible to those who need it

CMS will be encouraging health care leaders to make commitments to advance health equity and will convene industry stakeholders, including health care facilities, insurance companies, state officials and providers. Learn more here.

Commonwealth Fund: How Discrimination in Health Care Affects Older Americans, and What Health Systems and Providers Can Do.
A new Commonwealth Fund study looks at the experiences of racial discrimination in health care settings among Latinx/Hispanic and Black older adults and offers recommendations to address discrimination and the effects of systemic racism in health care. The data showed that one in four Black and Latinx/Hispanic adults aged 60 and older reported that they have been treated unfairly or felt that their health concerns were not taken seriously by health professionals because of their racial or ethnic background. Read the full report here.

American Hospital Association: Health Equity Roadmap
The American Hospital Association's Health Equity Roadmap provides a framework to support hospitals and health systems in their efforts to become more equitable organizations and dismantle structural barriers to health. The Health Equity Roadmap, which builds on the goals established by the National Call to Action to Eliminate Health Care Disparities and AHA's #123forEquity Pledge, is designed to meet hospitals and health systems where they are on their equity journey. It includes customized resources and action plans, among other support tools, to guide organizations throughout the transformation process. Learn more at equity.aha.org.

LeadingAge: Leaders of Color Network
LeadingAge has recently launched the Leaders of Color (LoC) Network, a professional networking group for senior, mid-level, and emerging leaders of color employed by LeadingAge member organizations. Join the over 100 members of the network to connect with peers and fellow LeadingAge members to share challenges and success stories related to negative work-related issues around race and racism, exchange resources and ideas. Sign up here.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Urban Institute: Racial, Ethnic, and Language Concordance Between Patients and Their Usual Healthcare Providers
Patients of color are less likely than White patients to report being the same race as their healthcare providers. This disparity could have negative implications for patient-provider relationships and patient health outcomes. This issue brief discusses how the historical medical mistreatment of Black people in America, and other people of color, has contributed to a mistrust of healthcare providers and how perceptions of a shared identity between patients and providers could be one way to improve the patient-provider relationship and foster trust and better communication. Download the report here.

National Committee for Quality Assurance Health Equity Resource Center
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently launched their Health Equity Resource Center. This Center provides access to research and white papers that offer insight into the implications of health inequities and best practices for overcoming disparities in care. The site also encourages health equity via resources that include engagement and partnerships across the healthcare sector.  Explore The Center here.

Center to Advance Palliative Care Equitable Access to Quality Palliative Care for Black Patients: A National Scan of Challenges and Opportunities Key Findings
In 2021, the Center to Advance Palliative Care's Project Equity workgroup conducted a comprehensive literature review to understand what is known about disparities in health care experiences and quality of life for Black people living with serious illnesses and their families. View key findings here.

Health Affairs: The Mutually Reinforcing Cycle of Poor Data Quality and Racialized Stereotypes That Shapes Asian American Health
In this abstract, the authors describe how issues in data collection, analysis, and reporting, as well as racialized stereotypes obscure the health inequities experienced by diverse Asian American communities. Read the abstract here.

American Medical Association Health Equity Toolkit for Health Systems
The AMA recently developed a new Toolkit for Health Systems, looking to commit to racial and health equity within their organizations. The Toolkit outlines five concrete steps administrators can take to advance racial and health equity including: system-wide commitment, shifting of organizational norms and practices to fill knowledge gaps, improvements around data, development of a shared vision for an entire system, and launch of recommendations. View the Toolkit here.

Milbank Memorial Fund: Disaggregating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Health Data: Opportunities to Advance Health Equity
The collection and reporting of AAPI health disparities data is a critical first step in identifying and addressing health disparities within these subgroups. Without routine data collection and surveillance for AAPI subgroups, it will be impossible to understand different experiences, define specific needs, and begin to address disparities. This blog discusses how having the right data can help eliminate health disparities within the AAPI population. Read more here.

Kaiser Family Foundation Infographic: Disparities in Health and Health Care Among Black People
This infographic looks at the persistent disparities in health and health care for Black people, which reflect structural and systematic inequities rooted in racism and discrimination. Although disparities in health coverage for Black people narrowed after passage of the Affordable Care Act, they continue to face higher rates of illness and death compared to White people. View the infographic here.

ARCHIVED EVENTS AND WEBINARS

Minority Health Month Watch Webinar: Is Racism Making People Sick?
Colleagues from across Catholic health care watched and discussed the Vox film, "Is Racism Making People Sick? How the stress of discrimination is widening the racial health gap." The webinar included the short film and then a discussion about the issues it highlights, with Rosalyn Carpenter, Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community Impact Officer and Senior Vice President at CommonSpirit Health sharing her perspective. Recording to be posted. To view previous recordings, go here.

Kaiser Family Foundation: Rethinking the Use of Race in Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on racial disparities in health and health care. But disparities are hardly new. They have been driven by longstanding inequities within and beyond the health care system that are rooted in racism. KFF Vice President Samantha Artiga, who directs the Racial Equity and Health Policy Program, discusses how the medical system continues to use race in ways that may perpetuate disparities, through provider and institutional bias, clinical guidelines, and medical education and training approaches. Watch the recorded webinar here.

NIHCM Foundation: Addressing Rural Health Needs – COVID-19, Equity, and Access to Care
Rural communities – home to one in five Americans – have been hit hard by COVID-19. These areas have seen an increased risk of COVID-19 infection, lower vaccination rates, and additional health care access challenges, due to factors like travel distance, broadband access for telehealth appointments, and provider shortages. In this webinar, speakers discussed the impact of COVID-19 in rural communities and strategies to meet rural health needs. Watch the recorded webinar here.

NIHCM Foundation: Climate Changes Health – Moving Toward Environmental Health Equity
Extreme weather events are becoming more intense and frequent. The overall health effects of a changing climate are overwhelmingly negative. This webinar explored the interconnectedness of climate change and health, environmental injustice, and what can be done to combat these issues. Watch the recorded webinar here.

RECENT NEWS ARTICLES

For recent news articles, please visit our website www.chausa.org/disparities/overview.

News about disparities and COVID-19 can also be found on CHA's Coronavirus Resources page: www.chausa.org/newsroom/coronavirus-resources/

PRAYERS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

View a collection of prayers relative to the pandemic:
https://www.chausa.org/prayers/cha-prayer-library/prayers-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic.

If you have any prayers or reflections to share with the ministry, please share them with CHA.