New AHRQ Preventive Health Guides For Spanish-Speakers Over 50 Could Help Reduce Health Care Disparities, USA

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 18 Nov 2008 - 3:00 PST

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HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today released two new checklists to help Spanish-speaking men and women over the age of 50 keep track of when they should have potentially life-saving screening exams done.

Not having diseases detected, or detected when a disease is advanced, can contribute to potentially avoidable hospitalizations and quality-of-life consequences. For example, AHRQ statistics show that Hispanic adults from both poor and wealthy communities are much more likely than comparable whites to be hospitalized for health problems that good quality outpatient care can prevent or control, such as uncontrolled diabetes and heart ailments. Hispanic adults are more than two times as likely as white adults to be hospitalized for uncontrolled diabetes and its complications such as leg or foot amputations, glaucoma and other eye problems and kidney failure, and they are almost 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and heart pain known as angina.

Other AHRQ data show that nearly 67 percent of Hispanics age 50 and older report never having had a screening colonoscopy to detect colon cancer, compared with 47 percent of whites.

AHRQ also released an accompanying wall chart in Spanish, Seguir sanos después de los 50, providing information about recommended preventive services and can be posted in both clinical and community settings. The wall chart and checklists, Mujeres: sigan sanas después de los 50 and Hombres sigan sanos después de los 50, show at a glance the evidence-based recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force regarding screening tests, preventive medicines and healthy lifestyle behaviors for people 50 and older.

The Task Force is the leading independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care. The Task Force, which is supported by AHRQ, conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of a broad range of clinical preventive services, including screening, counseling and preventive medications. Its recommendations are considered the gold standard for clinical preventive services.

AHRQ encourages Spanish-speaking consumers to take the checklists along with them to medical appointments to help them discuss necessary preventive screening tests with their doctor. Unlike diagnostic tests, which clinicians order when they suspect someone has a disease, screening tests help check for problems before symptoms are apparent. Patients can also use the checklists to record their screening test history and plan follow-up medical appointments. Both checklists also provide tips about other things to do to stay healthy, such as eating a healthy diet and exercising.

Mujeres: sigan sanas después de los 50 and Hombres: sigan sanos después de los 50, are available on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/women50sp.pdf and http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/men50sp.pdf, respectively. The wall chart, Seguir sanos después de los 50, is online at http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/50pluspostersp.pdf.

The English-language versions, Men: Stay Healthy at 50+, Your Checklists for Health and Women: Stay Healthy at 50+, Your Checklists for Health are available on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/men50.htm and http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/women50.htm. The Staying Healthy at 50+ timeline wall chart is also available on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/50plusposter.htm.

Source
Bob Isquith
Marketing & Implementation Group
Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
540 Gaither Road, Rm 3313
Rockville, MD 20850
USA

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality