Search is Powered by Google
Follow us on:
Follow our health news on Twitter
Follow Our News on Facebook
Personalization
login | register
Public Health News

Miami-Dade County, Fla., Town Hall Addresses Health Disparities Facing Black Residents

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 24 Jul 2008 - 12:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article


Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Miami-Dade County, Fla., health officials on Monday held a town hall discussion that focused on addressing health care disparities among black residents, the Miami Herald reports. According to county health records, blacks are more than twice as likely to die of asthma, cancer, diabetes and other diseases than whites and Hispanics. They also are eight times more likely to die of HIV/AIDS, according to the Herald. County health officials maintain that while factors such as diet and stress may contribute to the disparities, racial issues likely are a larger contributor.

Many of the health issues that blacks face are linked to race, rather than income or socioeconomic status, Marsha Jenakovich, senior health and evaluation specialist for local not-for-profit Health Council of South Florida, said. Jenakovich said, "There's a problem when we're seeing that a No. 1 risk factor to one's health is being black."

To address the situation, officials plan to implement the Work Site Wellness Program, which encourages people to take lunchtime walks during work hours. In addition, Jenakovich said the council is developing a list of health care providers who have received cultural competency training to help better serve minority patients.

Karen Weller, director of community health and planning for the Miami-Dade County Department of Health, said, "We're trying to understand why neighborhoods in the county with people of primarily African and Caribbean descent suffer worse health outcomes than their counterparts," adding, "As we identify the reasons for the disparities we can reduce them" (Bailey, Miami Herald, 7/20).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Hemophilia Opioid Induced Constipation Pneumococcal Disease ADHD Anxiety Asthma Atrial Fibrillation Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Please fill in our survey

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
H1N1 Swine Flu Map Of Confirmed Outbreaks To-Date
09 Jun 2009
Featured below is an interactive Google map pinpointing outbreaks of H1N1 swine flu in 2009, together with source attributions, report dates, and current known statuses. This map is updated throughout the day with the...


Are Their Risks with Indoor Tanning? image Are Their Risks with Indoor Tanning?

There are risks in tanning whether you are doing it outdoors or at a salon...

Leg Cramps Can Be Helped With Exercise image Leg Cramps Can Be Helped With Exercise

Simple exercises can help ease the pain from chronic leg cramps...

View more videos...