Health disparities based upon race, language, age, geography, and diagnosis have attracted a great deal of mainstream medical and public health literature.  This subject is no longer limited to a “social justice” conversation.   Cutting to the quick:  disparities represent a fundamentally clinical challenge which, like other medical challenges, requires structured education, reliable information, and ongoing daily commitment to succeed.  In this case, much of the knowledge base involves other cultures and languages rather than biochemistry, anatomy, or microbiology.

CAPG medical group structures have the potential to address clinical shortcomings better than individual doctors because we have sophisticated, centralized information tools and care management systems in place to act upon both an individual and a population basis.  Like other clinical conditions with avoidable complications and cost, there are also real business consequences for our response to health disparities.  Additionally, legislative mandates for cultural engagement and linguistic accommodation will become elements of delegated contracts.  NCQA, NQF, & CMS are all developing programs for measurement & certification.

CAPG’s Disparities, Culture, and Language Committee, an enthusiastic workgroup of medical leaders within CAPG as well as industry partners, has focused upon interventions:  getting things moving.  We are delighted to have close ties with others who are publishing research, sharing revelations, exposing myths, and offering thoughtful challenges.  We have encouraged a proactive educational thrust for our member physicians and professional team members, as well as an ongoing forum for sharing best practices and new opportunities.

This section of the CAPG website includes an extensive “toolkit” of references and educational resources with links to source material.

Wells Shoemaker MD, Medical Director, CAPG

Toolkits

• CAPG Culture, Language and Disparities Toolkit
• UC Davis Cultural Toolkit
• National Health Plan Collaborative Toolkit at RWJF

Counseling people of different ethnic backgrounds on the exquisitely sensitive topic of family planning requires exceptional delicacy.  This material from Family Planning experts adds rich advice for professionals who will be engaging these discussions

• http://www.familypact.org/en/Providers/CulturalCompetency.aspx

Articles

• Decades of Work to Reduce Disparities in Healthcare Produce Limited Success - JAMA
• Disparities in Medi-Cal Managed Care by Michael A.Rodriguez
• Summary of Health Disparities Legislation and Regulation in California
• Language Requirements for CA HMO's 8-18-08
• Latinos Lack Medical Homes: 8/13/08
• Interpreter Quality Standards
• MLC Video Link - Meeting the Needs of California's Diverse Patient Populations
• Health Disparities in House & Senate Final Bills

Disparities Conference materials January 29, 2009

• Memo
• Agenda
• Beltran-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Shoemaker-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Flores-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Mutha-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Bau-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Kim-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Gil-Disparities Conf Jan '09
• Sponsor Recognition
• CAPG LAP Presentation
  

New Information, September, 2009

Cal. Diabetes Disparities Collaborative:
http://www.caldiabetes.org/content_display.cfm?contentID=149&CategoriesID=10 

RAND center: http://www.rand.org/health/centers/pophealth/index.html

Case Western Reserve: http://blog.case.edu/ccrhd/ 

NCI :      http://crchd.cancer.gov/research/pi_macher_roach_desc.html

UCD:     http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/crhd/ 

UCSD:      http://meded.ucsd.edu/crchd/ucsd_summer_lab.html

Johns Hopkins:    http://www.jhsph.edu/healthdisparities/index.html

Kellogg Foundation:  Burden of Health Inequality

Training on ethnicity and race data collection November 16, 2009, in Oakland
For more information, please click here.