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Department to open office for minority care
By Tracy Wheeler
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
Local health officials know that African-Americans die younger, on average, than whites.
The question is: Why?
In an effort to find some answers, the Akron Health Department won a state grant to open a new Office of Minority Health in Akron.
The $83,000 grant from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health will pay for a full-time director, along with part-time staff and supplies.
One of the office's first goals will be to find out how blacks and whites differ in their health
behaviors, said Tom Quade, the health department's manager of community health assessment and health promotion.
Every year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveys Summit County and the rest of the country as part of its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Until now, Quade said, the CDC only polled about 400 Summit County residents — too few to allow health officials to accurately break the results down by race.
But the state grant — along with donations from Akron General Medical Center, the Summa Hospitals Foundation and the Healthy Connections Network — will allow the health department to buy more local polling, possibly drawing in four times as many participants.
With that, the office will be able to see how blacks and whites compare in such issues as smoking, exercise, nutrition and taking part in various health screenings, like mammograms.
Such information could help steer money toward programs that will make the most difference, he said.
The ongoing purpose of the Office of Minority Health will be to reach out to established community groups that focus on social, economic, cultural or educational issues as they pertain to health.
The new office will not create new programs or compete with community groups for money, Quade said. Rather, the office will help existing community- based programs flourish. In fact, he sees the office as a ''grant magnet,'' identifying available money statewide and nationwide and then passing it on to local community groups.
Local statistics show that in Summit County's more well-to-do neighborhoods, African- Americans die nearly a decade earlier than whites.
And, on average, blacks die younger than whites, regardless of the money they make or the neighborhood where they live.
Tracy Wheeler can be reached at 330-996-3721 or tawheeler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Local health officials know that African-Americans die younger, on average, than whites.
Get the full article here.
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